In a last letter 10 his father, one of the martyrs, Fang Sheng-tung, wrote: "If we should fail in our undertaking, China could not escape ruin. In that case, all of our 400 million compatriots would die with me. If we succeed, all of our 400 million compatriots will survive. I should be happy to die in order to save 400 million."
There is no room for pessimism, the President said. "It was 45 years ago that we became the first people in the world to expose Communist evil and to raise our voices in appeal to man's sense of righteousness. We have helped others cherish what they love and, showing concern for all humankind, have sought to promote their permanent happiness. At the price of shedding our own blood, we have persisted in virtuous deeds and undergone the test of revolutionary struggle against tyranny. Today we are providing mankind with an example of clear-headed anti-communist wisdom and have created the objective circumstances for a united free world struggle against Communism." Text of the President's message will be found in the Documents section of this issue.
Plans are already under way for a special celebration of President Chiang's 84th birthday October 31. Each college, university and senior high school will send a company of uniformed students to the Presidential Plaza in Taipei for a mass review in honor of the chief executive. Schools also will send their bands. There will be drills, costumes parades and singing marches.
Vice President and Premier Yen Chia-kan flew to Makung in the Penghu (Pescadores Islands) March 26 to dedicate the longest interisland bridge in the Far East. Four islands of the low-lying complex are linked by the project, which has length of well over three miles, including the approaches. Difficult engineering problems had to be overcome because of the strong currents and high winds of the Penghu area.
"Formerly," the Vice President said, "when people spoke of Taiwan province's Penghu county, they thought of a place which was inconvenient to reach and which lagged far behind the other counties. In the last decade, however, Penghu county has made phenomenal progress as a consequence of the hard work and determination of its residents and the support given by those living elsewhere in the province. The government has attached much importance to the public works of Penghu and the garrison forces here have provided unstinted support The Penghu that we see here today is a county on the move.
"As soon as we deplaned, we could see the level roads, orderly communities, green fields and rolling countryside of Penghu. The impression thus given is wholly different from that of a decade or so ago."
Vice President Yen recalled that instructions for construction of the bridge were given by President Chiang after a 1964 inspection trip to the islands. The work was carried out in five and a half years and cost US$2.5 million. Chinese engineers were in charge of design and construction.
Addressing a Sun Yat-sen memorial meeting, Vice President Yen said free China's policy of mainland recovery would not be changed no matter how the international situation might be altered. He said the government would meet challenges of appeasement with a forthright diplomatic offensive.
"Our foreign affairs must be conducted in accordance with the concept of a total national effort," he said. "We shall emphasize the coordination of political, economic, trade and cultural activities so as to augment contacts and cooperation with friendly nations." The guideline, he said, will be President Chiang's counsel that "In statecraft, those who rely on themselves will survive, but those who rely on others will fail"
The Vice President told the Legislative Yuan that "two Chinas" is "diametrically opposed" to the national policy of China. He said the Chinese Embassy in Washington had been instructed to lodge a "strong representation" with the United States in regarding to President Nixon's use of the phrase "People's Republic of China" in referring to the Chinese Communists. Twenty legislators had protested against the usage in President Nixon's State of the World message. "This unfriendly wording has aroused the indignation of the Chinese people," the legislators said.
Vice President Yen also told the Legislative Yuan that the administrative branch was determined to stamp out corruption. "The government will punish corrupt officials relentlessly once positive evidence is established against them," he said. "We'll do justice to wrongly accused officials but won't be lenient to the corrupt ones." The Bureau of Investigation of the Ministry of Justice is carrying out investigations intended to eliminate corruption, the legislators were told.
Rotarians were challenged by the Vice President to help eliminate spiritual and physical pollutants from society. More than 1,200 Rotary members from 51 clubs in Hongkong, Kowloon, Macao and Taiwan attended the 11th China District Confcrence at the Chungshan Building on Yangmingshan in suburban Taipei.
"Our physical environment is being dangerously polluted," the Vice President said, "and our health and welfare increasingly threatened by dirty air, unclean water, noise and many other wastes." No less dangerous, he added, are spiritual pollutants which lead to frustration and propel young people into escapism or crime. "Not only are many of our promising young men and women getting lost," he said, "but our spiritual environment as a whole is being polluted."
