In a message to the opening of the seventh annual meeting of the Overseas Chinese Associations of Central America in Panama City, the President said recovery of the mainland is the responsibility of all free Chinese.
He told the overseas Chinese that the Republic of China has not been adversely affected by the Indochina debacle and the passing of President Chiang Kai-shek.
"The Republic of China is strengthening its substantive relations with free countries and has foiled Peiping's plot to isolate us," President Yen said.
In a congratulatory message to the World Christian Anti-Communist Association, the President said that "peaceful coexistence" between the democratic camp and the Communist bloc is impossible.
The Communists always use "agreement" and "promises" as a means to usurp political power to carry out their reign of tyranny and terror, he said.
The mass killing of people, including children, after the fall of Indochina has clearly shown the cruel nature of the Communists, President Yen declared.
Speaking as chairman of the ruling Kuomintang, Premier Chiang Ching-kuo, called on party members to carry out KMT decisions with confidence and determination.
In an address to the closing ceremony of the 1975 KMT workshop at Yangmingshan in suburban Taipei, the chairman said party members must use their wisdom to make maximum achievements with minimum financial resources and manpower.
He told the participants that recovery of the Chinese mainland is difficult. However, he said, "We will accomplish our mission if we remain united and confident."
More than 400 party workers attended the three-day meeting. They reviewed reports on operations and worked out plans for action.
They also hear reports on the world situation and problems on the Chinese mainland.
Premier Chiang Ching-kuo urged the nation to follow the Matsu spirit in preparing for war and to uphold high standards for clean government and a law-abiding people.
Matsu is an island group off the coast of the mainland province of Fukien. It has been described by the Premier as a model community.
The Premier, who visited Matsu recently, said troops of the offshore islands are high in morale, strong in health and excellent in equipment. These troops can go into action on the shortest notice, he added.
The Premier described Matsu civilians as living in peace and well off. He said their level of education has been raised, their society is progressive and they are united behind the military authorities out of mutual affection and a wish to help.
Premier Chiang said the nation must have clean government and law-abiding people.
The Chinese people can never be conquered by a foreign power or ideology, he said, because "what we want is a Chinese political system."
Playing host at a Taipei breakfast for overseas Chinese scholars taking part in the National Reconstruction Seminar, the Premier voiced confidence that the people on the mainland will overthrow Communist tyranny and re-establish a Chinese political system.
In Taiwan, Premier Chiang said, various reconstruction projects are aimed at "achieving the objective of a political system based on Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People.
"It is our goal to enable the entire nation to live a better life in a free, egalitarian and open society," he added.
The economic reconstruction projects are being carried out for the benefit of al1 the people, the Premier added.
"Social security, economic prosperity and national progress are to be achieved through balanced development, narrowing of the gap between the rich and the poor, and acceleration of the battle against poverty," he said.
Recalling President Chiang Kai-shek's instruction that the China mainland would be recovered with political efforts of 70 per cent and military strength of 30 per cent, the Premier said the achievements of free China are the best guarantee that the national objective will be reached.
Premier Chiang urged the overseas scholars to make their suggestions for national reconstruction.
Foreign Minister Shen Chang-huan told the same group of scholars that the Chinese Communists have failed in their attempt to isolate the Republic of China. He cited the substantial relations the ROC maintains with 142 countries and areas around the world.
He said the Republic of China stood firm when the rest of Asia was shaken and unsure.
Shen said the world faces three major problems which no nation can solve single-handedly:
First, the population explosion. The world is adding mouths faster than food. There are more and more hungry and starving people.
Second, the uneven distribution of resources and unbalanced economic development. The situation has led to confrontation between developed and developing nations. The energy crisis reminded people that resources are not always available.
Third, the problem of nuclear proliferation.
As more countries acquire nuclear capability, the world is confronted with the danger of atomic war.
The United States is readjusting its Western Pacific defenses with emphasis on Northeast Asia, Shen said. Another invasion of South Korea cannot be ruled out. By recognizing the Chinese Communist regime, the Philippines and Thailand have invited trouble.
