President Chiang Kai-shek, who is also the ruling party's Director-General, told the opening session that the leadership should accept responsibility for completion of the reforms undertaken at last year's Tenth National Congress. The ultimate goals are national recovery and reconstruction, he said.
Liberation of the mainland will be expedited, he said, by the party's success in perfecting its organization, reforming political morals, accelerating rural reconstruction, implementing social reform and providing full employment. All these matters were on the four-day agenda.
A seven-member presidium was elected to direct the conference proceedings. Members were Vice President and Premier C. K. Yen; Huang Shao-ku, secretary-general of the National Security Council; Ku Cheng-kang, vice chairman of the Constitutional Research Committee of the National Assembly; Chiang Ching-kuo, vice premier; Hsieh Tung-min, speaker of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly; Miss Pi Yi-shu, secretary-general of the Chinese Women's Anti-Aggression League; and Li Chih-min, member of the Kuomintang Central Committee.
President Chiang nominated all 21 members of the Central Standing Committee for re-election. This top policymaking body of the party is made up of the following:
Vice President C. K. Yen.
Vice Premier Chiang Ching-kuo.
Ku Cheng-kang.
Chang Chi-yun, commandant of the National War College.
Huang Shao-ku.
Chow Chih-jou, director of the National Reconstruction Planning Committee of the National Security Council.
Defense Minister Huang Chieh.
Yuan Shou-chien, director of the Political Affairs Committee for War Areas of the National Security Council.
Nieh Wen-ya, vice president of the Legislative Yuan.
Cheng Yin-fun, deputy presidential secretary-general.
Hu Chien-chung, chairman of the Central Motion Picture Corporation.
Hsieh Tung-min.
Chen Ta-ching, governor of Taiwan.
Kuo Cheng, secretary-general of the Planning Committee for the Recovery of the Mainland.
Kuo Chi, secretary-general of the National Assembly.
Kao Kuei-yuan, chief of general staff.
Tsiang Yen-si, secretary-general of the Executive Yuan.
Minister of Economic Affairs Sun Yun-suan.
Minister of Finance K. T. Li.
Yen Chen-hsing, president of National Taiwan University.
Lin Ting-sheng, speaker of the Taipei City Council.
Vice President C. K. Yen reported on government progress in carrying out reforms recommended by the Kuomintang. He said two important steps have been taken: formulation of an outline for political and economic improvements and establishment of a supervisory and evaluation system for research and development.
Top-level teams were established to carry out the party's resolutions dealing with party organization, improvement of political and judicial standards, rural reconstruction, employment assistance and social reform. The Central Committee sponsored symposiums to obtain the views of lower-echelon party cadres.
The rural reconstruction program calls for Taiwan's second revolutionary land reform program (see separate article in the next issue). Farmers are to be persuaded to enter into voluntary agreement for collective operations that will permit mechanization and modern management but without sacrificing rights of private and individual ownership. Partly because of fragmentation, Taiwan farming has fallen behind industry and services in point of growth and production.
In the international sphere, the Kuomintang said, the time is ripe for the establishment of PATO—the Pacific and Asian Treaty Organization to correspond with NATO in the West. Multidimensional efforts were pledged to bring an Asian collective security organization into being.
The party declared war on graft in government. Measures will include sterner and more certain punishment for wrongdoing and increased rewards for honorable conduct. Higher salaries are urged for public functionaries.
Another resolution decried trial by newspaper. The party recommended that the press be forbidden to comment on cases under investigation or in the process of trial in order to protect the rights of the accused.
Finance Minister K. T. Li told the KMT that the government is striving to create 200,000 job opportunities annually. Vocational training is being stressed. Factories have been asked to contribute 2 per cent of their payrolls to a training fund.
President Chiang called on the nation to adhere to the spirit of self-reliance and pursue an independent foreign policy. He was presiding over the 24th plenary session of the National Security Council, which heard Foreign Minister Wei Tao-ming report on the April 4-8 conference of 14 chiefs of Chinese missions in Asia and the Middle East.
China can seize the initiative and speed the day of national recovery, the chief executive said.
Minister Wei said the Republic of China will:
— Seek closer unity in the Asia and Pacific region through political and economic cooperation and cultural exchange. The goal is a regional collective security system.
— Abide by the Charter of the United Nations and principles of international justice in its relationships with Middle Eastern countries. A just and lasting peace is the objective.
Minister Wei said the conferees agreed that Asia is the center of world crisis as a result of continued aggressiveness by the Chinese Communist regime and persistent undercurrents of appeasement.