"Rotary can point out the right way for young people," Vice President Yen said, "including the correct way of using energy, a sound philosophy of life and a responsible system of morality."
Economic Minister Y. S. Sun outlined government policies for the 1970s in an address to the Rotarians. Goals will include:
- Equal emphasis on economic development and price stability so as to protect the livelihood of the people.
- Balanced development of agriculture, industry and trade.
- Modernization of agriculture, including mechanization, land consolidation, substitution of crops of high economic value for those of lesser value and lower prices for fertilizers, feeds and other items of production.
- Acceleration of the industrial process, including development of land and underseas sources of energy, expansion of power output, increased competition to promote efficiency, augmentation of sophisticated and precision industries, relaxation of protective trade measures and improvement of the investment climate.
- Enlargement of foreign trade through improved quality, lower costs and diversification.
- Emphasis of developmental research.
Citing the progress of the past, Minister Sun noted that the gross national product was NT$17.3 billion in 1952 and NT$217.6 billion in 1970, while per capita income rose from NT$1,716 to NT$11,664 in the same period.
William N. Morell Jr., economic counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Taipei, told a local Rotary meeting that the Taiwan gross national product will be well over US$15 billion by 1980, or three times the present level. He foresees exports of US$10 billion by the end of the decade and imports of about the same amount. This would mean two-way trade of US$20 billion, compared with a little over US$3 billion last year. Trade with the United States can be expected to increase to between US$6 billion and US$8 billion a year, he said.
Morell said: "Trade with Taiwan's neighbors will offer sharply improving opportunities. In a recent report, the Asian Development Bank projected that Southeast Asia's trade with all trading partners in 1980 would run well over 22 billion US dollars and it is of interest to us here that the bank expects exceptionally rapid gains in Southeast Asia's trade with the Republic of China. This is but one trading area. Others offer equally favorable opportunities. Japan of course will clearly remain a major trading partner and here, too, we expect a growth in commerce measured in billions of dollars.
"Trade and national income during the next decade will surge ahead to levels that would have staggered the imagination 20 years ago and businessmen in this new era will more than ever before share major social and economic responsibilities with government for the progress of nations and for improvements in the people's welfare. The pace of change will be swift and the need to adopt modern business methods will assume increasing importance."
Central Bank of China Governor Yu Kuo-hua said there would be a moderate expansion of the money supply this year. This will be necessitated by economic development, he said. Demand for local currency is much higher than that for foreign exchange. Foreign trade increases and foreign investment also are exerting pressure on the currency supply.
To hold down the money supply, the Central Bank will encourage private savings and the constructive use of bank funds. In 1970, the monetary supply rose by 18.7 per cent. Commodity prices were up 3.2 per cent. With inflationary money deducted, the supply of money rose by 15.5 per cent, compared with the 10 per cent growth rate of the economy.
Bank deposits totaled NT$101,650 million at the close of 1970, a gain of 19.1 per cent. Loans were up to NT$99,800 million, of which 71.3 per cent were to private enterprises. The increase over 1969 was 16.5 per cent. Favorable balance in foreign exchange was US$65 million.
With Vice Premier Chiang Ching-kuo presiding in his role as chairman, the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development reviewed implementation of agricultural and industrial development programs. In agriculture, the government has moved toward mechanization, improvement of credit and reduction of production costs.
These were progress notes in industrial development:
- Easing of credit, with long-term, low-interest loans.
- Improvement of commodity tax collection.
- Readjustment of tariff rates.
- Augmentation of export shipping.
- Stipulation of minimal standards.
- Development of petrochemical industries by private investors.
- Improvement of quality.
- Simplification of procedures for establishing factories.
- Easing of entry regulations for overseas Chinese investors.
Six forums on industrial development were held in 1970. They covered textiles, chemicals, metals, overseas Chinese investment, Japanese investment and other foreign investment.
Foreign trade is expected to reach US$3.8 billion this year and was off to a good start. The Central Bank of China showed volume of US$277 million in usually slow January, an increase of more than US$68 million over the same month in 1970. Exports were US$151.5 million and imports US$125.5 million for a comfortable balance in the black ink. Textiles led exports and agricultural products topped imports. The United States was the leading trading partner with Japan in second place.
