Captive Nations Week has been observed in the Republic of China ever since President Eisenhower established the movement in 1959. People's rallies are conducted annually in Taipei with the participation of foreign friends and freedom fighters who have escaped the Communist yoke.
In his message to this year's rally, President Chiang Kai-shek said the movement "will grow stronger and stronger until freedom and independence are restored to all the captive nations".
"The free world has shown profound sympathy and strong support for the people of the captive nations during this last decade," the President declared. "These people have been encouraged to rise up against the slavery and despotism that obtains behind the iron curtain."
He pointed out that the free world has reached a new height of solidarity with recent establishment of the World Anti-Communist League and thus is able to capitalize on the "internal weaknesses, contradictions and conflicts of the Communist bloc". He called for expansion of the Captive Nation Week movement.
Peace depends upon the eradication of Communism from the Chinese mainland, President Chiang said, and the moment of this victory may not be far off. "Mao Tse-tung is trembling in fear at the sight of adverse domestic and international developments," said free China's chief executive. "He is accelerating internal exploitation, persecution, class struggle and purges. He is making war in Vietnam and elsewhere in Southeast Asia so as to undermine Asian security and threaten world peace. At the same time, he is instigating an anti-war movement in many parts of the world. International appeasers have been mobilized to give credence to factual distortions and to create an atmosphere and environment suitable to Peiping's purposes. These developments are part of Mao's death agony. The flames of anti-Communist and anti-Maoist undertakings are rising higher and higher throughout the mainland. Bodies of the victims of armed struggle have been washed down China's rivers to Macao and Hongkong, attesting to the fierceness of the fighting and the extent of the turmoil. The Peiping regime is a decaying organism that soon will fall apart in all its rottenness. This collapse can be expedited with a fatal thrust from the forces of freedom waiting on the mainland periphery."
President Chiang said like-minded and benevolent people - intellectuals, workers, farmers and reformed Communists - will be welcomed "to participate in our Anti-Mao National Salvation United Front".
Vice President and Prime Minister C. K. Yen addressed the more than 2,000 persons attending the meeting. "The Chinese mainland is a shambles as a consequence of the long, cruel control of the Mao Tse-tung regime," he said. "Anti-Mao and anti-Communist revolutionary movements of the people have reached a new peak of intensity. Mao is responding with increased brutality and even massacre. The bodies of those dying in this violence have been washed down mainland rivers and have reached Macao and Hongkong. This is truly hell on earth... No evidence of Maoist crimes could be more convincing than that of these silent witnesses."
Vice President Yen warned that another large-scale mainland exodus may be expected at any time, and called upon free governments to give "sympathy and humane support to Chinese refugees who are opposing slavery and seeking freedom".
Attending the Taipei rally were U.S. Representative Horace R. Kornegay of North Carolina and Jay Field, executive vice president of the Hawaii Foundation for American Freedoms Inc. Field urged worldwide support for the Republic of China's recovery of the mainland. "No man can truly be free who is burdened with the knowledge that hundreds of millions are still slaves," he said.
President Chiang answered questions for a reporter of the Beirut newspaper Le Soir. Commenting on Arab-Israeli conflict, the President said: "We are much concerned about the tension and the latest threat of war in the Middle East. We sincerely hope a practical and peaceful political solution can be found on the basis of territorial integrity, sovereignty, humanism and justice for all nations concerned so that all the peoples of the region can enjoy the blessings of peace."
Discussing the Vietnam war, President Chiang said Peiping's control over Hanoi is not as effective as a year ago, and that this is evident in the dispatch of North Vietnamese representatives to Paris. However, he added, a just and honorable peace is not likely in Vietnam or elsewhere in Asia "so long as the militant Peiping regime with its wicked motives of infiltration and subversion is permitted to remain in existence on the Chinese mainland".
The President ordered shipment of additional relief rice to Chinese refugees at Pontianak in Indonesia. The Republic of China sent 2,000 tons of rice to Indonesia last year and another 500 tons and a shipment of medicines early this year.