Vice Premier Chiang Ching-kuo returned from a highly successful 10-day visit to the United States as the guest of Secretary of State William Rogers. He conferred with President Nixon, Vice President Spiro Agnew and Secretaries Rogers and Melvin Laird. Details of his trip will be found in a special article in this issue.
Among the leading Taiwan visitors of the month was New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister J. R. Marshall. He explored possibilities of increased trade.
Foreign Minister Choi Kyu Hah of the Republic of Korea discussed the forthcoming June meeting of the Asian and Pacific Council with President Chiang and other ROC leaders. He said the ROC and ROK pursue the same objectives and will work closely together against "visible and invisible enemies".
These were other distinguished visitors:
— Dr. Francisco Jose Guerrero, foreign minister of El Salvador.
— Mme. Sophie Lihau-Kanza, minister of social affairs of the Congo (Kinshasa).
Dr. Emilio Martinez Manautou, secretary-general to Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz.
— Henri Fayat, the Belgian trade minister and a party of 15 others.
— Vice Admiral Maurice F. Weisner, commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet. His flagship the cruiser Oklahoma City held open house at Keelung for two days.
— U Thant, the secretary-general of the United Nations, on a flight from Manila to Osaka. He did not leave the airport and declined to answer reporters' questions.
Returning from the United States was Dr. Bruce H. Billings, commissioner of the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction and special assistant for science and technology to the U.S. ambassador to China. He completed his two-year tour of mission last August but will stay on.
Japanese Ambassador Osamu Itagaki told a press conference that the friendly relations between his country and the Republic of China are not in jeopardy. The Japanese government plans no special contacts with the Chinese Communists, he said.
Foreign trade continued to show healthy growth in the first quarter of 1970. Exports were US$306 million and imports US$322 million for an imbalance of US$16 million. The comparable figures for 1969 were US$214 million and US$217 million.
For the first two months, industrial commodities accounted for 77.7 per cent of exports, up from 74.9 per cent in January and February of last year. Agricultural commodities did well for the first quarter, however, with a volume of US$75.8 million and an increase of nearly 25 per cent.
Government continued to push a program to reduce the imbalance of trade with Japan, which reached US$310 million last year. The hope was to sell more light industrial products and foods-including pineapple, oranges and papaya as well as bananas. Japan was asked to lower trade barriers against Taiwan goods.
An article in the Japan Times, which often represents the views of the Japanese government, suggested that Japan scrap its banana import monopoly and permit free trade with Taiwan. Bananas make up about US$60 million worth of Taiwan's exports to Japan.
The Republic of China will participate in 11 trade fairs during the fiscal year opening July 1. They are Bogota July 18-28, West Berlin August 25-31, Salonica August 30-September 20, Stockholm September 2-13, Oklahoma City September 25-0ctober 4, Frankfurt February 28-March 4, Johannesburg April 2-15, Tokyo April 16-May 5, Melbourne (May) and Canada June 2-12.
Ninety-one overseas Chinese investments totaling US$27,551,000 were approved in 1969, marking a decline of US$11,801,000 from 1968. The drop was attributed to the mitigating of Communist obstructionism in Hongkong and subsequent economic boom there.
Newly established under the Ministry of Economic Affairs is the Steering Committee for Industrial Development with Economic Affairs Minister Y.S. Sun as chairman. Subcommittees have been set up for chemicals, machinery, textiles and nonferrous industries.
Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Yen-tien told the Legislative Yuan that the government may draft anti-dumping and anti-trust laws to protect the Taiwan market against flooding by Japanese commodities.
Some trade planners spoke of more freedom and others of increased protectionism. The direction in which Taiwan will move was still to be determined. Foreign trade has been marked red ink except for a couple of years in the middle 1960s.
Exports of iron and steel products are expected to reach 250,000 tons this year, an increase of 80,000. The government has tentatively decided to build an integrated steel plant and is discussing construction with Australia.
Construction will be started tills year on a US$12.5 million paper and pulp plant using bagasse as raw material. The Taiwan Sugar Corporation will build the factory and provide its own sugar cane waste. Location will be at Pingtung in southern Taiwan and capacity will be 300 tons of pulp daily. Completion is slated for 1972. Annual revenues are estimated at US$14 million.
The World Bank approved a US$18 million loan to the China Development Corporation to finance private industrial projects in Taiwan. Interest will be 7 per cent on the 15-year loan.