Comparative figures showed that Taiwan's trade was 38 times larger than that of the Communist-held Chinese mainland on a per capita basis. Accepting the Japanese trade figure of US$4,400 million for the mainland in 1970, per capita trade was US$5.6, compared with US$213 for the Republic of China. Much of the mainland trade increase was made up of larger imports, including. US$500 million worth of steel and 14,000 vehicles.
Figures relayed to Edgar Snow by Chou En-lai claimed that Chinese mainland output of industrial and agricultural products increased by 478.7 per cent between 1950 and 1959 but by only 16.5 per cent in the last 11 years. Per capita income for Red China was put at about US$90, compared with nearly US$300 in the Republic of China.
Economic Minister Y. S. Sun said that exports hold the key to development of both agriculture and industry. A higher standard of living for farmers, he said, depends on increased foreign sales of fruit, vegetables and flowers. Larger export volume can be expected from electronics, electrical appliances, textiles and machinery.
Trade with Japan is declining in absolute terms. Exports to Taiwan's neighbor to the northeast made up 18 per cent of the total in 1968, 16.1 per cent in 1969 and 15.1 per cent in 1970. The import decline was from 41.3 per cent in 1968 to 40.6 per cent in 1969 and 38 per cent in 1970.
Imbalance of the Japanese trade remains a major problem. For the three-year period, exports were US$151.8 million versus imports of US$423.8 million in 1968, exports of US$178.3 million versus imports of US$489.2 million in 1969 and exports of US$235.5 million versus imports of US$582 million in 1970.
Textile manufacturers decided not to go along with the Japanese proposal of self-imposed restriction on exports to the United States. Wang Moo-fa, convener of an ad hoc group of textile exporters, said Japan was trying to "drag other Asian countries along" in its offer to the United States.
Taiwan mills cannot comply with the Japanese formula of only percentage increases for forthcoming years, Wang said, because:
- Textile exports constitute only a small fraction of Japan's exports compared with roughly a third of the Taiwan volume.
- In Taiwan, textiles is the largest employer with more than 300,000 jobs. In Japan, the industry ranks fourth.
- Textiles is of decreasing importance in Japan's developed industry but is continuing to increase in importance in the Republic of China.
One of Taiwan's textile leaders suggested that local companies cooperate closely in planning production. He said that foreign orders are often turned down because producers hesitate to undercut their supplies for the domestic market. Closer coordination could result in filling of the foreign orders and avoidance of domestic shortages, he said.
Government has liberalized the import of more than 1,000 items in the last two years, according to Shao Hsueh-kun, deputy director of the Board of Foreign Trade. This has been made possible by industrial development and balanced foreign trade.
Only 212 items had been decontrolled before establishment of the Board of Foreign Trade two years ago. Since then, BOFT has reviewed 5,030 controlled items and removed protection from 1,125. The review is expected to be complete before the end of June.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has asked the Taipei Export-Import Association to establish a trading company with investment of US$2.5 million. The company is needed to strengthen export promotion, research and funding of export plants.
Australia sponsored a five-day Industrial Trade Display with great success. Sales were expected to exceed US$1.5 million. More than 15,000 industrialists, businessmen and other interested persons attended. Trade inquiries totaled nearly 2,500. In opening the exhibition, Vice President C. K. Yen said the industrial accomplishments of Australia could "serve as a source of inspiration for other countries."
(File photo)
Australia sold US$51 million worth or goods to Taiwan in 1970 and bought US$21 million worth. The increase has amounted to eight times in a decade.
Government plans for expansion of food processing envisage exports of US$220 million by 1976. These are major points in the program, which will get under way next year:
- Increase of processed agricultural exports from US$120 million in 1972 to US$220 million in 1976.
- Agricultural investment by the food processing industry.
- Establishment of warehouses for canned food at Kaohsiung and Keelung ports, centralized inspection and quarantine, and an integrated system of production and marketing.
- Improvement of processing techniques to raise quality.
- Additional research.
What will be Taiwan's next US$100 million export? Not bananas, guess again. Nothing less than the sweater, so much in demand for those colder winters of recent years. Volume was nearly US$65 million last year, up from the US$36 million in 1969. Price is right, and the buyers include the United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, Australia, Holland, South Africa, West Germany and some 50 other countries and areas.
And a growing luxury export is yachts. Volume was down slightly last year because of the recession in the United States. But reports to CIECD from the States indicate that a boom lies just ahead. Private pleasure craft made in Taiwan sell for far less than those made in the United States and somewhat less than Hongkong's competing products.
