President Chiang Kai-shek, in a message to young people, said major duties of the Chinese young people today are rejuvenation of Chinese culture and revival of morality.
He said: "The Communist destruction of the traditional culture of China has posed an emergency in which our 5,000-year-old culture is in danger of being extinguished overnight.
"There is no culture whatsoever in a Communist slave society. Mao Tse-tung, who is accelerating his undertakings to create a slave society of 700 million people, is desperately afraid of ... San Min Chu I (the Three Principles of the People of Dr. Sun Yat-sen) culture ... This is why he must endlessly purge and persecute intellectuals—'all intellectuals hold Mao in contempt and Mao hates them in reprisal'—and also why he must once and again deprive the youths of their right and opportunity to education.
"He has ordered workers and military forces to occupy schools, forcibly exiled teachers to rural areas to perform hard labor, instigated teenagers to tear up their desks and turn them into wooden spears and to receive education in the hatred of 'imperialists' and in militarism."
President Chiang pointed out that "We are confronted today by a confused and lost generation in which righteousness and justice do not prevail and morality and ethics are neglected. Humanity has been deeply injured by materialism and spiritual civilization has been negated and destroyed. Moreover, social morality and ethical concepts have broken down to an extent where they cannot be disciplined by rules of propriety and law and cannot be modified by sense of honesty and shame.
"Intrinsically, the evil conceptualizations of Communism are based on a system of hatred which holds that morality is the tool of the ruling class and that religion is the anesthetizing opium of the capitalists.
"Mao Tse-tung, who is determined to undermine morality to an extent where all sentiment and feelings of mercy and pity are cast out, is especially fearful of the influence of the Confucian and Mencian advocacies of benevolence, righteousness and morality.
"He refutes all moral and ethical values and is ceaselessly engaged in trying to uproot the 'poisonous weeds of Confucianism.' He is destroying family ethics and confounding human relationships to a point where fathers, sons and brothers deny and fight each other..."
"Our Founding Father, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, told us," President Chiang continued, "'Only where there is morality, can there be a nation, and only where there is morality, can there be a world.'
"The young people of today must take up the responsibility of eradicating the anti-human, anti-moral wicked tyranny on the Chinese mainland; and also take up the responsibility for cultivating the self, regulating the family, governing the state and bringing peace and happiness to the world through the education of the people, the promotion of right conduct, the correction of current wrongful practices and the benefiting of all the people everywhere."
A week after Youth Day, the people of free China observed a new national holiday, the Ching Ming Festival or Tomb-Sweeping Day. This folk holiday was raised to national level to preserve memorial day sentiments in the face of Communist cultural destruction on the mainland.
Like Easter, Ching Ming occurs toward the end of March or in April. For thousands of years, the Chinese have been going out to the suburbs to visit the tombs to their ancestors on this occasion.
They sweep the tombs, clear away weeds and long grass and make repairs. Rites include prayers that ancestors will lead peaceful lives in heaven.
The tradition of Ching Ming derives from Chinese thinking that "when you drink water, think of its source." It is akin to Memorial Day in the United States, especially in earlier times. Both Ching Ming and Memorial Day occur in the spring. Chinese sweep their tombs happily when the weather is good, the sun is shining and birds are singing. This is an occasion to take the family out for a picnic or excursion. In the countryside, there are flowers and the trees are bursting into leaf. A famous painting in the National Palace Museum in Taiwan is called "Up River on Ching Ming Festival," or "A City of Cathay," which describes activities on this occasion in the Sung dynasty.
In this painting, more than 4,000 persons are to be seen attending one activity or another. There are acrobatic shows, opera performances, wedding processions, eating and fortunetelling. The atmosphere of spring festival prevails along a river running through the capital of Sung at Kai Feng.
James C. H. Shen, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, told Rotarians at Honolulu that the Republic of China has not had, and will never have, any contact with the Chinese Communist regime on the Chinese mainland.
He said: "You negotiate to gain. But to negotiate with the Communists you will have every chance to lose. We have had bitter experiences. Why should we do it again."
Shen said that regardless of what may happen on the international scene, no one can ignore the existence of the 15 million people in Taiwan with a defense force of more than half a million.
"Since the United States terminated economic aid in 1965," Shen said, "the Republic of China has been on its own. Today, Taiwan's per capita income is rated second highest in Asia. The total volume of foreign trade amounted to four billion dollars last year, about the same as that of the Communist-occupied mainland with 700 million slave-laborers. "
In a speech at San Diego, Ambassador Shen said that although some of the underdeveloped nations voted against her in the United Nations, the Republic of China is still giving economic and technical aid to them.