An honorary Doctorate of Laws was conferred on President Chiang by Nihon University of Tokyo, which has 50,000 students to rank as Japan's largest. Jujiro Furuta, chairman of the board of directors, read a citation noting that President Chiang's contributions were based on Oriental thought and calling attention to his contributions to Sino-Japanese friendship and cooperation. Nihon's President Kikushiro Nagata presented the degree to Ambassador Chen Chih-mai, who represented President Chiang in the ceremony at the ambassadorial residence.
Some of Taiwan's most pressing problems were explored at a three-week Seminar on Modern Engineering and Technology in Taipei. More than 450 attended, including 20 leading Chinese engineers and scholars from the United States. Specific subjects were electronics, power transmission, chemistry, urban development, materials research and food processing.
Vice President C. K. Yen addressed the opening session and called for increased use of women workers. He cited a survey showing that women account for 83 per cent of the unemployed but potentially employable labor force. Of 4,136,000 persons gainfully employed, women make up less than 30 per cent. He said that nursery facilities and labor-saving devices must be encouraged so that more women will enter the labor market.
The Vice President's words were echoed in Provincial Government statistics on job seeking and placement in May. Of 8,580 seeking employment, 5,673 were men and only 2,907 were women. But employers wanted 7,411 women and only 5,141 men. Women were in strong demand by the booming textile and electronics industries. For the last five years, job opportunities have increased 535 per cent compared with a 279 per cent gain in those seeking employment.
Seminar participants recommended that steps be taken to reduce the population increase to less than 2 per cent annually. These were other proposals:
-Establishment of vocational schools and technical institutes with the help of private business and industry.
-Opening of a commodity inspection bureau and a technical information center for the electronics industry.
-Start of construction of an integrated steel plant as soon as possible.
-Construction of additional thermal power plants to avoid shortages during the dry season.
-Creation of an organization to promote housing and supervise urban development.
-Improvement of the investment climate.
-Setting up of a government agency for manpower survey and allocation, and development of more jobs for women.
-Encouragement of managerial and other specialized training and of research and graduate study.
Economic progress was steady despite some instability internationally. Foreign investment held up well during the first six months of 1968 with a total of US$32 million. Last year's record total was US$62 million. Faster growth was expected during the second half of the year as a consequence of government establishment of an investment screening committee that will include representatives from all the agencies concerned. This will reduce red tape and expedite approvals.
The Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development announced it was earmarking funds for the establishment of two new industrial zones this year - one at Hsintien in Taipei county and the other at Tantzu in central Taiwan. Sites are yet to be chosen for three more zones in northern, central and southern areas. The government erects factory buildings and provides other facilities in these zones. Those established to date have been highly successful, including the first export processing zone at Kaohsiung, where 60 plants are already in operation.
Growth of the machinery industry has averaged 12 per cent annually during the last 16 years and is expected to reach 18 per cent during the fifth Four-Year Economic Development Plan that begins next January. The industry's goals for this year are:
-General machinery, 100,000 tons, half for export.
-Internal combustion engines totaling 50,000 horsepower.
-Farming machinery, 4,000 units.
-Powered pumps, 150,000 horsepower.
Also to be encouraged is the production of machinery for textile and chemical industries.
Local industries are encouraging sale of their own products with a National Goods Promotion Center. Taiwan-made products will be exhibited not only in Taipei but throughout the island. Special efforts will be made to encourage sales to government and military personnel.
The island's largest fertilizer plant will become operational at Hsinchu this month. Production at Plant No. 5 of the Taiwan Fertilizer Co. will be 360,000 metric tons of nitrogen fertilizer annually. Construction began five years ago. The additional plant will raise Taiwan's fertilizer capacity to 1,210,000 a year and make additional quantities available for export.