Recommendation came from the National Science Council for establishment of pilot plants to make new industrial products. The intention is to encourage large-scale investment in bigger factories.
CIECD said the electronics industry would emphasize the development of Chinese rather than foreign-invested plants in the future. Production last year was US$210 million, of which US$150 million was for export. More than 80 per cent of the exports came from foreign-invested factories.
Targets for domestic production will include:
-Television sets, radios, phonographs and tape recorders.
- Compact computers and office machines,
- Communications equipment.
- Electronic components and subassemblies, including integrated circuits.
General Instrument Taiwan Ltd. said it hoped to buy Taiwan-made parts not only for its domestic plant but also for use in Canada, the United States, South America and Europe. GIT bought US$17 million worth of materials in 1970 but only 5 per cent came from Taiwan, largely because of quality deficiencies. Taiwan manufacturers were said to need better tool-making and improved management and cost control.
Twenty-one thousand automobiles were sold in Taiwan last year, of which 12,000 were imported. The island has four auto makers and two more plants under construction. This means production capability of 40,000 units or more, which far exceeds domestic demand. Exports are ruled out by high prices. The cheapest passenger car of 600 cc cylinder displacement sells at US$2,000. A 2,000 cc sedan sells for US$4,250. Comparable Japanese vehicles are priced at half or less.
Economic Minister Y. S. Sun said the government would welcome foreign investment in the automotive industry and especially in the manufacture of parts. This would include endorsement of the plan of Henry Ford II to make an Asian car from components built in several countries of the region. Each country would have its own assembly plant.
Minister Sun told the Legislative Yuan that the government was considering termination of control over auto imports. Domestic industry would be protected through the tariff structure. This would mean that taxi fleets, which now must be Taiwan-made, could include larger imported vehicles.
Plastics is doing well in the profits column. Nan Ya showed a 12 per cent return and made nearly US$½ million. Formosa Plastics had profits of more than US$3½ million. Dividends were NT$16 on NT$50 shares for Nan Yan and NT$14 on NT$50 for Formosa. Both are under board chairman Y. C. Wang. Nan Ya is the island's biggest private enterprise and will have exports exceeding US$50 million this year.
Mining output for last year showed 4,473,467 tons of coal, 7,030 taels of gold, 29,729 taels of silver, 3,752 tons of copper, 6,060 tons of sulfur, 653 tons of marble, 101,774 litres of crude oil and 918,041,000 cubic meters of natural gas.
Nine industrialists have received entrepreneur awards for last year, the first ever given. They were selected by a nine-member committee headed by H. Y. Fan, president of the United Daily News. They are:
- Wang Yung-chin, board chairman of Formosa Plastics and the founder of Mingchih Technical Junior College. He is 54, a native of Taipei and has an elementary school education.
- Wu Lien-hsing, 40, board chairman of the Ta Ming Machinery industrial Co. Ltd. He is a native of Changhua in central Taiwan and was graduated from the technical high school there.
-Yao Chun-chili, board chairman of the China Food Industrial Corp. Ltd. A graduate of St. John's University in Shanghai, he is from Yangchung, Kiangsu, and is 63.
- M. Y. Chang, board chairman of Chia Hsin Cement Corp. and establisher of the Chia Hsin Cultural Fund and other scholarships. He is 70, from Chenhai in Chekiang, and holds an honorary doctorate from Lincoln University in the United States.
- Chuang Hsin-tai, 62, board chairman of the Joicing Fiber Corp. and author of books in the economic and financial field. He is from Shanghai and was graduated from National Central University.
- T. C. Chen, board chairman of Ta Sing Machine Works Ltd. Another native of Taipei and 48, he is, like Y. C. Wang, a production of the primary school system.
- Miss Huang Wei-ching, only 24, of the Out Handicraft Works Ltd., who overcame difficulties in the way of making coral necklaces. She is from Changhua and a graduate of the Fuhsing Vocational High School.
- Tsai Chow-ching, 50, board chairman of Fuchenglung Industries Ltd. and a pioneer in the growing Taiwan business of rubber shoes manufacturing. He is from Taichung and a primary school product.
- Cheng King-ho, 49, board chairman of the Sun Fun Industrial Co. Ltd. and a pioneer in the Taiwan manufacture of electrical appliances. He is a Taipei native and graduate of National Taiwan University.
