They are not members of a lost generation, he said, but entering an era of awakening, struggle and hope.
The Premier attributed the nation's many successes to patriotism and nationalism among young people.
"Ahead of us are even harder tasks," the Premier said.
In contrast with the bright future of free China, Premier Chiang told the trainees, the fate of the Communist regime on the mainland has been sealed by its failures.
Teng Hsiao-ping's rehabilitation can only mean the start of another power struggle, he said.
The Premier said Lt. Col. Fan Yuan-yen's courageous defection shows that the people on the mainland are struggling desperately for freedom.
"As long as we persevere and struggle unwaveringly, all difficulties can be overcome," he said.
"If we insist in achieving our national goal and persist in the independent spirit of the nation, no one can isolate us, no one can cause us to waver and no one can defeat us."
The Premier said summer vacation training was aimed not only at improving military knowledge and physical condition, but also at affirming the confidence and responsibility of the younger generation.
Answering questions raised by Neil Martin of the Christian Science Monitor, Premier Chiang said that the continuing cooperation and mutual trust of the two countries is imperative in safeguarding Asian-Pacific security and assuring world peace.
The Premier said: "The relations between the Republic of China and the United States are traditionally close and friendly. I am convinced that the continuing cooperation and mutual trust of the two countries is imperative in safeguarding Asian-Pacific security and assuring world peace. As the leader of the free world, the United States should be fully aware that no matter what steps the Chinese Communists take to cover up their intentions, they will never change their basic nature of aggressiveness."
Following are some of the questions and answers:
Q. Does President Carter's warning about violations of "human rights" in other countries pose any special problems or concern in your country?
A. I wholeheartedly approve of President Carter's efforts to emphasize morality and human rights in international affairs. The Republic of China is a democratic country based on constitutional rule and has always respected human rights. We are deeply concerned about the inhuman life of our 800 million compatriots enslaved under Communist tyranny. They have no human rights whatsoever. It is our responsibility to help restore their freedom and their human rights.
Q. Can the ROC survive without the protection of the U.S.-ROC security pact?
A. The U.S.-ROC mutual defense treaty is a link in the Western Pacific collective security system of the United States. If the treaty did not exist, much more than the security of the Republic of China would be imperiled. The stability and prosperity of the United States, the other free nations of the Western Pacific and the whole of the Asian-Pacific region also would be seriously jeopardized.
Q. Does the continued diplomatic recognition of Red China by other world governments pose any special economic hardships for the ROC?
A. The Republic of China is prepared to maintain good diplomatic relations with all free and democratic countries. I wonder what benefits have accrued to those governments recognizing the Chinese Communist regime. As a matter of fact, many of the countries which have recognized the Chinese Communists are wary of them. Ironically, they are often more friendly to us than to the Chinese Communists. As to whether there have been any economic effects, our highly developed economy should be a sufficient answer.
Q. Will international investors in the future become more and more hesitant to invest in Taiwan for fear of jeopardizing future business possibilities in mainland China?
A. Most of the international investors are from strong industrial countries. Considering Taiwan's social stability and good investment climate, there is no need for them to worry about the Chinese Communists and hesitate to invest in Taiwan.
Q. Do you feel the ROC is strong enough to weather future economic recessions and changes in world trade trends and patterns?
A. In the last two or three years, the Republic of China has learned a great deal about controlling inflation and coping with economic recessions. We have reduced to the minimum the damages inflicted on our economy by the world economic cycle. We are working hard to improve our fiscal and tax structure and to strengthen the other fields of our economic system. We are confident that we have become more competent to cope with any future economic recessions. We also have anticipated the continuing changes in the trends and patterns of international trade. Our government and people are striving to adjust our industrial structure and to perfect and develop our trade organizations in preparation for any challenge. We are determined to maintain the stability and growth of our foreign trade.
In his capacity as chairman of the Kuomintang, Premier Chiang encouraged party members to remain calm, firm, tranquil and courageous, thus overcoming all difficulties and assuring the final victory of the National Revolution.