Two new 300,000-kilowatt generating units are under construction at Talin, seven miles south of Kaohsiung. One will come into service next July and the other in June of 1970. The US$81.4 million project will boost island output to 2,390,000 kilowatts, of which 75 per cent will be from thermal sources and the other 25 per cent from hydroelectric generators.
An industrial progress note came with the release of radio and television statistics by the Taiwan Telecommunications Administration. The island has more than 1.5 million radio sets and nearly 200,000 TV receivers. License fee for transistor radios has been reduced from US75 cents to US37½ cents annually. The fee for ordinary radios remains at US75 cents and that for TV sets at US$1.50.
Inflation was the subject of a meeting of the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) at which it was decided to establish an ad hoc group to look into commodity price increases and recommend control measures.
Taiwan's living costs have been remarkably stable in recent years. Inflation has been only 3 to 5 per cent annually, and this is well below the percentage gains for production and per capita income. But many prices have soared during recent months. One legislator estimated increases at 30 per cent for land and housing, 50 per cent for construction materials, 10 per cent for food in general and 60 per cent or more for vegetables.
Causes are complex. Additional taxes have been levied on some commodities and services to help the government balance the budget. There were charges that some manufacturers raised prices before they were hurt. A surtax of from 26 to 30 per cent was assessed against most imports. Entertainment taxes were raised sharply but no one seemed to be complaining about that except movie house owners, who said the high tax bite and television were driving away patrons.
In the case of vegetables, weather and exports were to blame for soaring price levels. The spring was cold and wet and the export level high. As the shortage became serious, the government forbade further foreign sales until fall.
Taiwan tax reform is now under study by a commission headed by Dr. Liu Ta-chung and established under Executive Yuan auspices. Dr. Liu, an economist at Cornell University in the United States, said the objective is a taxation policy to further economic development, promote price and supply stability and distribute the cost of government equitably.
Revenue from income taxes has increased nearly five times in the last five years - from about US$3 million to $15 million annually. However, income levies still make up less than 10 per cent of the government's revenues.
Trade statistics for the first half of 1968 gave promise of substantial growth for the whole year. In the six-month period, exports totaled US$386 and imports US$412 for a bearable deficit of US$26 million. What counted was the US$39 million increase in exports (11 per cent) versus the gain of only US$7 million (2 per cent) in imports.
Textiles maintained its place as top exchange earner at US$73 million, up by 30 per cent. Plastics showed a 79 per cent export gain. The imports up most sharply were chemicals (50%) and man-made fibers (40%), both of which go into exports.
Foreign exchange holdings were up, not down, despite the deficit. US$50 million worth of imports was paid for with self-provided exchange during the five months of the year. This meant a net gain for the first six months of about US$30 million.
The Republic of China had two major trade goals in mid-1968: (1) reduction of the deficit with Japan and (2) increase of commerce with free Europe.
Japanese trade was discussed at a meeting in Tokyo. Relaxation of Japan's restrictions against fruit and meat imports was sought in order to raise the volume of Taiwan sales. Purchase of Japanese manufactures has increased much faster than Japan's buying of Taiwan's agricultural commodities.
Export of Taiwan processed agricultural goods to Common Market nations reached a record of more than US$52 million in 1967. The increase was 100 per cent in four years. Canned asparagus, mushrooms and pineapple led the way. The leading market was West Germany, which bought US$36.7 million worth of Taiwan products.
Returning from a six-week trip to six European countries was a seven-man economic mission headed by S. Y. Dao, secretary general of the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development. Dao recommended that Taiwan exporters limit sale of canned foods to the Common Market so as not to flood the market and invite quotas. He said European bankers were interested in making trade loans to Taiwan but that the island's exports would have to be diversified.
The Republic of China is planning to enter additional trade fairs in Europe and will open more trade offices and reinforce commercial personnel. The countries visited by the Dao mission were West Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Holland.