Out of drydock at Keelung came the stern section of the 100,000-ton tanker MV Yu Tsao, largest ship ever built in Taiwan. The forward section will be completed by the end of September. The two halves then will be welded together. Cost is US$9 million.
Taiwan will have its first salt plant using the ionization process instead of sun-drying. Once a salt exporter, Taiwan has recently been unable to keep up with the growing demand for industrial varieties.
Walter Fei, vice chairman and secretary-general of the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development, predicted a gross national product of US$5.5 billion for this year. That would represent a gain of 12 per cent. National income is expected to reach US$4.27 billion, compared with US$3.7 billion last year.
Reporting to the Economic Affairs Committee of the Legislative Yuan on the Fifth Four-Year Economic Development Plan that began last year, Wei said progress was satisfactory. He said more than US$1.27 will be invested in economic plan projects this year.
Industrial products will account for about 34 per cent of the GNP this year, compared with 18.2 per cent for agriculture. Exports will rise by some 18 per cent and imports by 10 per cent.
Fei told of plans for the 1970s that are expected to make Taiwan a fully industrialized province by 1980. Growth will average 8.5 per cent annually. This will mean a GNP of more than US$12 billion and national income of more than US$9.5 billion by 1980.
Economic Affairs Minister Sun told the Legislative Yuan that more flexibility is needed in administration of the economy. He said that legislation takes time which often cannot be afforded. Specifically cited were tariff and tax rates and the line-up of government organizations responsible for the management of economic affairs.
K. H. Yu, governor of the Central Bank of China, returned from the Seoul meeting of Asian Development Bank directors and said ADB can be expected to support additional projects in the Republic of China. ADB is already committed to help finance the north-south expressway, elevation of railroad tracks in Taipei and construction of a power plant. Feasibility studies will be made of an oil port in northern Taiwan, a plastics plant project of the Taiwan Fertilizer Corporation and a development loan project of government banks.
Taipei commodity prices for March were 5.73 per cent above those of the same month last year. Government administrators told the Legislative Yuan that economic stability will be a principal goal in the 1971 fiscal year.
Electrification of Taiwan railroad's will be the subject of a US$250,000 study by the British firm of Kennedy and Donkin. The project will be completed before the end of 1970.
To electrify the trunk line between Keelung and Kaohsiung would cost about US$75 million. Advantages would include those of increased speed and reduction of air pollution.
A final government decision on the elevation of railroad tracks in Taipei was delayed pending adjustment of differences among the Taipei City, Taiwan Provincial and National Governments. Signing of a design loan with the Asian Development Bank was postponed. A Taipei City Council resolution opposed the project. Councilmen seemed to prefer the construction of flyovers to solve traffic problems presented by rail traffic now routed through downtown and suburban Taipei.
Land requisition is under way for the Taipei-Yangmei section of the north-south freeway. Construction of this 44-kilometer stretch will begin next spring and be completed in mid-1973. The right-of-way will be 100 meters wide along the road, which will have six to eight lanes.
Completion of the entire 375-kilometer express-way from Keelung to Kaohsiung is scheduled for 1975. The cost will be US$250 million.
Also in the planning stage is a 10-year program to build other important highways, including one around the island. Cost will be US$62.5 million.
Completion of the second harbor entrance at Kaohsiung will be speeded by a construction breakthrough that has produced round caissons measuring 24 meters in diameter by 16 meters in height. These caissons will expedite construction of the breakwaters on the northern and southern sides of the harbor mouth. One hundred and thirty-five of them will be needed. Completion of the Kaohsiung project is scheduled for July of 1975.
The projected new port at Wuchi in central Taiwan has been designated Taichung harbor by the Executive Yuan. Construction will begin next year and be completed by the end of the 1970s in a series of stages.
First landing of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet is expected at Taipei International Airport July 1. The flight will be one of Northwest's from the United States by way of Tokyo. Airport projects currently nearing completion include the enlargement of taxi-ways and aprons, expansion of the terminal and rebuilding of the control tower.
Work will begin next year on the new Taipei international airport at Taoyuan, 25 miles west of the city. A connection with the north-south highway will bring the new airport within half an hour of Taipei.
Under planning by the Ministry of Economic Affairs is a 10-year plan to develop the shipbuilding industry. New yards and facilities will be built and existing installations modernized. A shipbuilding industrial zone is planned at Keelung. Volume of ships coming from the yards of the Taiwan Shipbuilding Corporation is expected to reach 300,000 tons annually.
Merchant fleet expansion will cost about US$35 million in the next five years plus US$14 million to shipbuilders over a longer period. New vessels will include a 16,000-ton container vessel. Most new ships will be built in Japan. Some used vessels will be purchased.