Shen dubbed Chinese Communist insistence on the anti-hegemony clause in their treaty talks with Japan as the initiation of an "Asian Monroe Doctrine." He said the Chinese Communists are trying to bully Asian countries into following their anti-Soviet and anti-U.S. stance through the so called "anti-hegemony" principle.
The West has gleaned only limited commercial benefits from the reopening of the Suez Canal. But the Soviet navy can quickly move war vessels from the Black Sea and Mediterranean into the Indian Ocean.
Of the Middle East, Shen said that since no one wants another war, an imminent crisis has been averted. But the path of Middle Eastern peace is strewn with pitfalls.
Shen urged the democracies to learn from their contacts with the Communists. He noted that countries recognizing the Chinese Communists assume an anti-Communist position at home.
He said the government and people of the Republic of China are confident of final victory. If we help ourselves, there will be friends who share the same interests and who will cooperate with us, he added.
In an article entitled "President Chiang's Religious Belief," Madame Chiang Kai-shek told of the late President's Christian faith and the influence of religion on his revolutionary deeds.
"President Chiang began to study the Bible in 1927 when he married me," Madame Chiang said, "and he was baptized in 1930."
Madame Chiang quoted the late President as saying:
"It should be necessary for man to believe in some religion. The revolutionaries should devote themselves to the cause for which they struggle just as the faithful do to their religion.
"Thus they will not be frustrated by or yield to difficulties they may confront, and will persist on to achieve their noble cause."
President Chiang had become devoted to his religion because he had learned how to engage in self-reflection and exercise self-discipline from his study of Confucianism, Madame Chiang said.
His "perseverance in the task of national salvation" had been amply demonstrated in his lifetime devotion to the National Revolution, being a follower of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Founding Father of the Republic of China, Madame Chiang said.
The President's firm religious belief was embodied in his unyielding struggle against Communism, Madame Chiang declared.
The article by Madame Chiang was published in "His Scars," a book written in memory of the late President by the Rev. Chow Lien-hwa, pastor of Grace Baptist Church and the Kai-ko Church, of which President Chiang was a devoted member.
Representative Steven D. Symms of the United States said in Taipei that the American people "have overwhelmingly expressed their support for the Republic of China."
Speaking at the City Auditorium, Rep. Symms (R-Idaho) said that 72 per cent of American citizens "are definitely opposed to any action of recognizing Peiping diplomatically at the cost of Taipei." Symms said Washington-Peiping "normalization is unlikely to go much further." "It is plain that to make further 'advances,' if they can be called that, in our diplomatic relations, we would have to break our promises to the people of the Republic of China," the U.S. Congressman continued, adding:
"That step will not occur, nor will your security be jeopardized by the United States. America is committed; the strength of a commitment rests on the character and sincerity of the people supporting it.
"In that regard, the American people have stated unequivocally that they will not have diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China."
Assistants to nine U.S. Senators who visited Taiwan for a week voiced their opinion that "the Republic of China must redouble its efforts to educate the people in the United States."
At a meeting with Dr. Tsai Wei-ping, director of the Institute of International Relations, and several U.S.-educated Chinese scholars in Taipei, they pointed out that few Americans know much about Taiwan.
Alluding to the ignorance of the American people and government about South Vietnam prior to its fall to the Communists, Charles McBride, assistant to Sen. J. Bennett Johnston (D-La.), said that "When the time comes (for a military conflict between Taiwan and mainland China) the U.S. must be really educated."
Geoffrey Peterson, assistant to Sen. Abraham Ribicoff (D-Conn.), explained that the "problem" of Taiwan is that most Americans "lump Taiwan with all the other Asian nations and have no appreciation of the democratic system in Taiwan." Within the Congress, there is as much support for Taiwan, he said.
Robert Turner, aide to Sen. Robert Griffin (R-Mich.), predicted that if Taiwan were attacked, "Congress would send everything but troops." He volunteered to come.