Trade with the Philippines set a record of nearly US$25 million in 1967. The balance favored Manila by about 3 to 2. Taiwan's big purchase from the Philippines is lauan, which is processed into plywood for export. Last year the usual Taiwan sale of rice and cement to the Philippines was augmented by export of machinery, electrical appliances, metals and chemicals.
Transportation is usually in the spotlight on Taiwan. With population and economy growing so fast, the island is always trying to catch up.
Convened at the Mandarin Hotel in Taipei was the first Asian Chinese Shipping Amity Conference. One hundred and twenty Chinese representatives from 16 countries and areas participated: the ROC, Malaysia, Sarawak, Singapore, Brunei, Sabah, Indonesia, Thailand, Hongkong, Timor, Okinawa, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, the United States and Great Britain.
President Chiang Kai-shek sent a message urging Chinese shippers to help promote Taiwan's trade. Vice President C. K. Yen said the nation requires a modern merchant fleet and must rely on overseas Chinese to help provide it.
Eleven resolutions were adopted, most of them aimed at increased cooperation among Chinese shipping interests.
Awards were presented to 19 outstanding seamen chosen by shipping companies. More than 5,000 Chinese seamen also are serving on 150 vessels of 35 foreign countries. They are contributing US$9 million to the nation's foreign exchange.
Taipei's railroad problem apparently is still far from solution. Both mainline and branch tracks run through the heart of the city and tie up traffic. Should they be elevated, placed underground or removed to the suburbs?
Elevation is economical but noisy and not too tightly. The construction of a subway would be costly and would face drainage problems. Taipei is built on marshy land and drainage is poor. Conversion of TRA trains to diesel is not yet complete and steam locomotives could not be used in an underground system. Removal of the tracks to an outlying area would inconvenience tens of thousands of travelers and give rise to a new transportation problem.
The Executive Yuan is expected to complete its study of all the factors and make recommendations within the next few months.
Taiwan Province has a four-year plan for the expansion of transport and harbor facilities. Estimated annual increases are 8.1 per cent for rail passenger traffic, 3.4 per cent for rail cargo, 6.3 per cent for highway passenger volume and 8.3 per cent for highway cargo. Capacity of Keelung and Kaohsiung ports will be raised by 9 per cent. Another loan of US$30 million will be sought from the World Bank for railroad expansion. Seventy new Highway Express buses have been ordered.
Most Sino-American educational exchange is from Taiwan to the United States. But not all. An example of the reverse tendency was expressed as a six-week Asian institute for American high school social science teachers got under way at Taipei American School. Enrollment totaled 40.
Held under the auspices of the University of Southern California, the course has a faculty that includes Lin Yutang and George Yeh, former ambassador to the United States.
Taipei American School will pioneer this fall in the use of standard Chinese textbooks for the teaching of Mandarin in grades 3 through 12. Formerly the Chinese language was taught through use of the Yale University system of romanization.
The changeover provides for use of the 37 phonetic symbols employed in teaching Chinese children. These give a more accurate guide to Mandarin pronunciation than is possible with romanization. Elementary textbooks will be the same as those used in Chinese schools. Advanced students will use Chinese social studies, history and geography texts and the Mandarin Daily, a student newspaper that employs the phonetic symbols.
Twenty-eight university presidents visited Taiwan after attending the Seoul conference of the International Association of University Presidents. They were from the United States, Thailand, Greece and Okinawa. President and Madame Chiang Kai-shek gave a reception for some of the presidents and their wives at the Chungshan Building on Yangmingshan.
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs H. K. Yang went to Athens for a meeting of Chinese diplomats stationed in 16 European and Middle Eastern countries, then continued on to Africa for his 22nd tour of that continent. This time his itinerary included 19 countries.
Thailand and China signed their first Agreement on Technical Economic Cooperation after a week's conference in Taipei. Another meeting will be held in Bangkok next year. China will send an agricultural mission to Thailand and the Thais will reciprocate with urban and highway planners. Increased trade and industrial cooperation also were discussed.
