President Chiang is unique among chiefs of state in the world. For more than 60 years, he has helped build the Republic, led the nation in defeating warlords and Japanese aggression, and never has given up his faith in the fight against Communism. He is the only surviving member of World War II's Big Three. He met with Churchill and Roosevelt at Cairo and with Mahatma Gandhi at Calcutta.
Born in 1887, he joined Dr. Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary movement and helped overthrow the Ch'ing dynasty in 1911.
He has been China's principal leader since the death of Dr. Sun in 1925. He commanded the National Revolutionary Armed Forces which defeated the warlords and unified China in the Northward Expedition of 1926-28.
It was his strategy of holding the interior and harrying Japanese occupiers along the coast that enabled China to survive the years of war from 1937 until Pearl Harbor.
At Cairo in 1943, he sat down with Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill to plan the shape of the postwar world. One of the agreements pledged the return of Taiwan to China.
With Japan defeated, President Chiang determined upon a policy of forgiveness for the aggressors. Japanese forces were quickly repatriated. The Republic of China did not participate in the occupation of Japan and signed a separate peace treaty once the Japanese government had been re established.
In Taiwan he has continued to lead the struggle against Communism and at the same time has created a model province with the highest level of prosperity ever attained in China. Per capita income is four to five times higher than that of the mainland.
President Chiang was re-elected by the National Assembly on March 21. Vice President Yen Chia-kan, who also was re-elected, was sworn in together with President Chiang.
Vice President Yen was born in 1905 and graduated from St. John's University at Shanghai in 1926. He has had a long and distinguished career in government, including posts as Taiwan governor, minister of economic affairs and finance, and prime minister. He was elected Vice President for the first time in 1966.
President Chiang, in a message to the World Rally for Victory over Communism in Tokyo at the end of April, said he believes freedom is the correct course for humankind in the advancement of history.
He said: "It is history which provides the iron principle that freedom eventually will triumph over slavery. No matter how rampant the evil forces of Communism may be, nor how violent their activities of infiltration and subversion, these are mere temporary phenomena and do not indicate that violence can endure or that justice is decaying. "
Premier Yen Chia-kan and his Cabinet handed in their resignations immediately after the presidential election. On May 26, the Legislative Yuan approved by overwhelming majority President Chiang's nomination of Chiang Ching-kuo as the ninth constitutional Premier of the Republic of China. Chiang is the elder son of President Chiang and former Vice Premier under Yen Chia-kan.
The Kuomintang Central Standing Committee and President Chiang approved the lineup of Premier Chiang Ching-kuo's Cabinet May 29. Immediately under Premier Chiang is Vice Premier Hsu Ching-chung, 65, of Taipei, former minister of interior, who holds a doctorate of science from Taipei Imperial University.
Ministers Without Portfolio are George Yeh (incumbent), Lien Chen-tung (incumbent), Yu Kuo-hwa (incumbent), Li Rien-chuen (incumbent), former Minister of Foreign Affairs S.K. Chow, Kuo Cheng and Lee Tan-hui.
Minister of Interior is Lin Chin-sheng, 56, of Chiayi, Taiwan, a graduate of Tokyo Imperial University, chairman of the Taipei City Headquarters of the KMT.
Returning as minister of foreign affairs is Shen Chang-huan, 59, of Kiangsu, who holds a master's degree from the University of Michigan. He held the foreign affairs portfolio from 1960 to 1966.
Minister of defense is Chen Ta-ching, 68, of Kiangsi, a member of the first class of the Whampoa Military Academy and former governor of Taiwan.
Held over as minister of finance is K.T. Li, 62, of Nanking, a graduate of Cambridge University.
The minister of education is Tsiang Yien-shih, 57, of Hangchow, Chekiang Province. He has a doctorate from the University of Minnesota and formerly was secretary-general of the Executive Yuan.
Held over from the previous Cabinet are the minister of justice, Wang Jen-yuan, 63, of Hopei, who holds a master's degree from Meiji University, and the minister of economic affairs, Y.S. Sun, 59, of Shangtung, a graduate of Harbin Poly-technical Institute.
The minister of communications is Henry Kao, 61, of Taipei, a graduate of Waseda University and former mayor of Taipei.
The chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission is Tsui Chui-yen, 66, of Kirin, a graduate of Tsinghua University and former member of the Taiwan Provincial Council.
Chairmanship of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission goes to Mo Sung-nien, 62, of Kwangtung, National War College graduate and former president of the Bank of Taiwan.
In as secretary-general of the Executive Yuan is Walter Fei, 60, of Kiangsu, a master's graduate of Cornell University and former vice chairman of the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development.
Director-general of budgets, accounts and statistics is Chow Hong-tao, 56, of Chekiang, a graduate of National Wuhan University and former executive director of the Bank of Taiwan.
Chairmanship of the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen is retained by T. Y. Chao, 58, of Hunan, a graduate of National Fuhtan University.
The KMT Central Committee also accepted the appointment of Hsieh Tung-ming, 66, of Changhua, Taiwan, graduate of National Sun Yat-sen University and former speaker of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly, as governor of Taiwan, and Chang Feng-hsu, 44, of Pingtung, Taiwan, who holds a master's degree from the University of New Mexico, as mayor of Taipei City. He was magistrate of Pingtung county.
Former Cabinet members named national policy advisers are: former Ministers Without Portfolio Chen Hsueh-ping and Tung Wen-chi, former Minister of Education Lo Yun-pin, former Chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission Kuo Chi-chiao and former Chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission Kao Ksin.
Former Defense Minister Huang Chieh was named a special presidential adviser on military strategy. Former Deputy Secretary-General to the President Cheng Yin-fun was appointed secretary-general to the President succeeding Chang Chun, who resigned.
At the sub-Cabinet level, former Director-General of the Government Information Office James Wei became president of the Central News Agency. He was succeeded at GIO by Yale-trained Dr. Frederick F. Chien, former director of the department of North American affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Former Director of the Bureau of Personnel Administration Wang Cheng-yi was appointed vice minister of interior. He was succeeded at the Bureau of Personnel by Chen Kui-hua, a ranking official of the Ministry of National Defense.
The Legislative Yuan elected a new president and vice president in May after the resignation of its former president, Huang Kuo-shu, for reasons of health. The new president is Nieh Wen-ya and the vice president is Liu Kuo-tsai.
Nieh, 67, formerly was vice president. A native of Loching, Chekiang province, he obtained his M.A. degree from Columbia University and was minister of youth and a member of the Kuomintang Central Committee.
Liu, 61, is a native of Miaoli, Taiwan province. He holds a doctor of law degree from Kansai University of Japan and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1969.
The Legislative Yuan is the highest lawmaking body in the Republic of China, similar to the lower house of a Western parliament.
Ku Cheng-kang, honorary chairman of the World Anti-Communist League and Republic of China civic leader, was invited to address the rally, which was sponsored by the International Federation for Victory over Communism of Japan.
Ku said three factors led him to believe the free world inevitably will defeat the Communists and bring about victory in the anti-Communist struggle.
First, Communist tyranny can never be acceptable in Asia's traditional cultures; second, the Communists can never stop straggle among themselves; and third, all of Communism's deceptive schemes and camouflages have been completely exposed.
The Central African Republic opened an embassy in Taipei in May with Joseph Ouatebot as ambassador. Ouatebot, 45, has been a congressman, first secretary and charge d'affaires in Brussels, and chief of press affairs in the presidential office.
The Central African embassy is the fourth established by an African nation in Taiwan with a resident ambassador. The others are those of the Malagasy Republic, Gabon and Zaire.
The Republic of China and the Central African Republic established diplomatic relations on April 12, 1962. The ties were suspended November 5, 1964, but resumed May 6, 1968. Col. Jean Bedel Bokassa, President of the Central African Republic, visited Taiwan in October, 1970.
Vice Foreign Minister H.K. Yang went to Africa in April for a three-month tour of more than 20 African countries. As in previous years, he will ex tend Chinese friendship to the African people and visit Chinese agricultural missions.
Nations to be visited are the Malagasy Republic, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland, Mauritius, Malawi, Republic of South Africa, Zaire, Rwanda, Central African Republic, Gabon, Dahomey, Niger, Chad, Togo, Upper Volta, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Senegal and Libya.