The assistants, most of them here for the first time, said they were impressed with the openness of society and appreciated the divergence of views offered by scholars.
Prof. Anthony Kubek said so-called "normalization" of relations between Washington and Peiping is a "practical impossibility and a complete distortion of any moral international diplomacy."
"How can you have 'normalization' with the Communists when their declared objective is to conquer the free world, when their system is entirely different from any of the free world and when the regime in Peiping has liquidated over 30 million Chinese people since they seized the main land in 1949?" the professor asked.
Professor Kubek of Troy State College, Troy, Ala., spoke at a symposium sponsored by the Planning Commission for the Recovery of Main land China in Taipei.
He assailed the American policy of "detente" as a mistake and "one of the major reasons why freedom is shrinking in parts of Asia as well as Western Europe.
"Communism has enslaved more millions of people in Indochina and caused some nations in this region to take a neutral attitude towards Peiping," he continued.
"This policy (of detente) has had a very damaging effect on the free world and particularly the United States because of its psychological impact on the minds of freedom-loving people and anti-Communist forces," he said. "Detente is a very clever tactic of the Communist rulers whose desire is to control the will of human beings. It should be abolished as quickly as possible and a policy of confrontation should be instituted by the United States to protect the security of this region."
Professor Kubek called the Chinese Communists masters of disguise. "By carefully concealing their aggressive tendencies on their way up to power, they succeeded in deluding not only many leading Chinese intellectuals but some important Americans as well," he said.
"Once in power, however, they soon dropped the facade and consolidated their gains, by establishing the police state that is the hallmark of a totalitarian ideology."
He believes the Chinese people will rise up against the regime and topple it. The Chinese Communist regime cannot wipe out in a short span of time the virtues of Confucianism which are embedded in the spirit of the Chinese people, he said. "When compulsion is removed, freedom will re-emerge spontaneously. Freedom is fundamental and eternal, approved by both nation and God, whereas Communism is only an abnormal phase," he added.
Professor Kubek is the author of "How the Far East Was Lost," "Amerasia Papers," and the "Red China Papers."
The Sino-Arabian Cultural and Economic Association was established 'With about 300 members attending.
Among some 50 guests was Fawzi A. Sho bokshi, charge d'affaires of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia.
After approval of the charter and budget, participants elected 31 members to the board of directors and 9 members to the board of supervisors.
Directors include Chang Tse-kai, economist financier and former minister of economic affairs (1952-54), who presided; Tien Pao-tai, former Chinese ambassador to Saudi Arabia; Wu Cheu-tsai, director of the Kuomintang Central Committee's Department of Cultural Affairs; James Wei, director of the Central News Agency; Mrs. Nancy Yu Huang, publisher of the China Post; Gen. Lei Yen-chun, president of China Airlines; and Wang Tih-wu, 'publisher of the United Daily News.
The New York Times cited the "creative ambiguity" of the Republic of China that brought restoration of air connections with Japan.
The paper said editorially: "Elsewhere in Asia and in Europe as well, Taiwan continues to emerge from its official isolation imposed after the United Nations' unconscionable expulsion of Taipei in 1971. No sooner did the Philippines recognize the 'People's Republic' of China last month, severing relations with Nationalist China, than informal discussions were scheduled to set up arrangements for trade, travel and cultural relations between Taipei and Manila.
"In Peiping as well as Taipei there seems an increasing willingness to live with the ambiguity of their old - and still unresolved - rivalry for the title, for the time being ...
"So in Taiwan, the ill-defined status quo is not so dismal as it once seemed, as the 'unofficial' contacts multiply and thrive. The embassies may withdraw one by one but the planes fly in, the businessman and investors arrive in droves, and the trade flows on."
Liberia will continue to strengthen its cooperative endeavors with the Republic of China, President William R. Tolbert Jr. declared in observing the 128th anniversary of his country's independence.