Speaking to members attending the 1977 party affairs meeting at Yangmingshan in the suburbs of Taipei, Chairman Chiang said that from the viewpoint of diplomacy, "We believe that the coming of difficulties will be the time in which we gain our biggest victory.
"With our own will, perseverance and strength, we will break through all kinds of adversities."
The late President Chiang Kai-shek overcame difficulties through firmness, peace of mind and courage, the chairman said, and expressed hope all party members can do likewise.
"We have 17 million people on Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu who are anti-Communist and have won the goodwill of the 800 million people on the China mainland," he continued.
"Life on the mainland is getting worse. The Communist situation is becoming chaotic. We can eliminate the Communist regime and accomplish our historic mission of recovering the mainland and liberating our countrymen."
Free China does not believe it is inevitable that the United States will establish diplomatic relations with Peiping, Ambassador to Washington James C.H. Shen said in an interview.
"The Chinese Communists hope the United States will help them by weakening us," Shen said. "But why should the United States do that?"
"They may give a tacit understanding not to attack us, but can the word of Communists anywhere in the world be trusted?" Shen asked. "We are not asking for anything except to leave things as they are. We hope the administration will let the status quo continue."
Shen said the U.S. defense treaty with the Republic of China is not likely to be scrapped.
"If that treaty is broken, it will cast doubt about the United States in Asia and elsewhere," Shen said. "It would create new instability," giving Peiping control of the Taiwan Straits and threatening Japan.
"A treaty is a treaty," h'e said. "There can be no substitute for it. A treaty is ratified by at least two-thirds of the Senate. It becomes a part of your law, and the United States has a reputation - so far - for not reneging on its treaties.
"So long as that treaty remains in force, it will continue to serve as a deterrent. Once it is gone, the Chinese Communists may misinterpret and attack.
"If the people in our part of the world get the notion the United States cannot be trusted any more, I think there would be a great loss of American prestige. This is a very serious matter."
Shen had high praise for President Carter's emphasis on human rights in foreign policy. "It is good," he said. "It is to be expected of the United States of America. American foreign policy has always been a mixture of moralism and pragmatism. That's why we Chinese say the United States is special; it is not just another Western country."
Shen said plans for withdrawal of American forces from South Korea have worried American allies in Asia. "The withdrawal apparently will be phased, but the intention is clear," he said.
"The United States wants to take all ground combat forces out of Asia. Normalization indicates that sooner or later you will even remove your offshore defenses," he said.
Shen described Taiwan as the central part of a security chain stretching from Northeast and Southeast Asia. "If you abrogated the treaty, you would break that chain right in the middle," he said.
Shen said reaction on Capitol Hill, where the importance of maintaining the security of Taiwan has been emphasized recently, "is quite reassuring. "
"I also have been traveling a lot throughout the country, and my findings are that most American people are with us," Shen said.
"I am convinced the American people don't want to sell the free Chinese people down the river."
Opposition parties of the Republic of China wrote President Jimmy Carter advising him to desist in efforts to "normalize relations" with the Chinese Communist regime.
The letter from the China Democratic Socialist Party reads in part:
"For more than 20 years, the government of the Republic of China in Taiwan has been remaining firmly in the democratic camp, and under the supervision of an assembly composed of three parties, conducting reforms. It has been well established. The secure life of the people and growing prosperity of economics in Taiwan are conspicuous to the world, presenting a striking contrast to the inhumanity and life of slavery under the Chinese Communist totalitarian regime on the China mainland.
"Negotiating with the Chinese Communist regime as initiated by your government has caused discredit to you among the Asian people. The people of the world have been admiring your human rights advocation and freedom and moral diplomacy. The policy of negotiating with the Chinese Communist regime adopted by you obviously violates your national spirit of respecting human rights and rationality; therefore it should be discarded by the wise.
"In this crucial moment, we earnestly hope that you will ponder again the advantages and the disadvantages of negotiating with the Chinese Communist regime."
