Chinese School Issue
Chinese authorities have urged the Philippine government not to close Chinese schools, as suggested by some Filipino officials.
Chairman Kao Hsin of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission said May 12 that it would be unwise for the Philippines to take such action when the two countries are cooperating to fight Communism.
He said Chinese schools in the Philippines have been teaching all required courses and setting aside only a minimum amount of time for teaching Chinese language, history, and geography.
The OCAC chief declared that Chinese lessons cannot infringe on any right or interest of the Philippines, as Chinese is widely studied in foreign countries, including many colleges and high schools in the United States. It is especially important for Southeast Asian nations to have knowledge of the Chinese language and culture, he added.
The Central Daily News pointed out in a May 16 editorial that establishment of these Chinese schools was based on provisions of the Sino-Philippine treaty of amity signed in April, 1947.
The paper said: "The Chinese residents in the Philippines can retain their mother tongue without being disloyal to the country of their adoption. Similar examples can be found in such multi-racial nations as Switzerland, Canada, Australia, and the United States."
Burma's Nationalization
The Burmese nationalization of foreign firms has caused anxiety about the fate of more than 400,000 Chinese in Burma. The Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission said most Chinese businessmen there were victimized.
OCAC Chairman Kao Hsin said May 3 that the Chinese government is ready to accept Chinese community leaders who are willing to leave Burma for resettlement in Taiwan. But most Chinese residents who have lived in Burma for generations will be encouraged to stay on despite the unfavorable situation.
He said the Ne Win government's nationalization of foreign business firms violates the people's right to make a living. He feared the nationalization, carried out just after Chou En-lai's visit, might lead to Burmese communization.
He said the Chinese government will send observers to areas neighboring Burma to investigate the expropriations. The Republic of China has no diplomatic relations with Burma.
Overseas Teachers Award
The Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission has announced a program to commend teachers at overseas Chinese schools on Teachers' Day (September 28) this year.
Citations will be given to the Chinese nationals who have taught in overseas communities for 10, 15, and 20 years. Some will receive cash awards.
Eligible teachers are asked to write the Commission by June 20.
Philippines
School Pros and Cons
The proposal of Philippine Immigration Commissioner Martiniano Vivo to close Chinese schools by August has led to spirited debate. President Diosdado Macapagal directed an interdepartmental committee headed by Acting Foreign Secretary Librado D. Cayco to study the problem.
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Mauro Mendez said he favored the closure of the Chinese schools so the Chinese would be "assimiliated and integrated into the Filipino way of life."
The Immigration Commissioner estimated there are 162 Chinese schools in the Philippines with enrollment of 55,005 students. He said they are "possible breeding places of elements who could become a menace to our national security."
Education Secretary Alejandro R. Roces said May 6 he would not take drastic steps against the Chinese schools. He admitted that the 1947 Sino-Philippine treaty of friendship authorizes the Chinese schools. He said he doubted if he had the power to close them.
Dr. Jesus E. Perpinan, director of the Bureau of Private Schools of the Education Department, also cautioned against the move. He said operation of the schools is governed by a special agreement reached with free China in 1955. No change should be made without China's consent, he said.
The special prosecutor of the Deportation Board, Department of Justice, supported Dr. Perpinan.
Pelaez Speaks Out
Philippine Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez declared May 12 that no satisfactory solution can be found for the "Chinese problem" because of President Macapagal's policy of "persecution against Chinese nationals."
An ad hoc presidential committee is grappling with the problems of some 2,500 overstaying Chinese, the proposed closure of Chinese schools, and the economic role of Chinese nationals.
Palaez, former Foreign Secretary, said that soon after assuming that post in 1962, he began investigation of the Chinese problems. But President Macapagal instructed him to "stop dealing with the Chinese question on a piecemeal basis and try to work out an integrated policy," he said, adding:
"President Macapagal, more than anyone else, is to blame for the unresolved status of overstaying Chinese nationals."
Fires at Divisoria
The Manila Chinese community has been hit by two more fires, both in the Divisoria district not far from the properties destroyed in the conflagration of February 21.
On the night of April 26, about 100 Chinese commercial establishments were razed in a three-hour fire. Property damage was estimated at some US$5 million. There were no fatalities.
The other fire at dawn May 8, killed 32 and injured 50. Nineteen of the dead were Chinese. Police estimated damage at US$1.5 million.
The Manila press reported police were investigating the possibility of arson.
The Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission in Taipei cabled sympathy and pledged assistance.
Japan
Student Manhandled
A Chinese student from Taiwan was manhandled by five Communist agents at the Chinese trade fair in Tokyo.
Kao Shui-chao, a student of veterinary medicine at Tokyo University, paid his way into the fair. The Chinese Communist attendants roughed up him when they found out he was from Taiwan.