Liberian Ambassador Ernest Eastman voiced confidence that "the bonds of mutual friendship and goodwill" between the Chinese and Liberian governments will continue.
President Tolbert said:
"Today as we in Liberia celebrate the 128th anniversary of our independence as a nation, I am happy to note that our relations of cordiality, goodwill and mutual respect for all friendly nations and peoples of the international community extend to the industrious people and government of the Republic of China with whom our mutually beneficial relations have been strengthened over the past years. I express the hope that, despite the effects of spiraling inflation and unsettled world conditions, Liberia and the Republic of China will continue to move substantially toward identifying and exploiting new fields of cooperative endeavors. As the world finds itself in the throes of upheaval and searches for a new order, our common challenge requires us to hasten the removal of all barriers to universal progress and peace and break the walls that separate the developed and developing nations. On this basis I extend best wishes and warm felicitations to the people of the Republic of China with the hope that our efforts will be characterized with prosperity in the years ahead."
Ambassador Eastman said:
"On the occasion of the 128th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Liberia, I felicitate the government and enterprising people of China.
President Yen Chia-kan welcomes William Edward Dennis, Liberian minister of commerce, industry and transportation, at the Presidential Office in Taipei City. (File photo)
"It is the hope of the president of Liberia that Chinese enterprises will find Liberia with its matured policy of the open door an attractive market, and that the bonds of mutual friendship and goodwill between the two governments will continue.
"I welcome the opportunity to stress the co operative efforts of China and Liberia in the light of our mutuality of interests. I believe Liberia and China can and will work together in a bond of sincere and mutually productive friendship and cooperation, toward the broader goal for world peace and a better life for our people."
Development can be a mixed blessing, and it can never be too early to identify and solve the socio-economic problems the Republic of China is now facing and will be facing in the future'. This was the advice of U.S. Ambassador Leonard Unger as he addressed the 18th anniversary meeting of the Kaohsiung Junior Chamber of Commerce at the southern port city of Taiwan.
After reviewing the spectacular progress of the Republic of China in the last quarter of a century, Ambassador Unger said development can be a mixed blessing - as Japan, the United States and other industrialized nations have learned.
"For while it results in improved standards of living. It can also create problems which if left unresolved will effectively negate the benefits it provides," he said.
"Thus, while you may live longer, eat better, dress better, be better educated and enjoy more of the goods that an increased income can provide, these benefits may be substantially vitiated if the air you breathe and the water you drink are full of pollutants, if your cities are overcrowded and if your society is beset with alienations because of the inability of your institutions to adapt to the social changes which result from the development process. "
Ambassador Unger said he was aware of the social benefits which have resulted from and ac companied Taiwan's economic development.
"I take these examples to reflect your country's determination that social progress and economic progress must go hand in hand if development is to be permanent and beneficial," he said.
Chinese Communism is incapable of launching a military attack to conquer free China, a ranking intelligence official of the ruling Kuomintang said.
Peiping's offensive against the Republic of China is mainly political, according to Hsu Ching lan, director of the Department of Mainland Operations of the KMT Central Committee.
"The Communists are trying to dispose of us at minimum cost with divisive tactics, defamation, sabotage, rumormongering, infiltration and subversion," Hsu said.
"We are prepared for any eventuality," he added.
Hsu said the death of Mao Tse-tung or Chou En-lai or both may signal the beginning of a new upheaval on the mainland.
He listed the contending factions as the radicals, entrenched bureaucrats, the military power holders and the reinstated old cadres.
Outside the Communist hierarchy, the restive masses are biding their time.
Labor unrest is widespread, Hsu reported. To combat the regime's campaign against "capitalist tendencies," workers are resorting to strikes and sabotage.
Hsu estimated that more than 10 million workers have been taking part in riots and clashes directed against the Maoist ideologists. "Younger workers have become the anti-Communist vanguard of the people," he said.