Under new customs regulations, containers may be sealed and then taken to factories or warehouses for declaration of the contents.
Freight on bananas shipped to Japan has been raised from US30 cents to US42 cents per case of 16 kilograms. Higher costs were blamed.
Tourists totaled 34,368 in February for a gain of 18 per cent over the same month last year. Overseas Chinese numbered 3,673.
Named by the China Youth Corps were the year's 12 outstanding young people. There were three girls and the ages ranged from 17 to 35. The awards have been made annually for the last 15 year.
A survey by National Taiwan Normal University showed that primary school children are growing heavier and taller. Sixth-grade girls averaged 31.41 kilograms, compared with 30.78 in 1968. Height had increased from 139.26 to 141.18 centimeters.
Pay of primary and middle school teachers will be increased for the next school year. Those doing administrative work will have their teaching loads reduced. Students at normal schools will receive increased allowances to induce more young people to enter teaching.
The Ministry of Education reported 3,926 schools in Taiwan for an average of over 10 schools per 100 square kilometers. Teachers number 111,670 and students 3,809,930.
Steps are being taken to cut the junior high school dropout rate, which was 5.89 per cent for the second semester of the 1969-70 school year. Most students leave for financial reasons. Free textbooks and other assistance will be given. For this academic year, Taipei's junior high attendance rate is 95.28 per cent compared with 73.7 per cent for the rest of Taiwan.
According to a poll conducted by the Tamkang College of Arts and Sciences, college students are not well satisfied with their majors. Out of 5,745 questioned, more than 82 per cent said they are not deeply interested in their principal field of study. Only 1 of 23 students in one animal husbandry department was satisfied. Students tend to be dissatisfied with agricultural courses and to prefer business administration and the professions.
Another survey suggested that education is not meeting the needs of the economy. For 1968-71, there will be 82,600 junior high graduates and demand for 87,000. The supply of industrial school graduates is 7,400 for 10,000 jobs and that of technical schools 4,500 for 7,100 jobs. Other shortages include 800 sailors, 200 nurses, 800 agronomists, 400 teachers, 300 doctors, 1,100 engineers and thousands of skilled workers. There is an oversupply of those educated in the liberal arts.
The Institute of International Relations will help Chengchi University establish a doctoral program in Asian studies. Other graduate schools and new undergraduate programs in various sciences and technologies are to be established at colleges and universities in the next three years.
The Committee for Assistance to Returned Students said some 2,100 Chinese students and scholars will return to Taiwan in the next three years to undertake teaching or other assignments. About 400 are expected this year.
Dr. Wang Shih-chieh, president of the Academia Sinica, the highest research institute in the Republic of China, retired at the age of 80. He said he thought a younger man should take over. From three candidates elected by the Academia Sinica Council, President Chiang Kai-shek chose Dr. Chien Shih-liang, president of National Taiwan University, as Dr. Wang's successor. Dr. Chien was succeeded by Dr. Yen Chen-hsing, former minister of education and president of National Tsinghua University and the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology.
These were Taipei City developments for the month:
— A 1970-71 budget of US$82.5 million allocates 35 per cent of the total for education. The increase over the current year is US$4 million.
— More than 200 Taipei income tax returns for 1969 showed income of more than NT$1 million (US$25,000). In all the rest of Taiwan, there were only 32 declarations of this amount.
— Master plans for a US$100 million sewerage system are nearly complete. The project will take 10 years and will solve the problem of pollution that has killed virtually all marine life in the Tamsui River and its tributaries.
— Work is under way on a US$6 million flood control project to protect low-lying areas during the 1970 typhoon season.
— Domestic water supply is to be tripled in a 15-year expansion plan beginning in 1971. The capacity of the waterworks will be increased from 480,000 to 1,730,000 metric tons. Cost will be US$100 million.
— Six air pollution checkpoints were established. Samples will be collected and analyzed.
— With completion of a first four-year slum clearance program in June, 11,376 shacks will have been pulled down. Nearly 4,000 apartments have been built for the displaced and 4,000 more are scheduled for construction in the 1971 fiscal year.
— Underground passageways are to be built on Chungshan North Road at Nanking East-West Road and Min Tsu East-West Road. Chungshan is the city's main north-south thoroughfare.
— Private bus companies are asking for a fare increase from NT$1.50 to NT$2 (US10 cents). They also want special fares fixed at NT$1. Students, military personnel and police are currently charged NT50 cents. Government employees and public school teachers also receive discounts.
