March 16. Five Chinese and American convoys of more than 100 warships of various types converged at a designated area off the southern Taiwan coast to begin the "Operation Blue Star," largest Sino-American joint maneuver ever held in Taiwan. The purpose of the exercise, which involves 57,700 men, 500 planes and 169 ships of the two countries, is to test the training efficiency, the communications system, and the degree of cooperation of the Chinese and American forces in the event of war.
Foreign Minister S. K. Huang decorated Dr. Pacifico Montero de Vargas, permanent representative of Paraguay to the United Nations, with the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon in recognition of the "continuous and active support" he has given the Republic of China at the United Nations.
17. General Manager Koo Chen-fu of the Taiwan Cement Corporation announced at the 1960 shareholders meeting today that TCC produced 826,659 metric tons of cement in 1959 with a net profit of NT$191,399,034, or NT$57,114,596 more than 1958. The dividend would be NT$3.20 for an ordinary share of NT$10, and NT$4.20 for a preferential share.
18. The Presidium of the National Assembly announced that President Chiang Kai-shek has been nominated as candidate for the next presidency of the Republic of China. The two minority parties, the China Democratic Socialist Party and the Young China Party, have decided not to nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates for the forthcoming elections. Both parties have expressed their support for President Chiang and Vice President Chen.
Dr. Pacifico Montero de Vargas, Paraguayan permanent representative to the United Nations, told a press conference that the stability and progress of China under the leadership of President Chiang Kai-shek is the best shield against Communism.
19. The National Assembly in its tenth plenary meeting today adopted a resolution to set up an organ to study questions relating to the exercising of the rights of initiative and referendum by the National Assembly. The organ will be activated on July 1 this year, and complete its task not later than December 25, 1961.
19. Commenting on Peiping's sentencing of Bishop Kung Pin-mei and thirteen others, including American Bishop James Edward Walsh to prison terms, Thomas Cardinal Tien, apostolic administrator of the Taipei Archdiocese, said the Chinese Catholics have always known religious persecution to be a consistent Communist policy. Now the Reds are merely tightening their noose around the Catholic faith. He added that this latest outrage against the Church served only to expose the Communist lie of "religious freedom" on the mainland.
20. The Moslem world cannot and will not co-exist with Communism because of the differences of religion, customs and social-political heritages, declared Mr. Ali Mohamed Misellati, director general of the Broadcasting, Press and Publication Department of the United Kingdom of Libya. Mr. Misellati, the first visitor to Taiwan from the newly independent West African country, departed today after a weeklong tour of free China with profound impressions of the progress and democratic spirit on the island.
21. President Chiang Kai-shek was re-elected by an overwhelming majority of the National Assembly to his third six-year term as President of the Republic of China. He received 1,481 of the 1,509 votes cast in the special electoral meeting. The news of President Chiang's re-election immediately brought cheer to the whole of Taiwan, Penghu and the offshore islands of Kinmen and Matsu. The Chinese armed forces radio station on Kinmen broadcast the news of the President's re-election to the nearby mainland. Balloons carrying the news were sent into the air from Kinmen and Matsu to carry hope to the oppressed millions under the Communist yoke.
20. The United States will continue its policy of non-recognition of the Communist regime in Peiping, American Ambassador Everett F. Drumright declared upon returning from the US Far East chiefs of mission conference in Baguio. Ambassador Drumright said the no-recognition policy is the "only possible policy that could be taken in the circumstances we face." This policy has the support of 15 American ambassadors to Far Eastern countries who gathered at Baguio for an exchange of opinions regarding the situation in the various Asian countries in general and that of the Peiping regime in particular.
22. Vice President Chen Cheng was re-elected to a second term by the National Assembly. He received 1,381 out of 1,505 votes cast.
24. The cabinet appointed Mr. Wang Fu-chou, vice minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, chief delegate to the 1960 Sino-Japanese trade talks scheduled to start in Taipei March 28. Other delegates are Mr. K. H. Chin, monetary director, Ministry of Finance; Mr. C. N. Li, commerce director, Ministry of Economic Affairs; Mr. Cha Shih-tsun, remittance director, Foreign Exchange and Trade Control Commission; and Mr. Chang Hsi-liang of East Asiatic Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
25. The Third Plenary Session of the First National Assembly of the Republic of China ended today after a 35-day session. In his ad dress at the closing session, President Chiang said that the successful conclusion of the present session not only marked the beginning of the victory in national recovery through a counteroffensive, but dealt a fatal blow to the Communists who had tried hard to sabotage the National Assembly Session.