The situation has been further complicated by the destructive activities of the millions of youths who have sneaked back into the cities from rural communes and the frequent riots of retired service men, he said. About 60 million city youths have been sent down to the countryside for manual labor. Unable to stand the deprivation and back breaking work, millions have gone back to the cities.
Free China will elect 52 new legislators December 20. Twenty-two will be from Taiwan Province, 15 from overseas Chinese communities, 8 from occupational groups, 5 from Taipei City and 1 each from Fukien province and aborigine communities.
Fifty-one will be filling expired terms of legislators elected three years ago. The other seat is the result of population growth. Total membership of the Legislative Yuan is about 450.
President Chiang Kai-shek's birthday on October 31 has been proclaimed a national holiday, the eighth of the year.
According to the list announced by the Ministry of Interior, the other seven national holidays are: founding anniversary of the Republic of China, January I; Youth Day, March 29; Tomb Sweeping Day, which usually falls on April 5; Confucius' birthday, September 28, which is also Teachers' Day; National Day, October 10; birthday of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Founding Father of the Republic of China, November 12; and Constitution Day, December 25.
Because of massive recruitment, the government of the Republic of China is younger. The educational level is rising. There are more Taiwan-born and female employees.
The average age of public functionaries in 1974 was 39.02, according to statistics of the Central Personnel Administration.
More than 150,000 were college graduates, up 18 per cent over the previous year. About 63,000 held degrees (including 4,093 with master's or doctorates), up 8.32 per cent; and 10,300 passed government examinations, up 7.35 per cent.
Taiwanese public functionaries under the Executive Yuan increased by 16,000 and represented 65.56 per cent of the total.
Women increased from 75,000 in 1972 to 78,000 in 1973 and 88,000 in 1974.
The most effective way to keep the rest of free Asia intact is to form a strong military alliance against Communist aggression. The United States should provide help.
That was the consensus of some 50 Chinese, American and Japanese journalists, academicians and civic leaders attending a symposium sponsored by the Central Daily News in Taipei.
Among the participants were U.S. Rep. Steven Symms; Dr. Anthony Kubek; Masatoshi Abe, director of the International Federation for Victory over Communism of Japan; James Wei, president of the Central News Agency; and Prof. Andrew Lee, a jurist.
Chu Sung-chiu, publisher-president of the Central Daily News, presided.
Asian nations need to consolidate democratic rule and keep their economies stable to guard against Communist infiltration and subversion, the participants agreed.
"The situation in Asia and the Pacific has gone from bad to worse in the wake of the Indochina debacle," James Wei said.
Some countries have become suspicious of the United States, he said, noting that Thailand and the Philippines have recognized the Chinese Communists.
"These nations regard their actions as pragmatic and fashionable," he said.
The veteran Chinese journalist said the "domino theory" is a painful reality. "To the free world detente means a period of 'glorious peace' but to the Communists it is the beginning of 'fierce struggle,' " he said.
Prof. Yao Chi-ching of National Chengchi University asked to what extent the United States is ready to fulfill its promises to its allies. Deeds and not words really count, he said, and suggested the United States support the Republic of China, South Korea and Japan in a military alliance.
Rep. Symms said the United States should devote more attention to this part of the world.
Masatoshi Abe advocated a mutual defense system involving South Korea, Japan and the Republic of China.
He said the fall of Vietnam and Cambodia "has helped the Soviet Union in its expansion into Southeast Asia." The Peiping regime is also trying to capitalize on the situation and is stepping up subversion in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries, he added.
"Detente has brought no benefits to the free world but has greatly helped its enemies," Abe said.
With whistles blowing full blast and water jetting from hoses, six tugboats escorted Governor Hsieh Tung-min through Kaohsiung harbor's new portal.
The second entry will enable the port to accommodate ships of up to 75,000 tons. This will be increased to 100,000 tons by mid-1976.
The new entrance is 12 kilometers east of the old one. The 112-year-old port is the biggest in Taiwan and one of the top ten seaports of the world.