He said: "Human nature being what it is, we naturally felt disappointed that some of the votes did not come through when they were needed. But we have been going along doing the same things we always did and we will continue to do so unless the nation severs diplomatic relations with us."
The 13th seminar for African agriculturalists opened in Taipei March 24. A total of 56 members from 19 African countries enrolled.
Economic Minister Y. S. Sun addressed the opening ceremony and said the Republic of China will continue to share its agricultural techniques and experience with African countries by holding six-month seminars.
The Board of Foreign Trade reported that for 1971, textiles was the largest item of exports from the Republic of China, followed by electrical apparatus, plywood and metal manufactures.
The board said the value of textiles reached US$720 million, accounting for a third of total exports last year. Electrical manufactures amounted to US$270 million, or about 13 per cent. The value of plywood and other timber products was US$150 million and that of metal manufactures US$120 million. Exports with a value of more than US$60 million were machinery, fishery products, sugar and products; those over US$40 million were canned mushrooms, bananas and chemicals.
On the import side, the largest item was electrical equipment and facilities with value of US$290 million, or about 15 per cent of the total. Other categories with value of more than US$100 million included machinery, chemical raw materials, metals, transportation equipment and facilities.
The board said that for 1971, the United States was the largest buyer of Taiwan products with volume of US$880 million, or 41.4 per cent. Japan ranked second at US$260 million or 13 per cent. Other leaders were Hongkong, Canada, West Germany, South Vietnam, Singapore, Holland and Indonesia, all with amounts of more than US$40 million.
Japan was the biggest supplier of imports with US$760 million, or 39.3 per cent, followed by the United States at US$590 million, or 30.5 per cent. Other leaders included West Germany, Australia, Hongkong, Malaysia, Britain and Indonesia.
The China External Trade Development Council, a semi-official organization, is sending seven missions abroad in April to increase commercial contacts. Three are going to Europe, another three to Latin America and one to Africa.
The missions to Europe consist of a trade mission of the Taiwan textile industry led by Lo Vin-sun, sales manager of Asia Wool Accessories Corporation; a trade mission of the Taiwan chemical industry led by William C. Huang, general manager of K. E. Enterprises Co. Ltd.; and a trade mission of the Taiwan food processing and electronics industries led by Wei Pong-eng, general manager of Far Eastern Electrics Co. Ltd.
The missions to Latin America are those of the metal products industry led by Y. K. Lee, board chairman of Jacob Trading Co. Ltd.; Taiwan textile industry led by Robert Lee, foreign representative of the Union Knitting Co. Ltd.; and Taiwan chemical, food processing and construction material industries led by Liu Chi-fan, adviser and director of the Executive Yuan's Fifth Division.
The mission to Africa is organized by businessmen of various industries and led by S. Y. Chen, general manager of Taiwan Rubber & Industrial Corporation.
Missions will visit 39 countries, call on importers and hold receptions and exhibitions to promote the sale of Taiwan products.
Other trade groups organized by the China External Trade Development Council already are visiting Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.
To facilitate trade, the Central Bank of China has since April 3 been accepting the selling and buying of foreign exchange by local traders before a letter of credit is received or an import permit is made available.
The time allowance is no more than 180 days with 5 per cent of the amount to be deposited as a guarantee. Allowable currencies are Australian dollars, German marks, Hongkong dollars, Malaysian dollars, pounds sterling and Swiss francs. The U.S. dollar is not included because it was considered unnecessary.
Designated as a "forward exchange operation," the new measure will enable local traders to cover their foreign exchange exposure, thus increasing a revolving fund.
Installation of Taiwan's 500,000th telephone was marked by the Directorate General of Telecommunications of the Ministry of Communications at the end of March. Lu Chin-nen, who got the 500,000th telephone, was refunded the NT$16,000 (US$400) installation fee he had paid.
Director General of Telecommunications H. C. Fang said there were only 120,000 telephones in 1962. Now there are 3.3 sets per 100 persons. In Taipei, the provisional capital of the Republic of China, the density is much higher—12.9 sets per 100 persons. He noted that the world density is 7.4 sets per 100 and the Asian density is 1.6 sets.
Director-General of Posts S. P. Wang announced that in 1971 the people of Taiwan wrote and received an average of 42 letters, five more than in the previous year.
He said 627 million letters were processed by post offices throughout the country last year, an increase of 13.6 per cent over 1970.
Letters for special delivery accounted for about 10 per cent of mail handled. To cope with the ever-increasing volume of mail, the Taipei post office has installed an electronic processing machine.
Wang said sales by post offices reached NT$1,010 million, about US$25 million, in 1971. Net profit amounted to NT$270 million, or some US$6.7 million.
By the end of 1971, Wang said, postal savings deposits totaled some NT$12 billion, or about US$295 million. The government is considering the use of these funds as loans for the construction of public utilities.