Dr. Bruce H. Billings arrived in Taipei to become science coordinator of the American Embassy and the U.S. member of the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction. Ambassador Walter P. McConaughy disclosed that a working group has been established in Washington to assist in the ROC's science development. Medical and industrial projects are already scheduled.
Distinguished visitor of the month was Dr. O. K. J. Masire, the vice president of Botswana. He stayed for nine days and saw much of the island, including the industrial installations and agriculture of the south. Botswana and the ROC pledged continued cooperation at the United Nations and in international affairs generally. Chinese agricultural assistance to the southern African country will be stepped up.
Ghana sent its first mission to Taiwan since gaining its independence in 1957. The seven-man group was headed by Albert Adomakoh, commissioner of agriculture, and stayed for 11 days. Other visitors from Africa were Alexandre John Ohin, Togo's permanent delegate to the United Nations, and Roger Felex-Tchicaya, an official of the Ivory Coast's foreign ministry.
Agricultural agreement with Gambia was renewed for another two years. The farm demonstration team working there will be increased from 16 to 24 members. Preparations were made for reopening of the embassy in the Central African Republic, which had recognized Peiping during a brief pro-Communist phase. A 16-man agricultural mission will be sent to the CAR.
Four agronomists left for Iran to study the agricultural needs of that country. Specific steps for technical assistance will be recommended on a basis of the survey.
Forty government officials from 16 Asian countries spent five days in Taiwan under auspices of the Asian Institute for Economic Development and Planning. They came from Thailand in the course of a six-month training course and went on to Japan for further study. The program is sponsored by the United Nations.
Eight members of the South Vietnam House of Representatives came for a week's goodwill visit.
Chinese cooking fared well diplomatically. Two chefs specializing in Szechwan cuisine went off to the Congo (Kinshasa) to cook for President Joseph Mobutu. The former Ambassador Hotel chefs signed one-year contracts at US$500 a month. They carried with them their own spices and utensils as well as recipes.
An important forward step in social security was taken with Legislative Yuan revision of the labor insurance bill. Beneficiaries will be 880,000 laborers and some 100,000 white collar workers and their families. Unemployment benefits were added and medical provisions liberalized. No limit is imposed on hospitalization.
Retirement of government officials is to be spurred with more generous pensions. The government's retirement goal is 3 per cent a year but the figure attained has been 0.6 per cent. Employees reaching the age of 65 often cannot afford to leave their jobs.
Plans call for the payment of a sizable cash from the special welfare fund in addition to the retiring worker's regular pension. Specific provisions will be set forth by the Executive Yuan.
Under study by an ad hoc group established by the Executive Yuan is the possibility of lowering the price of fertilizer to the farmer. The present grain-fertilizer ratio was set at a time when Taiwan was importing 300,000 tons of fertilizer from Japan annually. Now the island is self-sufficient and soon will have an export surplus.
Cheaper fertilizer would cover the cost of production but encourage higher unit production and the use of marginal lands.
However, some economists maintain that high fertilizer prices are, in effect, a form of taxation. Farmers are prosperous now, they say, and if fertilizer prices are cut, rural areas may not be paying a fair share of the increasing burden of government costs.
Compost is a form of fertilizer that also serves the needs of environmental sanitation. The Taiwan Provincial Government is planning a US$3 million program to establish 77 compost plants to process 1,500 metric tons of garbage and vegetable waste daily. Garbage trucks will convey the organic matter to the plants.
The Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction announced a budget of more than US$9 million for 305 projects. About 55 per cent of the money will be spent on loans to farmers.
Agricultural cooperation with South Vietnam was renewed for a year. Size of the mission will be reduced because of wartime difficulties. Part of the Chinese teams will serve the needs of cultivation and livestock improvement and another group will continue to work in the field of rural reconstruction.