The letter of the China Youth Party, signed by chairman Fung-chi Huang, said:
"It is no exaggeration that normalization of relations with Communist China would not only finally put the 16 million people of the Republic of China under the oppression and tyranny of the totalitarian regime, but would bring virtual disaster and chaos in Southeast Asia.
"The whole world knows that the 800 million people living on the China mainland are deprived of all freedom. Normalization of relations with. Communist China would be against your worldwide call to respect human rights and moral principles.
"We sincerely hope you, with your highest wisdom and incomparable courage, will take immediate steps to stop any plans to establish normal relations with Communist China."
These were other developments in the worldwide movement opposing U.S. "normalization of relations" with the Chinese Communists:
- More than 2.7 million American veterans and their wives have urged President Carter to continue diplomatic relations between the United States and the Republic of China, an American Legion spokesman said.
- Twenty-eight Congressmen, most of them Democrats, sent a letter to President Carter asking the United States not to scrap its mutual defense treaty with the Republic of China.
- The General Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of China sent a letter to its U.S. counterpart opposing U.S. "normalization" with Peiping.
- In a resolution adopted unanimously, the Los Angeles City Council reaffirmed support of the friendship between the United States and the Republic of China and faithful' adherence to agreements between the two nations.
- Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives criticized the Carter administration's policies toward the Far East, including its China policy.
- Calling abandonment of the Republic of China a "betrayal" of American principles, Representative John Ashbrook said it is unnecessary to abrogate the Sino-American mutual security treaty of 1954.
- Representative Larry McDonald (D., Georgia) cautioned President Carter against selling out the Republic of China in chasing "the will-o'-the-wisp" of normal relations with the Chinese Communists.
- Representative William L. Dickinson of Alabama said: "It appears the administration's China policy is going to result in our long-time friends, the free Chinese, being 'dumped down the tube.' I am not sure the American people, if they understand the real and moral issues, will let it happen."
- The Chicago area Chinese Student Association has launched a one-person-one-letter campaign urging members to write letters to President Carter.
- In a special report on Northeast Asia, the Association of the United States Army warned of adverse repercussions from any U.S. decision to accept Red China's terms for "normalization of relations."
- In an open letter to President Carter, the councilors of the Association of Catholic Professors said: "(1) We are all God's children, endowed with the same human rights, so we must not allow double moral standards. (2) Moral courage, faithfulness to our words and agreements, the ability to distinguish between friends and foes are the spiritual foundations upon which world peace is built. (3) From the very beginning of human history, religious freedom has been a sign of the recognition of man's basic rights."
- Granting diplomatic recognition to the Chinese Communists on Peiping's terms "is an unnecessary, and at best, a risky venture," a group of American intellectuals attending the 1977 Seminar on China Studies for Sino-American Youth in Taiwan declared in an open letter to President Carter.
- An open letter signed by 3,500 Americans and printed in the New York Times urged President Carter to maintain diplomatic ties with the Republic of China.
Typhoons Thelma and Vera inflicted little damage on the North-South Freeway but slowed construction.
However, the 373-kilometer freeway will be completed by the end of next year on schedule, said Hu Mei-huang, head of the Freeway Engineering Bureau.
The highway is now about 80 per cent complete, Hu reported.
He said the typhoon damage of about NT$30 million (US$790,000) was held down by precautionary measures.
Some prefab beams were washed away by floods. Makeshift roads were obliterated.
The freeway is divided into three sections: northern of 142 kilometers from Keelung to Miaoli, central of 87 kilometers from Miaoli to Hsilo and southern of 144 kilometers from Hsilo to Fengshan.
Construction on the three sections is going on simultaneously. Part of the northern section has been opened.
Precautions for operation of the electrified rail system were announced by the Taiwan Railway Administration.
TRA warned that power of 25,000 volts requires people to keep at least 1½ meters clear of installations.
Work on the 2G-kilometer section between Hsinchu and Fukang has been completed and trial runs are under way.
Taichung harbor authorities stepped up operations to offset the slowdown at Keelung and Kaohsiung, which were seriously damaged by typhoons Thelma and Vera.