The seventh seminar of the Land Reform Training Institute was opened in Taiwan for 30 land reform workers, including three women, from the following 11 countries and areas: India, Cook Islands, West Samoa, Ceylon, Khmer, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Micronesia and Vietnam.
The seminar of eight weeks will study the experience of land reform in Taiwan as well as agricultural developments in Southeast Asia.
Sponsored by the John C. Lincoln Institute of the United States and the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development of the Republic of China, the Land Reform Training Institute has since April, 1969, trained 166 land workers from 16 Asian and Latin American countries. Short courses also have been given some 100 officials, congressmen and social leaders from Khmer, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Reporting on the success of land reform in Taiwan, James Cary of the Copley News Service in the United States said last month that "back in the 1930s the Chinese Communists were popularly believed to be agrarian reformers who wanted to take land from the landlords and give it to the peasants. "
"The Nationalists," he said, "during much of the same period were considered to be working hand-in-glove with the landlords under an arrangement that helped consolidate their power.
"It is perhaps one of the great ironies of history that the Communists, after winning control of the mainland, stripped farmers of all their land holdings except small private plots, and the Nationalists carried out an intensive and successful land reform program that gave 90 per cent of their farmers title to their land.
"The Nationalist program, carried out on the island of Taiwan, was conducted in three stages:
"First, beginning in 1949, a forced reduction in farm land rents from 50 to 70 per cent of the standard annual crop to 37.5 per cent.
"Second, the sale between 1951 and 1969 of 111,000 hectares (one hectare equals 2.47 acres) of publicly owned land to the tenant farmers working the land. This was all the public land that was under tenant cultivation.
"Third, the compulsory sale of all land in excess of three hectares held by landlords. This was made available to the tenant farmers working the land.
"The result today is that 90 per cent of Taiwan's farmers own the land they work and part of the other 10 per cent are in the process of buying the acreage they are using.
"In addition some of these farmers, whose average holding is only one hectare, rent additional land from former landlords of other farmers.
"One outcome of the program has been a 255 per cent increase in farm production over 1949 levels. Nationalist China is now self-sufficient in rice, sugar, pork, vegetables and fruit."
Commenting on other effects of the land reform program, Minister of Economic Affairs, Y.S. Sun said the gap between rich and poor has been narrowed.
Citing the study reports by James P. Grant, president of Overseas Development Council in Washington D.C., Sun said the ratio of the average per family income between the top 20 per cent and the bottom 20 per cent in the Republic of China was 15 to 1 before the launching of the land reform program. It dropped to 5 to 1 in 1970.
On the other hand, he noted, the gap between the rich and the poor in other developing countries with a high economic growth rate has risen as high as 15 to 1.
The economic minister attributed the Chinese success to the land reform program, adoption of intensive farming methods and the establishment of labor-intensive industries.
He said: "As rural people still form the largest portion of low-income earners of this country, it is the government policy to further raise rural income through mechanization, lowering the price of fertilizers and improving the distribution system of agricultural products."
Summarizing economic progress in the first three months of 1972, the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development reported a continued high growth rate. Foreign trade continued to expand, industrial production was increasing at a fast rate and foreign capital continued to arrive in large amounts. This indicated that adverse developments in the international situation in the latter part of 1971 did not hinder economic development.
The report said the general index of Taiwan's industrial production for the January-March period rose by 26.1 per cent compared with the same quarter in 1971. The building industry set the pace with growth of 56 per cent, primarily because construction bans were lifted in some urban districts. Manufacturing was up by 26.9 per cent, led by general machinery, electrical apparatus and appliances, and timber and products. Output of public utilities increased by 17.6 per cent. Usually in last place in industrial development, the mining industry expanded production by 10.9 per cent.
According to customs statistics, Taiwan's foreign trade amounted to US$1.1 billion for the first quarter of 1972, representing a gain of 41.6 per cent over the same period of, 1971. Exports were valued at US$574.4 million, an increase of 30.5 per cent. Imports totaled US$526.1 million, an increase of 55.6 per cent.
Foreign and overseas Chinese investment approvals totaled US$16 million, reflecting an increase of 108 per cent over 1971's first quarter. Individual investments were larger than last year.
