(A summary of important events from November 16 to December 15, 1961)
November 16. The Eighth Kuomintang Central Committee concludes its fourth plenary session with election of a 15-man standing committee. D. Hernan Videla Lira, speaker of the Chilean Senate, says upon returning from a visit to Kinmen that he realizes the offshore island's contribution to the Free World. The Chinese Institute of Engineers concludes its three-day Golden Jubilee convention with the awarding of an engineering prize for 1961 to Lin Tse-pin, director of the Taiwan Highway Bureau.
17. Finance Minister C. K. Yen and Governor Chow Chih-jou sign a US$5,900,000 loan contract with the U.S. Agency of International Development. The money will be used on water works and harbor dredges. President and Madame Chiang Kai-shek send a message of condolences to the family of U.S. House Speaker Sam Rayburn. President Chiang Kai-shek appoints Dr. Sampson Shen, Chinese Ambassador in Brazzaville, as special envoy to attend national day ceremonies of the Republic of the Congo.
18. President Chiang Kai-shek appoints Dr. T. F. Tsiang, permanent delegate to the United Nations, as concurrent ambassador to the United States to replace Dr. George K. C. Yeh. Dr. Yeh is appointed minister without portfolio.
19. President and Madame Chiang Kai-shek receive four visiting Moral Rearmament leaders, including Peter Howard, British playwright-journalist, and Rajomhan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. The first couple also receive William F. Buckley Jr., editor-in-chief of U.S. National Review, and Mrs. Buckley.
20. The Veterans' General Hospital says Vice President and Premier Chen Cheng will be completely recovered from his illness after a brief period of recuperation. The Vice President became ill last month. A group of professors and students of the International School of America, headed by Dr. Claude Buss, pay a brief visit to Kinmen.
21. A group of 15 Chinese farmers leaves for Liberia on a two-year mission to help farmers there grow more rice. The group was sent by the Chinese Government under a Sino-Liberian agricultural cooperation agreement signed last spring. President Chiang Kai-shek, supreme commander of the Chinese armed forces, attends "Operation Kwang Wu", an annual military exercise to test the combat capability of the armed forces. Governor Chow Chih-jou, in his report to the Taiwan Provincial Assembly, warns against a "population typhoon" that might "blow away the fruits of our economic construction". He appeals to the people of Taiwan to increase their savings for stepped-up industrialization and agricultural production "so that everyone may have job, housing and a happy life".
22. Minister of Interior Lien Chen-tung says the government is studying a plan for emigration of surplus population. Prince Hubertus zu Lowenstein, advisor to the Office of Press and Information of the German Federal Government, arrives for a three-day visit. The Provincial Department of Reconstruction reports that overseas capital flowing into Taiwan approached the US$100 million mark as of last June. It also says that the International Development Association and the Council for United States Aid have made available loans totaling NT$376 million for the development of water resources in the Taipei area.
23. A three-man team of the Taiwan Tobacco & Wine Monopoly Bureau leaves for Hongkong on one-month tour to promote sale of its products. A 28-member People to People Council delegation from the State of Washington arrives for a three-day visit. Taiwan Power Company announces plans to construct the multi-purpose Tachien dam which would triple Taiwan's power generation capacity to 2,093,000 kilowatts.
24. Vice Admiral William A. Schoech, commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, arrives for a six-day visit. The Legislative Yuan approves a contract for the establishment of a US$22.5 million urea fertilizer plant. The contract was signed between the Chinese Petroleum Corporation and two American firms, Mobil Chemical and Allied Chemical Corporations. Foreign Ministry spokesman Dr. Wei Yu-sun tells the press that the Chinese government has full confidence of mustering sufficient votes in the United Nations to defeat the Soviet scheme to seat the Peiping regime in the world organization. Major General W. A. Davis, commander of the Aeronautic System Division, Air Force System Command, USAF, arrives with a retinue of 11 for a two-day visit.
25. President Chiang Kai-shek, in an interview granted to Takashi Oka, correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor, expresses confidence in recovery of the Chinese mainland in three to five years. U.S. Senator Allen J. Ellender (Democrat, Louisiana) arrives for a three-day visit. Preston G. Woolf, president of the Indianapolis Council on World Affairs, arrives for a three-day visit.
27. The Republic of China and the Republic of El Salvador conclude a cultural convention at San Salvador. President Chiang Kai-shek sends a message of congratulations to President Fulbert Youlou on the national day of the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), which falls on November 28.
28. President Chiang Kai-shek, accompanied by Madame Chiang and top military leaders, inspects naval units and a reinforced marine regiment in southern Taiwan. Iru Susiddhi Price, a visiting Buddhist monk from the United States, is ordained by Pai Sheng, president of the Chinese Buddhists Association.
29. Madame Chiang Kai-shek cuts the ribbon to open the Chinese Navy's orphanage in Kaohsiung, and visits the Chinese Army's orphanage in Fengshan. A total of 25,000 tourists visited Taiwan during the first nine months of this "Visit the Republic of China Year", announces Taiwan Tourist Association.
