Two writers and a painter won the first Wu San-lien literature and arts awards.
Chiang Kui, 70, of Shantung was cited for a dozen novels written after he came to Taiwan in the 1950s, including Whirlwind, Double Nine, The World of Su Pu-chan and White Coffin.
Ms. Chen Jo-hsi, 40, of Tai wan, was cited for The Execution of Mayor Yin, The Old Man and Return. She did undergraduate work at National Taiwan University, graduate work at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and is now at Stanford University.
Wu Lung-jung, 43, of Taipei, studied art at the Taipei Normal College. He paints not with a brush but with a knife.
The three were among 127 candidates screened by a panel of 17 jurors.
Each award was for NT$200,000 in cash and a gold medal.
Wu San-lien of Tainan served as mayor of Taipei from 1950 to 1954. As a Taiwan-born journalist, he defended the rights of the people under the Japanese occupation of 1895-1945.
After early retirement from public life, he started a number of successful business ventures and is now chairman of Tainan Spinning Company and Universal Cement Corporation as well as publisher of the Independence Evening Post.
The Wu San-lien Literary Award Foundation was created last January to mark Wu's 80th birthday anniversary.
Tourist passports are now available
Issuance of tourist passports starting this year will not drastically increase the number of persons going abroad.
A spokesman for the Taipei Travel Service Association said those who can afford it have been traveling over the years for one reason or another.
A modest increase is expected because people will no longer need to make excuses for sight seeing.
According to unofficial figures, between 500,000 and 600,000 persons have been traveling abroad annually.
The decision to permit Chinese tourism was greeted with approval. The Tourism Bureau said. "Now we can more effectively sell Taiwan among foreign travel agencies."
The government prohibited pleasure trips mainly on the ground of austerity. Foreign exchange reserves now exceed US$6.5 billion.
The Cabinet announced the issuance of tourist passports to all citizens except males below 30 who are liable for military service in case of emergency.
This was the second government move to liberalize overseas travel. It had already lifted the requirement of a guarantor for persons applying for exit permits.
Chinese nationals still are not permitted to visit Communist countries or the Chinese mainland.
Chinese citizens previously were allowed to leave the country only for postgraduate studies, business tours, medical care, visits to relatives and employment.
Those who wish to visit foreign lands for sightseeing may obtain exit permits from the Immigration Office of the Ministry of Interior.
8,400 characters on small typewriter
A retired Chinese engineer has invented a portable typewriter which can type 8,400 characters.
Kuo Yi-chih said the machine weighs about 30 kilograms. The weight can be reduced substantially if plastic is substituted for some metal parts.
The typewriter has a circular tray holding 2,400 characters and "half characters." Out of this basic vocabulary, the operator can type 8,400 characters. Special training is not needed.
Characters and "half characters" are arranged according to the Mandarin phonetic symbols or Romanization.
Whole characters are sufficient to type 70 to 80 per cent of an ordinary text.
Kinma awards go to top movies
Miss Tien Niu and Chin Han received the best actress and best actor awards at the annual Kinma awards presentation ceremony in Taipei.
Miss Tien Niu won the Kinma award for her role in "The Diary of Di-Di," a production of the Central Motion Picture Corporation. Chin Han captured his trophy for his role in "He Never Gives Up," also from CMPC.
The Kinma (Golden Horse) award is the Chinese version of Hollywood's Oscars.
Presiding at the ceremonies was Ding Mou-shih, director general of the Government Information Office. More than 1,000 personalities of the entertainment world in Taiwan and Hong Kong, government officials and guests attended.
Veteran actor Wang Hou was host and movie queen Ivy Lingpo was hostess.
Li Hsing took the directing award for "He Never Gives Up," the story of a man afflicted by polio in his youth and cancer in his later life. This movie also won best picture, best screenplay and best cinematography awards.
The best screenplay award went to Chang Yung-hsiang and the best cinematography award to Chen Kun-hou.
Miss Kuei Ya-lai and Ku Ming lun won the best supporting actress and actor awards. Actress Kuei was named for her role in "The Diary of Di-Di" and Ku for his performance in "Sunset in Peiping."
Shaw Brothers of Hong Kong received the prize for best art design for its production of "The Red Chamber" and the best photography technique award for "The Sentimental Swordsman."
The Golden Harvest Motion Picture Corporation of Hong Kong won the outstanding drama award for "The Contract." It also received the best editing award for the same movie.
The United Film Corporation of Hong Kong won a Kinma award for "My Dear Brother."
The best documentary prize went to "The Inaugural Ceremony of the Sixth President and Vice President of the Republic of China." Other winning documentaries were "Wuling and Tzuhu" and "The Major Reconstruction Projects and Enterprises of Retired Servicemen."
The child acting award went to Huang Y-lung. Another child star, Ou Ti, was given a special award.