The Chinese ambassador to the United States, James Shen, told American industrial and financial leaders that the Republic of China remains an ideal place for trade and investment because it is providing conditions even more favorable than before for foreign business enterprises.
Speaking in San Francisco, Shen said new measures include the policy of welcoming foreign investors into Taiwan regardless of the political position of their government toward the Republic of China, the further reduction of investment red tape, easing of criteria of approval for foreign investment, amendment of the income tax law to provide certain exemptions for foreign investors and encouragement for the opening of additional foreign banks.
The U.S. ambassador to China, Walter P. McConaughy, said Taiwan is a safe and good place to invest.
Speaking to the Kaohsiung chapter of Toastmasters International, McConaughy said that for the first quarter of 1972, American investment in Taiwan reached US$7.7 million, or more than five times the amount in the corresponding period of 1971.
"A well-trained labor force, government encouragement to private enterprise and overall stability have contributed to investor confidence," he said.
Hu Hsiang-lin, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said Taiwan's stock market had regained normalcy after weathering "four crises."
He said the four crises were Nixon's announcement of his plan to visit the Chinese mainland, Nixon's announcement of a new economic policy, the Republic of China's withdrawal from the United Nations and the Shanghai communique issued at the end of Nixon's mainland visit.
"Each of these events created wide repercussions in the local stock market," Hu said, adding: "But now the commotion has gradually subsided and the people have regained confidence in the future of the nation."
Six trust and investment banks in Taipei organized the Taipei Trust and Investment Bankers Association to channel idle capital into investment. Minister of Finance K.T. Li said that because of economic development, Taiwan has plenty of idle capital left in private hands. "This must be utilized to the maximum," he said.
The three export processing zones reported that as of the end of April, they had attracted more than US$50 million worth of capital.
The Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone had investment of US$42 million from 159 investors, the Nantze Export Processing Zone US$2.6 million from 20 investors and the Taichung Export Processing Zone US$7.8 million from 13 investors.
Of the total of US$52.4 million from 192 investors, Japanese led the list with US$16 million from 50 investors, followed by Americans, US$12 million and 12 investors. Overseas Chinese were led by 23 from Hongkong with investment of US$6.5 million.
The export processing zones are industrial districts established to attract investment in export manufacturing. Raw materials imported by zone factories are free of customs duty. Products must be exported.
The Taiwan Electrical Appliance Manufacturers' Association held an exhibition in May to show locally made products, including TV sets, transistor radios, tape recorders, record players and electronic components.
About 90 manufacturers took part. Chen Mao-pang, president of the association, said the exhibition was to acquaint the public with the rapid development of Taiwan's electronics industry in the past decade.
He reported there are 280 factories making electronic manufactures. Out of total investment of about US$230 million, Chinese capital accounts for only US$40 million. The rest comes mostly from Japan, the United States and Holland.
Chen said that in 1971 the electronics industry recorded production of some US$300 million, of which nearly 80 per cent was exported. The average growth rate of electronics exports was 56 per cent annually in the last three years.
Chen said about 80 per cent of parts for transistor radios and 40 per cent for TV sets are made locally. Foreign manufacturers invest in Taiwan's electronics industry because wages are about half the Hongkong level. Work efficiency is higher in Taiwan. Wages of various factories are the same, thus reducing labor turnover.
Living costs are stable and other conditions are favorable for investment. More components and parts are available locally.
The manufacturers' association reported that in January, Taiwan replaced Japan as America's largest supplier of black and white television sets. Exports to the United States for the first month of 1972 totaled 226.244 sets, most of them of the black and white variety. This was an increase of 235 per cent. Japan exported 203,179 sets to the United States in January, a reduction of 18 per cent.
Hitachi, one of the leading TV set makers in Japan, has decided to shift its main color TV set manufacturing operation to its subsidiary in Taiwan. Taiwan Hitachi's products are for export to the United States.
The Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development established an overseas office in Frankfurt, Germany, to promote trade. Similar offices have been set up in Italy. Spain and Holland.
A branch of the China External Trade Development Council, called the Far East Trade Center, was opened in Tokyo last month. It is one of the 12 overseas branches being opened up by CETDC, a semi-official trade promotion agency of the Republic of China.