Commenting on significance of the new portal, Li Lien-chili, director of the Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau, said:
- Kaohsiung was a natural port with a small mouth and a big body. In time of war, blocking of the entrance would paralyze the port.
- Kaohsiung is an industrial city. With establishment of a big steel mill, shipyard and other heavy and petrochemical industries, transportation of raw materials will be most economical in big ships. The steel mill alone can save NT$200 million (about US$4,900,000) annually in transportation costs.
- Kaohsiung is a major container port. New container ships are above the 30,000-ton class and some are of 70,000 tons. These vessels can serve Kaohsiung via the new portal.
- Many foreign companies will use Kaohsiung as a transshipment point for bulk commodities.
- Seventy-four deep-water wharves can be built adjacent to the second entrance and buoys will raise the number of berths to more than 180 and increase the daily number of ships entering and leaving Kaohsiung to more than 70.
Kaohsiung is constructing its third container terminal.
This six-year project is part of a long-range development plan designed to boost cargo handling capacity to 110 million metric tons annually in 15 to 20 years.
The new container terminal consists of four 420-meter wharves. They will be capable of handling the world's biggest container ships.
The first wharf will be completed in two years.
The other three will be ready by 1981. An 80,000 ton silo may be built at one of the four wharves.
Measured at 26 kilometers, the southern part of the Suao-Hualien railroad has been opened to traffic five months ahead of schedule.
The section is from Hualien to Hsincheng in the north. Governor Hsieh Tung-min and Minister Without Portfolio R.C. Li, who is supervising construction, took a ride on the first train.
The railroad will haul only cargo, mainly cement, for the time being. Work was speeded to serve the Asia Cement Corp., which began production at its Hsincheng plant in mid-September. The line can carry 1,000 tons of cement a day to Hualien harbor for export.
Agricultural education is under study with a view to sweeping reforms, Education Minister Y.S. Tsiang said.
Members of an ad hoc study group include officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction, Provincial Department of Education, Taiwan Sugar Corp. and agricultural schools.
There has been a sharp decline in the demand for agricultural education as a result of accelerated industrialization. The number of schools has dropped from 43 to 6.
Minister Tsiang also said the supply of teachers at the secondary level has overtaken demand.
A survey has shown that only a third of students at the normal university and teachers colleges really want to teach.
The government may cut the number of teacher scholarships.
Five years of research at the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center will end in 1975. A second five-year program begins next year.
The center was jointly established by the Republic of China, United States, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines in 1971. Its purpose is to improve vegetable seeds and cultivation methods, develop new varieties, train technicians and exchange technical information.
The center chose soybeans, green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes and Chinese cab bags for research and improvement. These are the goals:
- Soybeans: Output per hectare in Southeast Asian countries ranges from 600 to 1,200 kilo grams. The goal is 2,000 kilograms with development of a disease-resistant variety and improvement of cultivation methods.
- Green beans: India and Thailand are major green bean exporting countries. Output per hectare is from 500 to 700 kilograms. The goal is at least 1,500 kilograms.
- Tomatoes: When the temperature of summer nights ~exceeds 23 degrees centigrade, ordinary tomato varieties will not bear fruit. The center is working on heat-resistant varieties.
- Potatoes: These tubers are grown in winter.
If heat-resistant varieties are developed, they can be grown around the year.
- Sweet potatoes: Output is the highest of any farm crop but nutrition value is low. A new variety with more protein and other nutrients and requiring less fertilizer is sought.
- Chinese cabbage: These vegetables are grown in autumn and winter. Heat-resistant and disease resistant varieties are sought.
Uranium fuel has been obtained to fuel three nuclear power plants for 30 years.
Chu Pao-hsi, director of the nuclear power department of Taipower said the supply agreement was signed with the United States.
One of the two generators of the first nuclear plant will begin operations late next year.
The three nuclear plants will have combined installed capacity of more than 5,000,000 kilowatts.
Taipower's installed capacity was 5,124,261 kilowatts at the end of June this year.