Free China hungry for information
The publishing business is flourishing thanks to economic prosperity, Government Information Office Director Ding Mou-shih said.
Ding told legislators that the need for spiritual sustenance is growing along with the gross national product.
As of the end of June, 1978, there were 3,600 publications 31 newspapers, 44 news agencies, 1,556 magazines, 1,685 book publishers, 204 record and tape publishers, and 13 overseas Chinese newspapers and 67 magazines.
He said the government will shift its emphasis from regulation to guidance.
Ding said TV drama series will be restricted to 30 episodes and a maximum of three per day or two hours daily for each network as of May 1, 1979.
To develop the film industry, scholarships have been established for college students majoring in film production. Training programs are sponsored for technicians.
The government is arranging visits by foreign journalists and sending books and periodicals abroad.
Mme. Chiang sends message to school
Madame Chiang Kai-shek encouraged the students of the National Revolutionary Bereaved Family School to be gentlemen and models for society and to forgive and be understanding.
In her message on the school's 50th anniversary, Madame Chiang said students not only are educated but helped to travel the right path in life.
She told students to adopt a constructive way of thinking, become models for others and gain respect.
To be a man, Madame Chiang said, one must be understanding, know the facts and see into things.
To be a man, one also has to forgive the wrongdoing of others. This is not easy, she said.
One must have good judgment and experience, common sense and high intelligence to reach the stage of understanding.
To forgive, one must have objectivity and tolerance.
The school was founded by the late President Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang.
Foreign students counted at 1,600
Sixteen hundred foreign students were enrolled in universities and colleges in the Republic of China in 1978 compared with 70 in 1958, Education Minister Chu Hui-sen said.
He attributed the increase to students wishing to study in a stable society and a good environment.
Students from 19 countries are formally registered. This does not include many others studying Chinese at language centers.
Some 300 college students from the United States and other countries come to Taiwan for short-term studies during summer and winter vacations.
Journalists pledge to fight Communism
The Fifth Journalists' Conference resolved to step up press efforts to help the people under stand democracy and justice and strengthen cultural opposition to Communism.
Democracy is founded on national security and is protected by justice and law, the resolution said.
Journalists were urged to in form the public and reflect the people's opinions.
National interest should come first in presenting the news, an other resolution said.
The Communists were accused of using united front tactics to divide Taiwan society and shake the people's anti-Communist stand and the Republic of China's na tional policy.
Journalists are responsible for combating subversion, the conference said.
William Knowland's daughter is visitor
"As a result of the influence of my father and my family, there is no doubt that I have a great affection for the culture and the people of China," said Mrs. Emelyn Jewett, the daughter of former U.S. Senator William Knowland, who visited Taiwan.
"My father was always a friend of free China," Mrs. Jewett said.
The late William Knowland, sometimes known as the "senator from Formosa," was Republican leader in the Senate from 1947 and 1959. He died in 1974.
He was a strong supporter of the Republic of China both as a senator and publisher of the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune.
Mrs. Jewett, a senior vice president of the paper, said: "I heard a lot about the Chinese people and their culture from my father and am glad to have this opportunity to see China for myself."
Population to reach 20 million in 1989
Even if each family has only two children, the population of Taiwan will top the 20 million mark by 1989, according to a projection by the Council for Economic Planning and Development and the Family Planning Institute of Taiwan.
At the end of 1978, the population was over 17 million with these age breakdowns: 33.84 percent under 15, 62.65 percent between 15 and 65, and 3.89 percent over 65. The rate of natural increase was 1.83 percent.
The rate of natural increase is expected to go down. There will be a larger proportion of older people.
Rural areas to get more medical care
A four-year medical care program for rural areas costing about NT$ 1.17 billion and beginning next July has been approved by the Executive Yuan.
Clinics numbering 116 will be rebuilt and 189 health service centers with 3,083 personnel opened in villages. An information center will be set up.
Six regions will be designated, each with a variety of hospitals.
Emergency services will be improved.
Better pay and training will be provided for medical personnel.
Not enough dentists outside Taipei
Taipei has too many dentists and Taiwan too few - 1 for 3,500 persons in the city and 1 for 13,000 in the rest of the island.
Dr. Hwei Ching-yuan, director of the Department of Dentistry at the Veterans' General Hospital, reported on dental care in the Republic of China to more than 100 members of the International College of Dentists attending a seminar in Taipei.
The number of Taiwan dentists has increased from the 200 of 28 years ago to 2,000 and dental schools from one to seven.
Dr. F.M. Kenward, secretary general of the college, suggested that dental educators urge graduates to consider their responsibility to the community before deciding where to practice.
Speech defects need early treatment
Children with speech impediments will have lower IQs, Dr. Hsu Tao-chang, chief of the Rehabilitation Department of the Veterans' General Hospital, said. If the defect is not corrected before the age of 7, the impediment may continue for life, he added.
The Rehabilitation Department studied 7,569 students.