The ROC will be represented at trade fairs all over the world this year. Exhibits were on view in Brussels and Milan in April at Tokyo, Perth, Madrid and Luxembourg in May. Fairs at Berlin, Bogota, Malmo (Sweden) and Salonika (Greece) will be entered in August and September. Products include textiles, electronics, chemicals, shoes, canned foods and handicrafts. The government has given attention to the exhibitions and local manufacturers have been encouraged to take part.
Taiwan Power Company established a nuclear power department in May.
Taipower said its first nuclear power plant, to cost US$360 million, will go into operation in 1975 with installed capacity of 1.2 million kilowatts. The second plant, which is not yet under construction, will be operational by 1978 with a capacity of 1.7 million kilowatts.
Taipower has 37 generating plants with installed capacity of 3,148,261 kilowatts. The 9 thermal plants produce 2,247,091 kilowatts and the 28 hydro plants 901,170 kilowatts.
The Taiwan Aluminum Corporation has completed a US$15 million thermal power plant with capacity of 92,000 kilowatts. This is the first sizable plant not owned by the Taiwan Power Company.
Sung Ching-hua, board chairman of T AC, said the plant was built to provide uninterrupted power for the Kaohsiung factory, which processes aluminum by electrolysis. The power supply sometimes is insufficient because drought reduces Taipower hydro output.
He said the TAC power plant is linked to the network of the Taiwan Power Company. "We can give Taipower part of our power if it is needed," he said.
The Taiwan Shipbuilding Corporation launched a 100,000-ton tanker, the Lei Tsu, at Keelung May 10. The ship was built for the Chinese Petroleum Corporation and will carry crude oil from the Middle East.
The Lei Tsu is the third 100,000-tonner built by TSBC for CPC. The other two are the Shen Non and Yu Tsao. CPC also owns two other tankers of the same class. Named the Vooshee and Hsuan Yuan, they were built by Ishikawajima Heavy Industries of Japan.
CPC now can carry 75 per cent of Taiwan's crude in its own ships.
The Kaohsiung harbor authorities reported that shipbreaking is a rapidly growing industry. A total of 212 ships totaling 1,489,550 tons was scrapped last year. This was a 14 per cent increase over 1970, when 170 ships totaling 1,314,000 tons were dismantled.
Some 250 ships totaling 2,000,000 tons will be salvaged this year, making Taiwan the world's leading shipbreaker.
The Kaohsiung international airport was officially opened in May. A three-year development project cost US$12.5 million. The Chinese-style terminal building can accommodate more than 1,000 passengers at a time. Other facilities include a 3,050-meter runway, two taxiways and a parking apron of more than 60,000 square meters. China Airlines now has two flights a week from Kaohsiung to Hongkong.
The Ralph M. Parsons Co. of Los Angeles has received a contract from the Civil Aeronautics Administration of the Republic of China to assist in overall management and coordination of engineering and design for the US$95 million Taoyuan international airport west of Taipei.
Work on the airport will begin in 1973 and take three years. There will be a 12,000-foot runway and control systems capable of handling supersonic aircraft.
Taoyuan will replace Taipei airport for international flights. The Taipei airport will handle domestic service.
A report in the English-language newspaper China News said the Taipei airport has one of the best aviation medical centers in the world.
The center has a dental clinic, two biochemistty laboratories, a lead-lined all-purpose X-ray room, an E.N.T. clinic, an E.K.G. room, a treatment room, a cardio-pulmonary lab, an orthopedic surgery, an ophthalmic room and a neuropsychiatric clinic.
It was established in 1970 to test airmen and ground crew members. So far, a dozen pilots have been permanently grounded because they failed to pass the medical exam.
A three-nation tuna fishery conference was held in Taipei with the participation of delegates from Korea, Japan and the Republic of China. Economic Vice Minister Chang Yen-tien said the three nations must cooperate. They produce two-thirds of the total world tuna output of about 1.6 million tons.
The Taiwan Provincial Fishery Bureau reported that deep-sea fishery production is expected to reach 700,000 tons this year, about half of it tuna.
The bureau said Taiwan's largest fishing port has been opened at Chienchen near Kaohsiung. With wharves totaling 1,600 meters, the port can accommodate 800 fishing boats at a time.