Japanese police intervened and escorted him from the fair site.
Korea
Flood Near Seoul
Flood waters from week-long rains inundated 39 Chinese farms at Yundung-po near Seoul in late April. Some 200 persons were made homeless.
Chinese Embassy official Liu Tung-wei and Chairman Lu Chi-chin of the Chinese Residents Association of Korea visited the flooded area. The Association provided rice for the victims.
Hongkong
Discrimination in India
At a Legislature Council meeting, R. C. Lee has demanded that India's discrimination against Chinese from Hongkong with British passports be brought to the attention of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers meeting.
Lee said: "The plain fact is that one member of the Commonwealth has deliberately instituted discriminary regulations against a certain section of citizens of the Commonwealth which directly affect Hongkong."
Acting District Judge
Simon Li, former Senior Crown Counsel, has become the first Chinese resident of Hongkong to be appointed an Acting District Judge. He was assigned to the Kowloon District Court.
During the war years, Li studied at Kwangsi University and worked on the Chinese Board of Military Operations in Chung-king as a liaison officer in a British-sponsored unit. He studied law at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Malaysia
MCA Election Victory
The Malayan Chinese Association won 27 of the 37 parliamentary seats it contested in urban constituencies during the April 25 general elections. The MCA is the Chinese sector of Prime Minister Tengu Abdul Rahman's three-party alliance group.
In the 1959 elections, the MCA won 18 of the 30 seats it was allotted.
The People's Action Party, which controls Singapore, entered the Malaysian elections for the first time this year, hoping to provide a non-Communist alternative to the MCA. Only one of its nine candidates was elected.
Political observers said Indonesia's confrontation policy toward Malaysia was one of the important factors in the MCA victory. The Chinese in Malaya, indignant over Sukarno's anti-Chinese policy, voted heavily for the MCA, which supports Rahman's tough policy toward Indonesia.
Trade With Free China
A 28-member Chinese delegation has returned to Sarawak from a Taiwan trip with high hopes for more trade.
The delegation was instrumental in concluding an agreement with the Bank of Taiwan for issuing letters of credit. Orders were placed with a number of Taiwan companies.
The Chinese business community in Sarawak is planning to send another delegation to free China in October.
Canada
Chinatown Beautification
Vancouver's Chinatown will have a face-lifting. Plans call for rebuilding narrow streets into a tree-lined boulevard, construction of a Chinese arch, and shops with Chinese decor. Traffic will be rerouted and a parking lot provided near the Columbia street.
The Chinese community organization examined the plan at a meeting April 11.
United States
No Trade With Reds
A famous Chinese psychologist, Dr. D. K. Woo, has rapped California Governor Brown for suggesting U.S. trade with mainland China.
In a statement to the press in San Francisco, Dr. Woo said: "I advise Mr. Brown to learn more about the ABC's of the Communist behavior before he talks any trading or negotiation with the Reds."
The California governor favored trade with the Communists in a speech at Georgetown University in Washington, D. C., April 23.
Woman Physicist
The U.S. National Academy of Sciences April 18 presented its Cyrus B. Comstock Award to a woman, Dr. Chien-shiung Wu of Columbia University, for the first time.
She was given the award for her 1957 experiment verifying that the fundamental law of parity conservation does not hold true in weak nuclear interactions. She made the experiments to check theoretical conclusions reached in 1956 by Chinese physicists T. D. Lee and C. N. Yang, both Nobel prize winners.
Dr. Wu, born in Shanghai, went to the United States in 1936 after graduation from the National Central University in Nanking. She received her Ph.D. degree from the University of California in 1940 and is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Mother of the Year
Chinese-born Mrs. Helen Feng Chen, 62, mother of a remarkable family, was named Massachusetts Mother of the Year April 24. She has four sons. who either hold or are candidates for doctoral degrees.
The selection automatically placed Mrs. Chen in the contest for U.S. "National Mother." A Seventh Day Adventist, she said: "I give all the glory to God."
Born in Peiping, Mrs. Chen was the first Chinese girl graduated from Michigan State University, and then took a master's degree in nutrition at Cornell University. Her husband is Dr. Philip Chen, head of the chemistry department at the Atlantic Union College.
Brazil
Phony Reclamation firm
Many new Chinese immigrants in Brazil have been cheated by a phony organization, the Brazilian New Capital Reclamation Company.
The company was operated by a Chinese, Chen Tun-chen, and advertised in Chinese-language newspapers of Southeast Asia for Brazil immigrants under an alleged reclamation program. Some entered the country only to be defrauded. Others invested but didn't even reach Brazil. Chen was alleged to have collected about US$200,000.