30. President Chiang Kai-shek watches a 50-minute Air Force show in southern Taiwan. It concludes the 10-day annual maneuvers of the three branches of the armed forces, which won presidential praise for toughness and combat capability.
December 1. K. Y. Yin, vice chairman of the Council for United States Aid, discloses that beginning in fiscal year 1962, U. S. economic grants will be discontinued and long-term loans extended. New Jordanian Ambassador Hani Hashem and new Guatemalan Ambassador Humberto Vizcaino, accompanied by their wives and children, arrive to assume their posts. Representative Robert R. Barry (Republican, New York) arrives for a two-day visit. The government approves investment of a Japanese company for construction of a 13-story tourist hotel in Taipei. The first atomic reactor in free China, installed by Chinese scientists on the National Tsing Hua University campus at Hsinchu, is put into service. It will be used to train students in nuclear physics and chemistry, and for production of radioactive isotopes for medical, industrial and agricultural use. The International Development Association grants a US$5 million loan to the Republic of China for development of private industries.
4. Marshal Boon Choo Chandrubeksa, commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Air Force praises a demonstration performance by the Chinese Air Force Thundertiger team of precision fliers. Two Chinese trawlers with crews totaling 16 leave Keelung for Thailand to provide knowhow and train Thai fishermen under a technical cooperation agreement between the two countries.
5. Philippines Ambassador to the United States Carlos P. Romulo and Mrs. Romulo arrive for a four-day visit at the invitation of President and Madame Chiang Kai-shek.
6. K. Y. Yin, chairman of the Foreign Exchange and Trade Control Commission, discloses Taiwan had a favorable trade balance of US$56 million for the first 11 months of 1961, excluding U.S. aid.
7. The Taiwan Provincial Government discloses the island's population increased by 33,516 last October to bring the total to 11,083,892. Chi Ming, Chinese Buddhist monk, leaves for Brazil to carry Buddhism to Latin America. Gen. Yang Sen, president of the Chinese National Athletic Association, holds a cocktail reception in honor of G. D. Sondhi, Indian member of the International Olympic Committee and vice president of the Fourth Asian Games.
8. President Chiang Kai-shek sends a message of felicitations to President Maurice Yameogo of Upper Volta on the first anniversary of that country's independence.
9. In a meeting to discuss feasibility of implementing educational and cultural reforms recommended by the Yangmingshan Forum, the Executive Yuan agrees in principle to lift restrictions on the size of newspapers, and also to liberalize restrictions on students who wish to seek study abroad.
10. Lt. Gen. Kim Chong Oh, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff of Korea, ends a six-day visit, declaring China and Korea are in full accord on supporting each other against Communist aggression.
11. Military engineering units start construction on the first of a series of 38 canals for irrigating 21,926 hectares (roughly 54,179 acres). The work is a part of the multi-purpose Shihmen Dam project. Dr. Jose Luis de Cossio, charge d'affaires of the Peruvian Embassy in Taipei, decorates General Peng Meng-chi, chief of the General Staff, General Chen Chia-shang, commander in-chief of the Chinese Air Force, Admiral Ni Yue-si, commander-in-chief of the Chinese Navy, and four other Chinese military leaders in recognition of their contributions to promotion of friendly relations between the two countries.
12. Vice Admiral Roland N. Smoot, commander of Taiwan Defense Command, makes an on-the-spot inspection of Kinmen, and warns that the Communists might commit new aggressions. Communist experts on Taiwan warn against putting too much emphasis on the rupture between Russia and Albania. They believe the Peiping-Moscow target of world conquest will remain unchanged. Alejandro Desmaison Seminaria, president of the Federation of Industries of Peru, arrives from Hongkong for a six-day visit to explore promotion of Sino-Peru trade. Chamnarn Yuvapurana, mayor of Bangkok, arrives for a nine-day visit.
14. The projected Taiwan Television Corporation signs a preliminary agreement with four Japanese electronics companies for the founding of the first Chinese television station in Taipei with capital of NT$30 million (US$750,000). Two American 4-H exchange students. Miss Dorothy Bickling and Charlie Brown, who spent five months in free China working with farm families, leave Taiwan for home.
15. Powers A. Lay, president of Taiwan Sugar Corporation, accuses Soviet Russia and the Peiping regime of dumping sugar to upset the world market. The Chinese Moslems Association calls upon U. N. delegates from Moslem nations to keep the Chinese Communists out of the world body. K. Y. Yin, chairman of the Foreign Exchange and Trade Control Commission, predicts that exports will reach US$230 million in 1962. Leopoldo Zea, director of culture of the Mexican Foreign Ministry, and Mrs. Zea arrive for a week-long visit. Vice President Chen Cheng's visit to the United States is placed first on the list of the "10 top domestic stories of 1961" by the Taipei Newspaper Editors Association.