— Direct dial telephone calls may now be made to Keelung, the port city for Taipei.
— Twenty-eight streets and seven bridges will be widened and improved in fiscal 1971.
— Ground was broken for a new 13-story hotel with 300 rooms. It will be one of Taipei's largest.
— A helicopter will be bought to help fight high-rise fires. Extension ladders of the fire department can reach only to the 10th floor.
Dr. T. H. Shen, chairman of the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction, told the Legislative Yuan that per capita income in the agricultural sector has increased 3.4 times since 1952 compared with 4.8 times in non-agricultural sectors. He said this is hurting agricultural productivity.
The antidote, he said, is the encouragement of a specialized agriculture in which farmers will raise the most profitable crops with the help of mechanization. Also under consideration are tax incentives to encourage investment in agriculture and fishery.
Power tillers may be imported if local manufacturers fail to lower production cost and cut prices.
Due to open by July is a US$1 million banana laboratory to study problems of production, marketing, quality control, packaging and export. Almost all Taiwan bananas go to Japan but competition for that market is increasing. New Zealand has expressed interest but shipments will require fast refrigerated ships and improved packing.
Dehydrated vegetables will make their debut in Taipei this summer. Experiments also will be undertaken with the packaging of fresh vegetables in smaller containers than those used in the past.
More farm demonstration teams will be going out to win friends for the Republic of China. One will be sent to the Congo (Kinshasa). Congolese agronomists will receive advanced training in Taiwan.
Chinese agronomists went to Ecuador and Bolivia to survey areas in which Chinese demonstrators may be useful. Ecuador wants help in rice processing, storage and irrigation. Bolivia hopes to improve rice, sugar cane, soybean and cotton production and to introduce rotational irrigation and modernize farm management.
To augment capital for investment, the government is undertaking a national savings campaign. Government agencies, schools and business and industry are being urged to pay their employees through banks. Special accounts will be set up to attract deposits.
The postal savings system will provide additional incentives, especially for teachers and students, who are among customary depositors. Offices will be established at schools and civic institutions.
Farmers' associations and women's organizations will be called upon to sop up idle capital.
Savings reached a total of US$1,225,000,000 in January, up nearly 25 per cent in a year.
Finance Minister K. T. Li reported tax collections for fiscal 1970 will be overfulfilled.
Tax research will be continued by a new agency when the Commission for Taxation Reform goes out of business June 30. The new body will operate under the Ministry of Finance.
World Bank President Robert MoNamara is coming to Taipei in mid-May to sign a US$44.5 million loan to the Taiwan Power Company for expansion projects. He will look into other loan possibilities.
The money will be used principally for construction of a thermal power plant in northern Taiwan, the building of a hydro station on the Lower Tachien and power transmission lines between northern and southern Taiwan. Additional generation will total 550,000 kilowatts.
Taipower expects to increase its installed capacity 60 per cent from 2.25 million kilowatts to 3.75 million in the 1970-73 period. With the program complete, Taiwan's power will come 70.4 per cent from thermal and 29.6 per cent from hydro sources.
Dr. Anthony Kubek, editor of The Amerasia Papers (see separate article in this issue), departed for home in Dallas after a two-week visit to Taiwan. He came at the invitation of Paul Cardinal Yupin, chairman of the China chapter of the Free Pacific Association, and Yu Chi-chung, chairman of the China Times. He made these points during his stay:
— China is one of the United States' best friends because of its realistic view of Communism.
— History will do justice to the Republic of China of yesterday and today.
— The three major factors in loss of the mainland to the Communists were pro-Communist communications media, the U.S. military embargo against the National Government and anti-ROC personnel in the State Department.
— General Douglas MacArthur was right in attributing loss of the mainland to Washington's blunders. MacArthur called this the greatest tragedy in 100 years of American diplomacy.
— Warsaw talks between the United States and the Chinese Communists will not produce any substantive results.
— Leftists in the United States are receiving financial support from Peiping, Moscow and Havana.
— American news media are not giving balanced reports to the American public. He added that Vice President Spiro Agnew's criticisms have made the American people aware of the problem.
Kubek will return December 14-19 for the first Sino-American Conference on Mainland China to be hosted by the Institute of International Relations. About 50 scholars will attend. Sponsors will be the Joint Council on Sino-American Cooperation in the Humanities of the Academia Sinica, the Institute of East Asian Studies of National Chengchi University, the Institute on Chinese Mainland Problems, the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, the Institute of International Studies of the University of South Carolina and the Institute for Sino-Soviet Studies of George Washington University.