Taichung harbor borrowed two heavy cranes from the Taiwan Railway Administration and the Retser Engineering Agency to speed container loading and unloading.
Although seven heavy cranes were damaged at Keelung and Kaohsiung, 80 per cent of port operations were quickly restored.
Japan and the Republic of China will lay a communications cable between Okinawa and Taiwan. Cost is estimated at more than US$20 million for a distance of 640 kilometers. Work will be completed in about two years.
T.C. Chiang, general manager of the International Telecommunications Development Corporation, and M. Masuda, president of Nippon Asia Submarine Cable Company, signed the agreement.
The 480 audio circuits will connect with the transpacific cable from Okinawa to the United States.
Kokusai Denshin Denwa, a Japanese international telephone company, and the Chinese Government Radio Administration will handle traffic.
CGRA is expanding communications to the Philippines with additional microwave systems.
Oil prospecting on land is being stepped up by the Chinese Petroleum Corporation.
Wu Te-mei, CPC vice president, said surveys have been conducted in Taipei, Miaoli, Hsinchu, Taoyuan; Tainan and Ilan counties.
CPC has conducted seismic surveys in coastal areas of Lukang, Taoyuan and Peikang and gravity surveys in coastal areas of Chingshui, Tuchang and Peikang. Magnetic surveys have been conducted in Taoyuan, Taipei and Yuanlin counties.
Four of nine test wells are yielding 540,000 cubic meters of natural gas and 49.3 kiloliters of crude a day. Two thermal wells are producing 89 metric tons of hot water and 11.5 tons of steam per hour at Chingshui.
CPC will produce 1.96 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 252,000 kiloliters of crude in fiscal 1978.
Consumption of natural gas will reach 4,760,000 cubic meters per day this year: 46.90 per cent for industry, 27.61 per cent for raw material, 14.06 per cent for power generation and 11.43 per cent for household fuel.
CPC will refine 1,240 kiloliters of liquified natural gas, 160 kiloliters of diesel oil and 20 kiloliters of fuel oil daily.
To improve the quality of natural gas at Chukuangkeng in Miaoli county, CPC is building a carbon dioxide removal unit at a cost of more than US$5 million. It will be completed in April, 1978.
Installed capacity of the Taiwan Power Company will be increased by more than 4.6 million kilowatts when the first Six-Year Economic Development Plan is completed in 1981.
David S.L. Chu, president of the company, said installed capacity will be nearly 10 million kw by the end of that year.
Taipower completed installation of three generators with capacity of 1.071 million kw in 1976 and 1977. Each of two generators at the Hsiehho power station near Keelung has installed capacity of 500,000 kw. The No.4 unit at the Linkou power station has capacity of 71,000 kw.
The first nuclear-powered generator will be completed in June of 1978. Capacity will be 636,000 kw. The second generator will be completed in August of 1979.
The third generating unit (500,000 kw) at the Hsiehho station will be completed in June of 1980.
These are completion dates for other generators planned in the 1976-81 period:
- No.1 unit at Anping power station, 500,000 kw, June, 1981.
- No.4 unit at the Tienlun Hydro plant, 26,500 kw, November, 1978.
- Yung Hua hydro plant, 40,000 kw, December, 1981.
- Offshore island plants (7,400 kw), June, 1978, and March, 1981.
The Hsiehho station will add four gas turbine generators, each with capacity of 60,000 kw. The four generators will have a combined 240,000 kw, Chu reported.
Taipower installed capacity exceeds 5.88 million kw from 29 hydro and 16 thermal plants.
Hydro generation is 1.365 million kw (23.2 per cent) and thermal generation 4.519 million kw (76.8 per cent).
Taipei City has one of the fastest changing skylines in Asia.
Taiwan's big cities have had a building explosion in the last few years. Above: Boulevard leading south from Taipei airport. Right: High rise with old-style dwel1ings in the foreground. (File photo)
Tall office buildings, apartment structures and department stores are cropping up everywhere.