From the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development came a new working plan to promote foreign and overseas Chinese investment. Points include:
- More information through special reports by foreign banks and the preparation of booklets and pamphlets.
- Forums on the revised foreign investment statute.
- Invitations to prospective investors to visit Taiwan.
- Dispatch of missions abroad to seek investment and technical cooperation agreements.
- Research and study of investment assistance and regulations.
- Agreements with other countries to avoid double taxation of investment projects.
Signing of a new loan agreement with Japan was expected. This will be for US$100 million, augmenting the US$150 agreement of several years ago. Benefiting projects ate expected to Include the Tsengwen Dam and Reservoir, Kaohsiung Harbor and Tang Eng Iron and Steel Works. Each project will receive separate approval and financing. The yen credits will come from the Japanese Overseas Assistance Fund, Export-Import Bank and other financial institutions.
External investment in the metal industry will be more selective in the future. Conditions will include a large export potential, new technology and investment of at least US$1 million. Steel and iron, copper and aluminum industries will be included.
For electrical appliances, new investment criteria will be production for export only, use of local materials and components, and import of only materials and components which cannot be supplied locally. New plants making products which are already available from domestic industry will be required to have local financing of at least 51 per cent.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank will loan the Chinese Petroleum Corporation US$20 million for a naphtha cracking plant with capacity of 250,000 tons annually, sufficient for domestic demand. Total cost of the plant will be US$25 million. CPC built a 50,000-ton naphtha plant several years ago with a US$5 million loan from the same institution.
Ex-Im Bank credits to the Republic of China over the years have totaled US$400 million for power development, jet aircraft, chemical and textile plants, rail and broadcasting equipment, and others. Present commitment is US$259 million, of which US$179 million is in the form of loans for more than five years, US$76 million for periods of one to five years and the rest in short-term insurance.
Sino-American Social and Economic Development Fund allocations for the current fiscal year come to about US$50 million, of which 18 per cent is for the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction. The remainder is under control of the Executive Yuan (Cabinet). The money comes from residual U.S. aid funds, including capital repayment and interest on aid projects. The U.S. aid program was terminated in 1965.
Money will go to agriculture, natural resources development, industry, mining, transportation, education, manpower, urban development, health, economic research, international cooperation, promotion of investment and loans to private enterprise.
Membership in the American Chamber of Commerce has increased to 220 and 173 companies, compared with 94 members and 85 companies four years ago. Committees have been increased from 12 to 29.
Taiwan's labor force was 4,606,000 out of a population of 14,591,000 as of last October, according to the Provincial Labor Force Survey & Research Institute. Armed forces of about 550,000 are not included. The working age group (15 through 64) numbered 7,779,000. Those aged under 15 or 65 and older were considered as dependents. For every 100 working age people, there are 87 dependents.
The Institute said nearly 850,000 were employed in manufacturing and there was a shortage of more than 11,000 workers. Average monthly working hours in factories was 228 and average earnings NT$1,893. Employment is down in agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry, and up in mining, manufacturing, construction and services.
Newly approved by the Executive Yuan is a long-range manpower development plan calling for family planning, training of engineers and scientists, augmented vocational education and improvement of working conditions. Programs under the plan will last for between two and ten years.
Four vocational training centers will be established by the Provincial government. That in northern Taiwan will be opened this year. The others are slated for central, southern and eastern parts of the island. Local governments and the World Bank will assist with financing. The northern center near the Neili Industrial Zone at Taoyuan will train 1,500 technicians annually.
Pension payments are small and the retirement of overage public functionaries long has been a problem for various levels of government. Now a "manpower bank" gives promise of finding employment for those who want or need to continue working. The agency was established by the Community Welfare Enterprise Association and has registered 573 job applicants. Some have been placed.
Private employment agencies are losing ground. The count of such organizations is down to 87, most of which are serving maidservants and odd-job seekers. Government agencies and industrial development are curtailing the need for such services.
Labor insurance now covers more than 900,000 persons. The program was started two decades ago and grew by 11.23 per cent last year. Organizations covered number 8,609, up from the 5,459 of 1969. Twenty per cent of premiums is paid by the employee and the rest by the employer. Coverage is for childbirth, injury, sickness, disability, old age and death. Hospitals and clinics under contract to the program will be increased from 435 to nearly 700. Premiums paid since 1950 exceed NT$3,256 million and payments top NT$2,751 million.