The Free China Relief Association marked its 20th anniversary at a meeting in Taipei. Ku Cheng-kang, the chairman, reported that the organization had assisted nearly 155,000 refugees to resettle in Taiwan and had assisted a total of 1.6 million persons who fled mainland tyranny.
Vice President C. K. Yen said FCRA had won its political battle with the Chinese Communists. President Chiang Kai-shek's message urged the association to give more assistance to the anti-Communist and anti-Maoist people of the mainland.
FCRA dispatches balloons laden with daily necessities to the mainland and has airdropped food and other articles.
Chinese have always liked the moon and they showed it at an exhibition of the real moon rocks presented by the United States. More than 100,000 visitors turned out for the first day of the showing—an all-time record. The turnout reached 300,000 in three days and the exhibition was extended for a week, although some of the moon rocks had to be taken to Kaohsiung for the opening of a showing there. The rocks were brought back by Apollo 11 astronauts.
Opened at the National Palace Museum were six new display rooms permitting the showing of additional treasures from the inventory of 242,592. Capacity is now 5,000 visitors at a time.
Despite television, Taiwan movie stars are getting the highest pay of their careers. An actor received US$10,000 for one film and an actress the same amount for two movies. Her career was begun seven years ago at US$35 a month.
New figures are miniscule by Hollywood comparison. Yet they represent tremendous gains. Even a couple of years ago a salary of a few hundred dollars a month was considered princely for the biggest stars.
Proposed by the Bureau of Cultural Affairs of the Ministry of Education is a broadcasting law that would limit TV commercials to 10 per cent of air time and radio ads to 15 per cent. Television advertising is now at a level of 15 to 20 per cent. Educational, cultural, news and public service programming would have to make up half of total air time. Sixty per cent of TV broadcasts would be locally produced.
To Professor Lin Shenghsi went a Ministry of Education award for his contribution to music education. The composer-conductor came from Hongkong to receive his award and to conduct the Taipei Symphony Orchestra in a Beethoven bicentennial performance.
Sino-Japanese calligraphers held their third conference at the Taipei City Hall. The Japanese sent a delegation of 168.
The Republic of China declared war on cancer, which has become the island's No. 2 killer, on the occasion of World Health Day. Interior Minister Hsu Ching-chung said the government would provide out-patient service for victims. Dr. Wang Yao-tung, director of the Taipei Municipal Health Bureau, said the city would establish a hospital for cancer and allied diseases.
Lung cancer has increased three times in the last decade, said Dr. Hsing Chao-tuo of the Veterans General Hospital. He said cigarette consumption is increasing at a rate of 4 per cent annually.
Parents were urged to take their children to health centers for vaccination against encephalitis. The disease is serious in Taiwan in summer and the mortality rate is high.
According to a survey conducted by the National Taiwan Normal University, nearly 4 of every 10 primary school pupils in suburban Taipei has intestinal parasites. Nearly a third of those tested have roundworms. Other organisms are tapeworms and flukes.
Taiwan's anti-cholera inoculation campaign got under way in March. Shots are free at health centers.
From the World Food Program came US$163,500 worth of food to help the Chen Hsing Rehabilitation Center care for handicapped children. The center was established by Madame Chiang Kai-shek.
Dr. Hu Hsin-ying of National Taiwan University reported that later marriage is effective in reducing Taiwan population growth. He also found that Taiwan families were no longer insisting on sons and said this has helped reduce the size of families.
Visiting Vice Admiral Maurice F. Weisner, commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet, said any changes in patrolling of the Taiwan Straits amount to a redeployment. He said the ships of his fleet are ready to repulse aggression against Taiwan. Admiral Weisner said the 7th Fleet is the world's most powerful naval flotilla. It has 150 ships, 550 aircraft and personnel of 65,000.
General Lewis W. Walt, assistant commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, came to Taipei for a two-day visit.
Sino-American military exercises began in April and are continuing through May. Chinese forces are planning and conducting small-scale tactical operations to counter enemy infiltration and guerrilla operations in Taiwan's rugged central region.
Another cooperative activity between Americans and Chinese brought together meteorologists. Represented were the Ministry of National Defense, Chinese Air Force, U.S. Air Force, Chinese Army and Navy, Taiwan Provincial Weather Bureau, China Airlines, Air Asia, Weather Central of the Chinese Civil Aeronautics Administration, National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University, the College of Chinese Culture and Chung Shan Institute of Science Technology.