The construction boom started five years ago and is expected to last for at least another three years.
The government has limited construction height to 70 meters (229.6 feet).
Figures from the Department of Public Works indicate that the construction area has doubled in seven years, rising from 1.77 million square meters (0.67 square miles) to 3.523 million square meters (1.34 square miles).
Although 65 per cent of the structures are for housing, they have failed to catch up with the demand. The population density reached 7,362 persons per square km (0.38 square miles) last year.
The development of Taipei must proceed along a double-barreled course of initiating new projects and rebuilding the old, Mayor Lin Yang-kang said.
Taipei is nearly 300 years old. The older districts are characterized by crowding and disorder.
Urban renewal is essential, the mayor said. Two projects have been finalized.
The Hsinlungli project covers an area of three hectares around the Chung Cheng Memorial Hall. Houses will be pulled down. New high-rise apartments will accommodate 700 families.
The Hsinyi project calls for development of a l46-hectare area after removal of an ordnance plant.
Due to land scarcity, development of residential sites will concentrate on suburbs and slope lands.
Another important project will be the rebuilding of 165 Taipei villages for military dependents. The area is 169 hectares.
Mayor Lin said the joint operation of Taipei bus lines is improving service.
The second step will be the increase in the number of buses. By next summer year, the city will have 2,670 big buses and 130 small ones.
New north-south trunk roads are planned.
Mayor Lin disclosed that the average speed along Chungshan North Road, main north-south thoroughfare, is only 8.5 kilometers an hour.
The Social Affairs Department of the Taipei City Government will build two "Yi Yang Yuan" (Resting Gardens) for people over 65. Six thousand pings of government land in Yangmingshan and 3,000 pings in Mucha have been allocated.
The multi-story establishments will have recreational grounds, gardens and other facilities, Nurses will be on duty 24 hours a day.
About four-fifths of the registered poor have been moved off the relief rolls in the last five years, Governor Shieh Tung-min told the Provincial Assembly.
Poverty has been wiped out in 31 of 345 townships.
Underprivileged families numbered 22,144 with 86,203 persons in 1976 compared with 74,247 and 391,463 before the "Well-to-do Program" was begun five years ago.
The governor reiterated his determination to eliminate poverty.
The handicraft industry has helped more than 55,000 families in rural areas. The governor's program to "turn living rooms into family handicraft workshops" provides work for 155,600.
The governor reported on such other projects as "turning wasteland into pasture," "creating public property," "building industrial roads" and "developing industries to process farm products."
Governor Shieh pledged the equalization of land rights and fair elections in November.
Farm production rose 5.9 per cent in the rust half of this year, an increase of 0.2 per cent over the same period in 1976.
Production increased 10.7 per cent in 1976 as a result of rural reconstruction, said Chang Hsiun-shun, commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry of the Taiwan Provincial Government.
The average farmer's income rose 89 per cent from 1972 to 1975, he said.
The government is planning new granaries to accommodate the rice surplus.
Granaries with capacity of 300,000 metric tons will be built in the next three years. Present warehouses can store some 800,000 metric tons of rice.
Taiwan is growing about 2.7 million metric tons of rice annually. Some has been exported.
Exports of agricultural products will reach US$1.2 billion this year, an increase of 5 per cent over 1976, a senior official of the Board of Foreign Trade said.
In the rust seven months of this year, exports of agricultural products totaled US$682.3 million, 13.5 per cent of the total.
These were the leaders:
- Canned mushrooms, US$76.4 million.
- Canned asparagus, US$49.9 million.
- Sugar and preparations, US$87.3 million.
- Bananas, US$23.1 million.
- Other fresh fruits, US$146.l million.
- Canned pineapple, US$6.9 million.
- Fishery products, US$146.l million.
Farmers' earnings are rising faster than those of non-farmers, said the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Forestry, but in absolute terms, non-farmers still make more than farmers.
In 1972, the average farmer made NT$7,540 (US$200). His earnings had increased by 89 per cent by 1975. The increase after inflation was 15 per cent.