26. Mr. C. M. Chen, chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, disclosed that total overseas Chinese investment in Taiwan since 1949 amounted to the equivalent of more than US$41,700,000. He also said that in the past ten years, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has approved 267 overseas Chinese investment applications. Of these investors, 139 were submitted by overseas Chinese from Hongkong, 54 from Japan, 17 from the Philippines, 11 from Singapore, nine from Indonesia, seven each from Thailand and Malaya, five from the United States, four each from Burma and Vietnam, two each from New Zealand, Cambodia, and Cuba, and one each from Korea, Laos, Macao and North Borneo. Mr. Chen said that the income tax paid by overseas Chinese invested industries totalled NT$14,936,001.36, export of products totalled US$16,661,667.90.
Mr. Kuo Teh-lu, the head chef of the Chinese Communist charge d'affaires' office in London, escaped from the prison-like Red Chinese mission and sought asylum just before he was to be sent back to the Chinese mainland. Mr. Kuo told newsmen that fear for his own life combined with total lack of freedom and miserable living conditions on the Communist-controlled mainland prompted him to seek political asylum in London.
26. Mr. Julio de Larracoechea, newly appointed Spanish ambassador, presented his credentials to President Chiang Kai-shek. Mr. Larracoechea has been charge d'affaires of the Spanish Embassy in Taipei.
27. Operation "Blue Star" was successfully brought to an end. The operation used two new techniques of modern warfare in its assault phase: the building of a 3,400-foot-long and 60-foot-wide aluminum matted runway within 48 hours and the employment of the "vertical envelopment" tactic by using helicopters to send fighting men to specific target areas.
29. More than 100,000 youth rallied at the City Hall of Taipei and paraded throughout the streets of the city in a jubilant celebration of the Chinese Youth Day. During the mass rally and parade, the youth expressed their great joy over the reelection of President Chiang Kai-shek and reaffirmed their pledge to help the government in national recovery.
30. Simultaneous announcements were made in Taipei and Manila that President Carlos P. Garcia of the Philippines will pay a seven-day visit to the Republic of China from May 2 to May 7, 1960. President Garcia will be accompanied by Mrs. Garcia during the visit.
31. The Executive Yuan submitted FY1961 budget to the Legislative Yuan for screening.
April 1. Mr. Edison Reginald Townsend, presidential press secretary and director of Information Service of the Republic of Liberia, arrived in Taipei for a two-week visit at the invitation of the Government Information Office.
The Combined Service Forces celebrated its 10th founding anniversary. A "CSF Achievement Exhibit" was held to mark the occasion.
4. The United Daily News reported that the first locally-made rotary-press it installed was working well. The machine was designed by the technicians of the paper's printing plant and built by the Yichang Machinery Works at the cost of NT$540,000 (about US$13,500). The machine has a speed of printing 30,000 copies of full-page-sized newspaper per hour.
Over 200 experts in animal husbandry met in Taichung to moot the 1960 production target. The meeting, presided over by Mr. King Yang-kao, commissioner of the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Forestry, decided to raise 439,377 head of cattle; 5,895,420 head of pigs; 183,224 head of goats; and 13,292,000 head of poultry this year. Com missioner King also disclosed that there were 420,138 head of cattle; 3,263,633 head of pigs and 13,130,367 head of poultry raised in 1959.
5. Mr. Fang Chih, secretary-general of the Chinese National Committee for World Refugee Year, reported that the WRY Relief Committee in Geneva has appropriated US$10,000,000 for the relief of the 1,450,000 Chinese refugees in Hongkong. He expressed the hope that the money will be well spent under the joint supervision of the Chinese WRY National Committee, the Government of Hongkong and the United Nations for the relief of Chinese refugees in Hongkong.
Chinese Army units concluded a five-day anti-amphibious and anti-airborne exercise in the general area of Tainan. The exercise, dubbed "Tung Chiang," was designed to test the Army's capabilities against amphibious and airborne attack.
10. A Confucius-Mencius Society was inaugurated this morning to revive the teachings of the two Chinese sages. Among the tasks which the society proposes to do are restoration of the doctrines of the two masters, revival of Chinese ethics to combat Communist ideologies, establishing and maintaining contact with Confucian and Sinological bodies abroad.
