After extensive tours over the selected reservoir sites in the last two months, Director Teng Hsien-jen of the Water Conservancy Bureau announced the Provincial Government has mapped out plans for island wide irrigation development to turn some 125,000 hectares of dry land into rice fields. Among side benefits from the irrigation project would be enough water supply for 130,000 people in Tainan and 31,050 kw. of additional power for the island's electricity system.
Chen Yi, "foreign minister" of the Communist regime, confirmed the resignation of Mao Tze-tung by telling the diplomatic corps in Peiping that Mao had "requested" not to be re-elected chairman of Red China.
17 Some American-made M41 Walker Bulldog tanks were turned over to the Chinese Marine Corps, which was marked by a ceremony held at a southern Taiwan base this morning.
Dr. Li Yuan-chuen, well-known Chinese-American rocket expert, and his wife returned to the United States this afternoon after a two-week visit here at the invitation of the Ordnance Research Institute.
18 General Thomas D. White, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, arrived at Taipei with Mrs. White and three staff officers on a two-day inspection tour.
21 A two-day anti-airborne defense exercise, aimed at testing the staff efficiency of air defense units under emergency conditions, started at noontime today. The exercise was code-named "Operation Sledgehammer".
22 The Military Information Service reported today the Chinese Communists had moved 130 MIG-19 jet interceptors into seaboard airfields opposite Taiwan.
23 President Chiang Kai-shek said today, when addressing the Mainland Recovery Planning Board, that military preparations by the Republic of China had already been completed. "I have the confidence we are strong enough today to take any point we choose on the mainland," the Prcsident said. President Chiang also pointed out the Constitution was one of our weapons in waging a war against the Communists, which should be strictly observed and made good use of. The President was opposed to any proposal to amend the Constitution.
The Kinmen County Government reported that during the past four months of Red bombardment of Kinmen, a total of 105 civilians were killed and 312 wounded. Red gunfire also leveled 6,850 civilian houses.
24 The Chinese government awarded Father Joseph Bernard Druetto, the French Catholic priest, with the Medal of Kuang Hua today to mark the fourth anniversary of his mission on Kinmen. Father Druetto was cited for his meritorious service in rendering medical aid and relief to the civilians.
Military spokesman Rear Admiral Liu Hoh-tu confirmed that the Russian and Chinese Communists had formed a joint air unit composed chiefly of MIG-19's.
26 When addressing the year-end conference of the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen, Lieutenant General Chiang Ching-kuo, chairman of the VACRS, declared today that the Chinese government made remarkable progress in resettling retired veterans in 1958. According to official figures, some 70,000 veterans had been retired in the last three years to make room for new blood in the Chinese armed forces.
27 After having made a 40-day visit in the United States, General Peng Meng-chi, Commander in Chief of the Chinese Army, said that the modernization of Chinese armed forces was one of the topics he brought up during his trip to the U.S. General Peng went to the States on November 14 for a tour of military installations as guest of General Maxwell D. Taylor, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.
28 A new teleprinter service, directly transmitting Chinese characters instead of numbers, would be opened on January 1, 1959 to carry telegraphic messages between Taipei and Tainan, the Taiwan Telecommunication Ad ministration announced today. The teleprinter, invented by Mr. Kao Chung-chin, can transmit 60 words per minute.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Mr. Li Yung-hsin, chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, said that the Chinese Communists had suffered 65,000 to 70,000 casualties in clashes with dissidents in Tibet and neighboring areas since the fall of the mainland in 1949.
30 In a year-end tally of combat results, the Ministry of National Defense disclosed that from January 1 to December 23, 1958, the Communists hurled 548,192 rounds of artillery shells on Kinmen, and 1,005 on Matsu. According to MND, during the same period, the Army of the Republic of China knocked out 252 Communist guns, destroyed 113 gun positions, 56 emplacements, two observation posts, 23 ammunition dumps, two gasoline dumps, four barracks, and one machine gun position; sank 83 vessels and damaged 18 more. At sea, the Chinese Navy sank 38 Red naval crafts and probably sent 26 more to the bottom of the sea. The Chinese Air Force shot down 31 Communist MIG-17's and damaged 12 others.