The Taiwan Power Company in March signed an agreement with the Fischbach & Moore International Corp. of Texas for the installation of a high voltage, 345-kv transmission line between Taipei and Kaohsiung.
The American firm will be responsible for construction but has nothing to do with the financing. The project will cost US$45 million to come from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Union Bank of California and Taipower.
Taipower announced it has completed a 350,000-kilowatt thermal generator at its Linkou plant. At the end of 1971, Taipower had generating capacity of 2.7 million kilowatts.
March 26 is Chinese Broadcasting Day. The Ministry of Education gives award to outstanding radio and TV programs and individuals in its annual Golden Tripod Contest.
Receiving awards this year were three categories of programs: news and commentaries, educational and cultural programs and literary and entertainment programs. Almost all of Taiwan's 80 radio and 3 TV stations entered the contest. Individual entries totaled 265.
The China Daily News of Taipei, celebrated its 26th anniversary March 28 and placed its new color rotary press in operation.
The newspaper is one of 31 in Taiwan. All but two are in the Chinese language. The exceptions are in English.
The population of Taiwan stood at 15,039,093 as of the end of February, 1972, according to statistics released by the Taiwan Provincial Government. Military forces are not included.
The figure included 13,187,512 in Taiwan province and 1,851,581 in Taipei city. As the largest city in Taiwan, Taipei was proclaimed a special municipality in July, 1967, with the same status as a province.
The Taiwan Provincial Government announced that the natural growth rate of the population dropped substantially last year. The rate was 20.86 per thousand in 1971, compared with 22.27 per thousand in 1970.
The decline was attributed to the success of the family planning program. The birth rate was 25.64 per thousand in 1971 and the death rate 4.78.
The population density was highest in Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan at 7,664 persons per square kilometer. In Taipei the density was 6,879.
In a special report on tuberculosis mortality, the Taiwan Provincial Health Department reported that the mortality rate dropped to 0.0284 per cent in 1971, only a tenth of the 0.285 per cent registered in 1947.
The decrease was attributed to an anti-tuberculosis campaign which has included X-rays, sputum tests, BCG vaccination and free medical treatment for active cases.
A two-day conference on community development was opened in Taipei March 24 with more than 200 delegates and experts attending.
Vice President and Premier Yen Chia-kan addressed the opening session and stressed the importance of community development with regard to social reconstruction. "Our purpose is to establish a social security system and improve the livelihood of the people," he said.
Yen said Taiwan started its community development program in 1969. But as of the end of 1971, he said, basic programs for 1,374 communities had been completed in Taiwan province and 79 communities in Taipei city. Low interest loans for the construction of various types of housing have led to the completion of shelter for 94,430 families in Taiwan province and 3,752 families in Taipei city.
The Ya Tung girls basketball team returned March 30 to receive a warm welcome from the nation. Home from three months of games in the Americas, the girls rode through Taipei streets in a triumphant motorcade. They had left Taiwan January 2 and visited the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. They played 47 games and won 39.
The girls said they appreciated the friendliness of the American people and the hospitality of overseas Chinese. All along their route, they were able to eat Chinese food.
They were most impressed by a garden party given by the President of Honduras, Dr. Ramon Ernesto Cruz, a standing ovation by the House of Representatives in Oklahoma and their game with the Brazilian national team. Everywhere they went, they found overseas Chinese students, scholars and families waiting to greet them.
Greeting the team in Taipei was Chi Cheng, China's champion sprinter. Miss Chi returned to Taiwan early in March to receive treatment for leg injuries.
The Chinese member of the International Olympic Committee, Henry Hsu, invited Leone Seng, an herb doctor from Hongkong, to treat Miss Chi. He applied a unique kneading manipulation to her thigh. She said she felt better afterward.
Hsieh Min-nan of the Republic of China captured the US$15,000 Thai Open Golf Championship by six strokes from fellow countryman Hsu Sheng-san March 26.
The 31-year-old Min-nan scored his first major win in seven years of play on the Asia golf circuit. He was the only player to break par every round on the 7,072-yard, par 72 Royal Thai Air Force Golf course laid out between the runways at Bangkok's International Airport.
Hsieh spreadeagled the field with a 3-underpar 69 for the final round, giving him a 36-hole total of 278.
Australian's Graham Marsh, who led the field after three rounds, blew his chance for the title with a 77 in the final round to leave him in third place.
Final scores of the top four:
Hsieh Min-nan
71-68-70-69 (36-33) — 278
Hsu Sheng-san
78-71-65-70 (35-35) — 284
Graham Marsh
69-70-69-77 (38-39) — 285
Mya Aye, Burma
72-72-67-74 (38-36) — 285