Built at a cost of US$2.5 million, the port will relieve congestion at Kushan fishing port, also near Kaohsiung. At ebb tide, the new port is six meters deep on the average, sufficient for deep-sea boats.
Ma Sitson, Chinese violinist-composer, came to Taiwan in May with his wife. He said his visit was more than an ordinary performance tour. It also served to deny rumors that he sought Communist permission to return to the Chinese mainland.
Ma escaped from the Chinese Communists in 1967 during the "cultural revolution." He lives in the United States and came to Taiwan for the first time in 1968.
He said that since the Chinese Communists were admitted to the United Nations, they have been planting rumors that he would return to the mainland.
"Now," he said, "there is no need to say anything. My coming says it all."
Ma gave eight concerts in Taiwan and attended President Chiang Kai-shek's inauguration May 20.
Off for the United States in May was the 35-member Christian Children's Choir. Accompanied by the Rev. Daniel Chung, the choir was sponsored by the International Council of Christian Churches in cooperation with the U.S. March for Victory Committee.
Sponsors said the tour was a part of and effort to contrast the slavery of Red China, where there is no freedom to worship, with life in free China, where children have excellent church choruses and choirs.
Crossing the United States by bus, the choir will visit the Central Baptist Church, Anaheim, Calif.; Calvary Temple, Springfield, Ill.; the First Baptist Church, Hammond, Ind.; the First Baptist Church, New Castle, Del.; and the Bible Presbyterian Church, Collingswood, N.J.
The 18,000-ton S.S. Universe Campus, the world's only shipboard college, arrived at Keelung with four Chinese among its 418 students.
The ship is owned by the Chinese Orient Overseas Lines and shipboard study is under the International Studies Division of Chapman College in Orange, Calif.
Students and faculty members visited the National Palace Museum, National Taiwan University, Broadcasting Corporation of China and various scenic spots.
During its spring tour of the Far East, the college offered 90 courses. It is equipped with 12 classrooms, a marine biology laboratory, a 200-seat theater, a hospital and a 10,000-volume library.
Taiwan Television Enterprise Ltd. (TTV) celebrated its 10th anniversary last month. A message from President Chiang expressed hope TV workers will promote social education and Chinese culture.
TTV was the first of the three television networks in Taiwan. More than half of its programs are live: news, drama, Chinese opera, children's and homemaking programs, sports, quizzes, song and dance. About 85 per cent of programs are in color. Taiwan TV sets are estimated at 1.5 million, or one for every 10 persons.
At a recent seminar on improvement of programs, TTV, CTV (China Television) and CTS (China Television Service) agreed to reduce programs stressing superstition or violence.
The Chengkung Middle School in Taipei opened a museum with a collection of more than 30,000 insects of 10,000 species.
Butterflies come from all over the world. Chen Wei-sou, a teacher of the school, spent three years preparing the exhibits with financial aid from the National Science Council.
Chen has used butterflies as decorations for lanterns, ceilings, teapots, furniture and fruit trays. He asserts butterflies and other insects can provide the decoration for profitable handicrafts.
The Postal Administration announced that two famous handscrolls entitled "The Emperor's Procession" of the painting academy of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), now displayed at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, will be reproduced on stamps June 14 and July 12.
Each installment consists of a strip of five stamps depicting part of the overall procession and three close-up singles revealing significant views.
The imperial procession pictured is of a journey taken by Ming emperor Shih-tsung (the 12th emperor) from his palace in Peking to visit the imperial tombs at Cheng-tien in Hupeh province. The first scroll shows the departure by land and the second the return by water.
Mounting cards for these two series of stamps will be printed by the National Palace Museum and may be ordered by collectors from the Philatelic Department, Directorate General of Posts, Taipei, Taiwan (106), Republic of China.
Hsieh Min-nan, who won the Thai Open Golf Championship, scored another major victory in the Sobu International Open Golf Championship in Japan.
The Japanese tournament was the final competition on an Asian circuit which this year included play in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Hongkong, Republic of China and Korea.
Hsieh shot a sizzling eight-under-par 64 to win the US$33,150 Sobu tourney with a 72-hole score of 279. He finished second to Graham Marsh of Australia as leading money winner on the Asian circuit.