Population growth did not slow down last year, the Provincial Family Promotion Committee announced, because of the sharp increase in the number of women of marriageable age. By 1973, the number of women in the 20-24 age bracket will be 750,000 compared with 500,000 aged 25-29. Goal of the family planning program is to cut back the present 2.2 per cent rate of population growth to 1.8 per cent in the next 10 years.
(File photo)
Taiwan's "FBI" came under the Ministry of Justice in 1956. Since then, the Bureau of Investigation has grown by leaps and bounds. Its main assignments are in the area of espionage, corruption, drug traffic and tax evasion. Eight examinations for recruitment have been held since 1964 and more than 700 agents employed. Only 1 of 20 candidates is accepted. A college degree is required, and there are 19 MAs and 4 PhDs.
.The BOI handles about 5,000 cases annually. In 1965, the bureau received only 800 tips by mail. The total last year was 8,800. Recent corruption cases investigated have involved counterfeiting, the soybean and banana trade, fishing, mushroom exports and cheating at college entrance examinations.
Wages have been rising by 15 per cent annually, Economic Minister Y. S. Sun said, but prices have been kept under control. He said the consumer price index climbed only 3.57 per cent last year, compared with 5.06 per cent last year and 6.07 per cent in 1968.
Vice President-Premier C. K. Yen said the government is concentrating on research to maintain price stability. Some inflation is inevitable, he said, but this must be kept as small as possible. As for government and armed forces pay increases, Yen said these must be carefully weighed so the government can avoid deficit spending.
Finance Minister K. T. Li reported to the Legislative Yuan on success of the national savings program. Bank savings deposits were up 25.1 per cent and postal savings 41.6 per cent last year.
Plans for an anti-poverty program were announced by the Taiwan Provincial Government. About half a million people will benefit. Provincial figures show 17,883 families as "very poor" and 71,879 families as "poor." The very poor are unable to earn a living and the poor earn only part of their livelihood. The program will include cash relief, free medical care, vocational assistance, housing construction, family planning and development of tidal lands for cultivation.
Revenues of the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau are expected to reach US$250 million for the current fiscal year, or about 5 per cent of the gross national product. Prosperity has led to greatly increased consumption of tobacco and alcoholic products.
Answering a legislator's question, the Executive Yuan said the US$468 million investment in the Keelung-Kaohsiung Expressway can be recouped in five years. Transportation costs will be greatly reduced, the Cabinet said, as a result of decreased fuel consumption and longer vehicle life. The Asian Development Bank has estimated return on the investment at 20 per cent.
Dial phone service has begun in Hualien and Lotung on the east coast. Dialing will be extended to Ilan and Taitung within the next year.
Telecommunications increased last year to 1.5 million phone calls and 1,180,000 cables. Growth rates were 58 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively. TV programs relayed by satellite included 601 minutes from the United States and 1,142 minutes from Japan and Thailand.
A ground station to connect with the Indian Ocean communications satellite will be completed early in 1973.
Taiwan Province will have 841 city and county legislative members under revised regulations approved by the Assembly. Membership of local councils may not be less than 19 nor more than 59. The standard constituency is 10,000. If population is over 200,000, one councilman will be elected for every additional 20,000 people. If population is over 700,000, there will be an additional member for every 40,000. Women members must account for 10 per cent of those elected.
Taipei county will have 59 councilmen and Penghu county 19. The present provincial total is 847.
Another Provincial Assembly revision calls for age limits of 30 to 61 for magistrates and mayors and 25 to 61 for town and village chiefs.
Tsengwen Dam and Reservoir will be completed in May of 1973, six months ahead of schedule. This will mean additional benefits of nearly US$8 million. A work force of 2,400 retired servicemen is building the dam in southern Taiwan. Construction started in 1967.
Taipei City is moving to correct a shortage of hospital beds. There are 4,900 beds in 43 hospitals, which means an average of 29 per 10,000 compared with Japan's 115. Besides constructing new hospitals, the city plans an emergency ward in cooperation with National Taiwan University Hospital, a cancer control center, mobile units to visit aged patients, rebuilding of the isolation hospital and free TV and VD check-ups.