11. Air chiefs from five Pacific nations gathered in Taipei for a four-day "get together." The participants include Lieutenant General Kim Chang Kyoo, chief of staff of the Korean Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Kuan Vinh, commander of the Vietnamese Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Chalermkiat Watanangura, commander of the Royal Thai Air Force, Brigadier General Pedro Q. Molina, commander of the Philippine Air Force, General Emmett O'Donnell, Jr., commander of the US Pacific Air Force and Major General Thomas Moorman, commander of the US 13th Air Force. American Air Force officers in Taiwan, including Major General Fred M. Dean, commander of the US 13th Air Task Force Provisional and Brigadier General William Lee, chief of staff of the US Taiwan Defense Command, also participated in the meeting.
The cabinet officially announced that the Shihmen Dam will be built as an embankment dam instead of an arch dam as originally designed. The new design will make it easier for the committee to control the construction cost and construction time of the reservior project, and greatly increase its safety. As was the old project, the new embankment dam too will be able to supply Irrigation for 57,260 hectares, generate 212,700,000 kilowatts of power every year, increase the island's rice products by 72,000 metric tons, and lower the water level of the Keh Kan River by more than 1.5 meters during the flood period.
12. Mr. Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of the late Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, had a 20-minute audience with President Chiang Kai-shek, during which he apologized to the President "deeply and sincerely" for India's present unfriendly attitude toward free China.
13. In a press conference before his departure from Taiwan after two weeks' extensive tour, Mr. Edison Reginald Townsend, director of Government Information Service of Liberia, urged technical cooperation between Liberia and the Republic of China, especially in the field of agriculture. Mr. Townsend said that Taiwan and Liberia are alike in climate and his country grows the same crops as those grown in this Island. "I have no doubt," he stated, "we can work together in the agricultural field .... We need your experience, technical know-how, and we welcome your cooperation in this area." Mr. Townsend said that he was impressed with Taiwan's industrial development, the iron and steel, plastic and bagasse industries.
13. The new Taipei Mosque was dedicated today in a solemn and impressive ceremony attended by Moslem leaders both of this country and abroad, members of the diplomatic corps, ranking government officials and Moslem faithful in Taipei. The new Mosque is the largest of its kind in the Far East. Construction began in November 1958 and total the cost ran to NT$6,000,000. Part of the money came from donations. Among the donors are the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, Turkish Premier Adnan Menderes and the late Iraqi Crown Prince Abdul Illah. The style of the structure is mainly Arabic. The worship hall has a sitting capacity of 600.
14. A specially-equipped C-54 of the Royal Thai Air Force crashed into Mount Wu Tse southeast or Taipei three minutes after taking off, killing all 18 persons aboard. The victims include: Air Chief Marshal and Mrs. Chalermkiat Watanangura, commander-in-chief, Royal Thai Air Force; Air Vice Marshal and Mrs. Suan Chitaphaibool, chief of intelligence; RTAF, and Colonel Chareon Phuakchaiphaeo, Thai military attache in Taipei; Captain Somchai Nianaloy, aide-decamp to Marshal Watanangura, three Chinese were among those killed: Lt. Col. Huang Yai-chen, assistant air attache of the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok; Mrs. John Chang wife of a first secretary of the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok, and her one-year-old daughter.
Madame Chiang Kai-shek officiated at the unveiling ceremony of a memorial statue in Taipei's New Park dedicated to the late General Claire Lee Chennault of "Flying Tiger" fame. In her dedication message, Madame Chiang remarked that the Chinese people "will greatly benefit by his example of never allowing obstacles to deter him from accomplishing the task which he undertook." On behalf of the people of the United States and himself, President Dwight D. Eisenhower expressed profound gratitude to the people of free China for having contributed to the erection of the unique tribute to the memory of General Chennault.
15. The Miss China Selection Committee, sponsored by the vernacular Ta Hua Evening News, declared that a total of 191 young girls will vie for the coveted title of "Miss China." The Committee reported that over 80 percent of the fair contestants are college or high school students. They range from 18 to 26 in age with two-thirds hailing from the Chinese mainland and the remainder born in Taiwan. Two of the contestants are overseas Chinese from Japan and one from Hongkong.