General Wang Shu-ming, Chief of General Staff, predicted today that there was strong possibility the Chinese Communists might stir up a bigger trouble in the Taiwan Straits next spring. He said intelligence reports received in Taipei indicated that the Reds would start a second military adventure surpassing in magnitude the Kinmen artillery duel this year.
The Legislative Yuan passed today a new law for 1959 to lighten the income tax burden Oil the people. Exemption was granted to an annual income of NT$6,000, instead of the previous NT$2,500. A commercial establishment will be freed from the business income tax if its annual earnings are below NT$10,000, as against the former exemption ceiling of NT$5,000.
Jan. 1 In his New Year message, President Chiang Kai-shek promised his people to "thoroughly abolish the sinister 'people's communes', eradicate the poisonous thoughts of Marxism-Leninism, and rebuild a new China on the basis of the Three People's Principles." The Presiden t deemed the year of 1959 "the decisive year for the collapse of the Communist regime. This is also the decisive year for victory in our counter-offensive and national recovery."
When receiving the 225 "Difficulty-Overcoming" heroes and model Holitical workers, President Chiang Kai-shek called on the Chinese armed forces to redouble their efforts in strengthening their spiritual solidarity, coordination and physical aptitude as a preparation for the long heralded counter-attack against the Chinese Communists in the near future.
At a ceremony formalizing the promotion of three top-ranking officers, officiated by President Chiang Kai-shek himself, Chief of General Staff General Wang Shu-ming was promoted from the rank of general seeond-class to general first-class; Vice Defence Minister John G. Ma, from vice admiral to admiral second class; General Chen Chia- shang, Commander in Chief of the Chinese Air Force, from lieutenant general to general second-class.
3 Chairman Li Yung-hsin of the Mongolian-Tibetan Affairs Commission declared today that at least 600,000 Mongolians, Tibetans, and other minority groups on the Chinese mainland took part in revolts against Peiping regime during 1958.
4 Rear Admiral Liu Hoh-tu said the government had received reliable reports that Soviet submarines had arrived at the Chushan Islands some 300 miles north of Keelung.
5 In his semi-annual report at the Provincial Assembly, Governor Chow Chih-jou outlined seven multi-million dollar projects. They are: (1) forestry development of Big Snow Mountain, (2) housing projects, (3) farm mechanization, (4) irrigation facilities, (5) Hualien harbor expansion, (6) Chienshan-Fengyuan highway, and (7) northern Taiwan cross-island highway.
7 The Government of the Republic of China officially extended diplomatic recognition to the new Government of Cuba, which was accorded after the new Cuban Government expressed its willingness "to continue the maintenance of friendly relations with the various countries."
The Communists resumed artillery attack against the Kinmen complex today. The shelling of 33,401 rounds was the most violent in three months. The Red gunfire destroyed 218 civilian houses and damaged 128, rendering more than 1,000 civilians homeless.
9 The 12-member Chinese national basketball team, headed by General Chien Ta-chun, left for Santiago to take part in the Third World Basketball Championships.
11 Vice President-Premier Chen Cheng said that the Chinese government would consider the problem of sending Chinese immigrants to Brazil. He expressed this view to Brazilian Ambassador Labienno Salgado dos Santos who paid a farewell visit to him. The retiring ambassador said the Brazilian government particularly welcomed the Chinese immigrants because of their industry and the traditional friendship between China and Brazil.
12 The fourth plenary meeting of the Commission for Promotion of Sino-Japanese Cooperation formally opened at 10:00 a.m. today at the Government Guest House. The meeting was attended by 29 Chinese and Japanese delegates, with Chinese chief delegate Ku Cheng-kang in the chair.
Dr. Y. R. Chao, prominent Chinese linguist and composer and a member of Academia Sinica, returned to Taiwan today for a three-month lecture tour after residing 21 years in the United States. He was accompanied by his wife and granddaughter-in-law.
15 The semi-annual Commission for Promotion of Sino-Japanese Cooperation concluded its conference today by declaring that the offshore islands of Kinmen and Matsu were vital to the defense of Penghu, Taiwan and the entire western Pacific. The Commission described the commune system carried out by the Chinese Communists on the mainland as a betrayal of the traditional way of life of China and Japan. In a separate resolution dealing with economic affairs, the Commission agreed to further promote trade between China and Japan and to strengthen cooperation between the two Asian countries in developing power resource, tuna fishing and coal-mining.