An Environmental Sanitation Committee was established in Taipei upon instructions of President Chiang Kai-shek. The chief executive said the city was not so clean as it should be. He stressed cleanliness and an attractive appearance at the airport, railroad and bus stations, tourist attractions, scenic spots and lanes and streets. Inspections will be carried out on a regular basis.
Devices for the measurement of atmospheric pollution are being acquired by the city. Monthly fallout of pollutants in Taipei is about 22 metric tons, of which 6.67 metric tons is soluble. This is less than industrial centers in Japan and the United States. A laboratory has been set up to test water samples from Taipei's rivers.
Special service centers are on the increase in Taipei. One of these specializes in counseling youth on school, home or other problems. It was established by the China Social Welfare Association. Educators, psychologists, doctors of medicine, lawyers and sociologists are serving as consultants.
The Service Center of the Taipei City Council has handled nearly 200 cases since its establishment at the end of 1970. Members of the City Council take turns manning the desk, which has three phones. Relief and compensation for condemned illegal housing are the most frequent problems.
City life takes its toll, too, Traffic moved up to seventh place among the causes of Taipei deaths. Suicide made the list of the top 10 killers for the first time in 1969 and is still on the increase. So are deaths from heart disease and arteriosclerosis. Declining were infant mortality, tuberculosis and cirrhosis of the liver. Life expectancy for men is 68.58 years and for women 72.15 years.
On the air around the clock is a Taipei traffic radio station broadcasting reports on road conditions. English is used as well as Chinese.
Twenty-two new ships were added to the merchant marine last year, Communications Minister Philip C. C. Chang told the Legislative Yuan. Tonnage exceeded 403,000. Fifteen of the vessels were built to order. Eight additional vessels are on under. Scrappings for 1970 totaled 26 ships of 175,647 DWT.
Addressing the World Chinese Shipping Amity Conference in Taipei, Minister Chang urged shippers to help build up the merchant fleet. He expressed hope that those Chinese fleets now flying flags of expediency would raise the national emblem. If they did so, he said, the Republic of China's merchant fleet would rank among the top 10 in the world.
Vice President Yen recommended that shippers update their shipping and their management. The meeting was attended by 136 representatives from 14 countries and areas: Hongkong, Thailand, Singapore, Khmer Republic, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Brunei, Japan, Korea, Ryukyus, United States, South Vietnam and Republic of China.
Amity shippers decided to set up a preparatory team to study investment in Taiwan shipbuilding and repair. They showed special interest in plans to establish a Kaohsiung shipyard capable of building vessels of up to 250,000 tons.
Nearly US$25 million is earmarked for expansion projects at international harbors during the 1971-72 fiscal year. Cargo handling capacity will be raised to more than 25 million metric tons annually.
A Kaohsiung arrival was the Canadian aircraft carrier Bonaventure but she was not under power. The 20,000-ton vessel was towed from Halifax by a Japanese tug on a 142-day voyage to the scrapyard.
To be built at Kaohsiung is a plant to turn out 300 steel containers a month for Asian shipping. The Taiwan Container Manufacturers Ltd. has capital of US$1,250,000.
(File photo)
Visiting Kaohsiung briefly was the 38,000-ton luxury liner Rotterdam on an 89-day voyage around the world. Passengers went ashore to see Cheng Ching Lake in the suburbs of Taiwan's second largest city.
Keelung was host to the 15,000-ton Ryndam, which serves as the campus for a floating college. More than 500 students and their teachers spent three day~ in Taiwan. The floating educational program is con ducted by Chapman College of California. For next year, the campus will be transferred to the former Queen Elizabeth, which was purchased by C. Y. Tung.
Domestic air transportation soared 55.6 per cent last year. Airlines carried 1,535,500 passengers. International air traffic was up 18.7 per cent to 997,300 passengers. Railway passenger service grew by 5 per cent, rail freight service by 1 per cent, highway passenger travel by 11.1 per cent and highway freight service by 16.1 per cent. Chinese-owned ships accounted for 37.4 per cent of import cargo, an increase of 5.7 per cent,
Beginning in June, Taipei International Airport will split arriving passengers into groups of those carrying dutiable articles and those with nothing to declare. This will speed customs procedures. Customs has raised the value of duty-free gift parcels from Hongkong, Macao, Japan and the Ryukyus to US$7.50. The amount will be US$15 from other places.