The incidence was 9.5 percent in primary school, 7.9 percent in junior high and 1.4 percent in senior high school. Boys are more vulnerable than girls.
Of 308 primary school children with impediments, 39.4 percent suffered from incomplete articulation, 24.4 percent from abnormal voices, 10.2 percent from stammering and 26 percent from slow development in speaking.
Of 45 junior high students, 53.3 percent had incomplete articulation, 31.1 percent had abnormal voices, 6.7 percent stammered and 8.9 percent were retarded in speaking.
Of 52 senior high students, 11.5 percent had incomplete articulation, 78.9 percent had abnormal voices and 9.6 percent stammered.
Americans win Taipei tennis titles
American players collected the titles in the 1978 Taipei Cathay Trust Tennis Championships.
In the doubles, Walts and Steward beat Edmondson and Marks from Australia, 6-2, 6-7, 7-6.
In the singles, top seeded Tom Gorman lost to B. Teacher, the second seed, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
The finals drew thousands of fans to the Taipei Physical Education College Stadium.
Thirty-two players entered the singles and 18 teams played in the doubles.
Chi Cheng spurns Communist ploy
"It's a dirty trick."
That was Chi Cheng's reaction to a Chinese Communist invitation to join their team at the Asian Games in Bangkok.
Miss Chi, the best woman athlete has ever produced, is secretary general of the Republic of China's Track and Field Association. She was offered a coaching post by the Chinese Communists.
She said the invitation was a Communist ploy designed to con fuse the world.
"They know we won't go. They pretend to be nice so as to make others believe we are stubborn in contrast with their sweet reasonableness," she said.
Miss Chi noted that Red China withdrew from the International Olympic Committee and affiliated organizations in 1958, then tried to rejoin them on condition that the Republic of China be expelled.
Peiping has changed its tactics this year and is inviting athletes from free China to join its teams at international competitions and enter its domestic meets.
Chinese thank American friend
Miss Johni Smith is honored as a special friend of Free China. (File photo)
"I am a Chinese. Thank you very much," said a 70-year-old man as he bowed to Johni Smith, publisher of the newsletter "Taiwan - My China."
He had been touched by Johni Smith's words during a meeting of some 200 students and persons from all walks of life.
Ms. Smith publishes her news letter to introduce Taiwan to the American people.
Besides donating NT$110,000 to help publish the newsletter, the 200 presented gifts and a small flag of the Republic of China to Ms. Smith, who burst into happy tears and urged that people-to-people diplomacy be pursued by those traveling to the United States.
Ms. Smith lived in Taiwan for 11 years between 1965 and 1975. She said the American people have little knowledge of conditions in Taiwan.
Ms. Smith said she is publishing the newsletter because she loves Taiwan and its people. The letter goes into some 2,000 homes, including those of public opinion leaders and members of Congress. The White House is on the list.
A total of US$80,000 has been donated by the people of Taiwan to support the publication.
Governor urges defiance of bullies
Governor Lin Yang-kang urged the public to stand up against hooliganism for their own protection, saying that those who meekly submit to the bullying of gangsters encourage lawlessness.
Answering a question at the Taiwan Provincial Assembly, the governor said many people prefer to keep their mouths shut about what hoodlums have done to them.
''The failure to cooperate with the police in keeping law and order has emboldened the hoodlums to defy the law," Lin said.
The governor said the police are determined to stamp out organized crime.
Policemen on duty should have legal protection in the legitimate use of firearms, he said. The policeman on duty must be able to defend himself.
Marrying into wife's family opposed
The civil code should abolish the provision for "chui hsu" (a man who marries into his wife's family), Dr. Tai Yen-hui, president of the Judicial Yuan, said.
He spoke on the equality of man and woman in a lecture sponsored by the National Council on Chinese Cultural Renaissance and the College of China Culture.
Usually a woman marries into her husband's family. She usually assumes her husband's family name. Children take their father's family name.
When the man marries into his wife's family, he assumes his wife's family name and the children usually do so.
The expression "chui hsu" carries a stigma, Dr. Tai said. "Chui" means something useless, or a parasite. "Chui hsu" is literally a useless son-in-law.
"If we do away with this distinction, we'll have taken the first step towards equality between the sexes," said Dr. Tai.
The Chinese civil code follows the centuries-old Chinese tradition of treating women as weaker and inferior. "But the world has changed and is changing," Dr. Tai said. "The few remnant traces of inequality should be done away with."
Under the civil code, minor children go to the father in case of divorce or separation. Dr. Tai said custody should be decided by agreement between father and mother. He also urged joint custodianship of children's property.
If parents cannot agree, the problem should be put to a family conference or sent to the courts.
Infants should be left in the custody of the mother, Dr. Tai said.
Equality between the sexes depends on the woman's ability to stand on her own. He said the government should encourage women to go into politics and accept employment.