Progress in the Chinese military has entered the computer age. An IBM 360, Model 20, 3rd Generation, is sorting out the formidable logistics problems involved in taking care of 600,000 men and their requirements. Processing of military orders can be completed in an hour and a half compared with the 379 man-days that were required previously. Duplications are discovered and eliminated - more than 5,000 of them already.
General Liu Yu-chang, reporting on the operations of the Taiwan Garrison Command, said Taiwan's security and stability are the best in East Asia. TGC was marking its 10th anniversary.
Lt. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis was relieved as commander of the 13th U.S. Air Force. In his departure statement, he said that the Chinese Air Force is "one of the real powerful forces in this part of the world". The CAF is planning to move into space medicine at a new research center that will be fully operational by 1974.
Tourism did remarkably well considering the international monetary crisis and efforts to discourage American travel. The January-June total was 146,314 visitors, not counting American GIs from South Vietnam on R&R leave. This was a gain of 26.6 per cent over the same period last year.
Japanese topped the list of 120,746 foreigners with 51,479 and Americans were second with 34,319. Then came Filipinos, 7,193; Australians, 4,062; and British, 3,131. Overseas Chinese totaled 25,568.
With the Japanese taking over the dominant position among visitors - 42.6 per cent versus 28.4 per cent for Americans in the first six months of 1968 - the government invited Japanese tourism specialists to spend a month in Taiwan and make suggestions. A seven-man team was headed by Takashi Hirayama, president of the Japanese National Tourism Association.
Taipei, which gets about 70 per cent of tourism revenue, is setting up its own committee to improve facilities for visitors. Mayor Henry Kao has expressed his interest by offering to accept the chairmanship.
Hotel management specialists came from Hawaii and the Philippines to lecture at a 12-day seminar in Taipei. Some 70 hotel executives studied organization, budget control, personnel training, international conferences and restaurant administration.
Government officials amended aborigine reservation regulations to terminate the necessity of obtaining special permits to visit a number of scenic areas in the mountains. Passes may be obtained from police for overnight stays or longer visits. Only a passport or ID card need be shown and the fee is US12½ cents.
Home to coach the Chinese Olympic team for the Mexico City Games is C. K. Yang, the world decathlon recordholder and one of the most successful athletes in Chinese history. Now that the decathlon scoring system has been changed, his mark of 9,121 points may never be broken.
Yang, his wife and two children arc living in Los Angeles, where he is an insurance broker. He was greeted at the airport by his parents, who live at Taitung on the east coast, and some 300 admirers.
Asia's third Christian Laymen's Conference was held in Taiwan with the attendance of some 100 leaders from 10 countries and areas. A resolution denounced Communist atrocities on the Chinese mainland.
President Chiang Kai-shek sent a message in which he compared the world struggle against Communism with the Christian battle on behalf of truth and righteousness. Jesus taught the people to love their neighbors, he said, and this is in complete accord with the traditional Chinese teaching of benevolence toward all.
Himself a devout Christian, the President urged the laymen to heed the Bible's bidding to be doers as well as listeners. The fourth conference will be held in Hongkong.
Some 75,000 refugees from Chinese Communists have been settled in Taiwan with the assistance of the Free China Relief Association. With mainland turmoil mounting, the FCRA called upon free world countries generally and Asian states in particular to give maximum assistance to those escaping from Maoist tyranny.
FCRA notified Hongkong authorities that it is prepared to help any refugee reaching the colony and to arrange Taiwan resettlement for those who wish it.
Chinese opera, which is undergoing a renaissance that stems partly from popularization through the medium of television, will be streamlined for modern audiences.
Cultural leaders agreed to seek the incorporation of more classical Chinese music in the drama, to shorten longer plays and to change plot lines so as to eliminate anachronisms and implausible situations.
Symbolism of the Chinese drama - including face-painting, gesture and economy in use of scenery and props - will be retained. There will be no attempt to reshape the theater as political propaganda in the manner of the Chinese Communists.
A committee of 11 members and 5 advisers has been appointed to direct the opera modernization.