Direct flights from Taipei to Makung in the Penghu (Pescadores Islands) are planned by China Airlines and Far Eastern Air Transport. Service previously has been by way of Kaohsiung.
Frances Sun of China Airlines placed fourth in the international air hostess contest at Montevideo. She was the only Asian girl among the top five. More than 70 hostesses from all over the world participated.
An office will be opened in Hamburg or Frankfurt to promote European tourism. It will be staffed by officials of the Tourism Council of the Ministry of Communications, which already has offices in Tokyo and San Francisco.
More than a million persons visited Yangmingshan (Grass Mountain) in suburban Taipei during the spring season of cherry blossoms.
Chinese visitors to Expo 70 in Osaka last year numbered 64,000, the second largest foreign group.
The second fertilizer price reduction in a year was approved by the Executive Yuan. Farmers will save more than US$7.5 million a year. Prices of domestically produced farm machinery have been reduced 10 per cent to promote the target of mechanization on 450,000 of farmland in four years. Power tillers were cut by US$125 and sales are on, the in crease.
Rice is the major cash crop despite efforts to promote planting of others, the Taiwan Food Bureau reported. Many farmers prefer rice because their land is suited to it and the domestic market is reliable. Such crops as oranges, bananas, onions and asparagus are subject to export price fluctuations. The Food Bureau opposes any reduction in rice production.
From the Provincial Government came suggestions that farmers be exempted from the inheritance tax and that competitive agricultural imports be subjected to heavy duties. The recommendations are intended to help raise the rural standard of living and prevent further farm fragmentation.
The 266 Farmers Associations participating in the Unified Agricultural Credit Program showed a profit of more than US$3 million last year. More than 70 per cent of loans went into farm production.
An American apple ("Golden Delicious") and three Japanese varieties are doing well in Taiwan at elevations of around 6,000 feet. Experimentation has been in progress since 1958. Peaches and pears also are growing well and more than 100,000 trees have been planted.
Animal husbandry targets for 1971 include nearly 7,650,000 hogs, 305,000 head of cattle and 61 million head of poultry (chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys).
Vice President C. K. Yen presided at opening of the Bureau of Public Health under the Executive Yuan. The director is Dr. Yen Chun-hui, who formerly headed the Provincial Department of Public Health. This new unit at the Central Government level replaces the Health Department of the Ministry of Interior. It has departments on Medical Administration, Drug Administration, Disease Control, National Health, Environmental Health and Research and Development.
Vice President Yen called for closer cooperation between Chinese herb doctors and Western-style physicians under the new bureau. He emphasized the development of preventive medicine.
Cabinet approval was given establishment of the Yangming Medical College, which will be affiliated with the Veterans General Hospital at Shihpai. The college's grounds will be nearby.
Chi Cheng, the world's "fastest woman," received the Tanqueray Sports Achievement Award in New York. She was undefeated in 63 races in the United States an4 Europe in 1970 and won 70 of 71 races in 1969.
(File photo)
To be established before July, 1972, is a National Athlete Training Center in Taipei. Sports organizations will recommend youth athletes for training. Physical education departments will be established at the high school level beginning next year.
Presidential Secretary-General Chang Chun, speaking on behalf of President Chiang Kai-shek, told 500 scholars in the United States that the Republic of China will not yield "even an inch of land or a piece of rock" in the dispute with Japan over ownership of the Tiaoyutai Islands (Senkakus) between Taiwan and the Ryukyus. The scholars had urged the Republic of China to take a firm stand against what they described as "new aggression" by Japan. Petroleum is believed to underlie the continental shelf in the vicinity of the islets, which are uninhabited.
Visiting Taipei, Mrs. Anna Chennault, the widow of General Claire Chennault, urged the Republic of China to promote friendly relations with the United States at both official and unofficial levels. She said that people-to-people diplomacy is needed to firm up the essentially anti-Communist position of the American people and government. She said Americans who are opposed to the ROC should be invited to Taiwan so they can see the results of Sino-American friendship and cooperation with their own eyes.
A new envoy from the Republic of Korea presented his credentials to President Chiang. He is Ambassador Kim Kye Won, a retired general and formerly the chief of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. He succeeds General Kim Shin, who returned to Seoul to seek a seat in the Korean National Assembly.
Visiting Taiwan was Winthrop Brown, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, who described his three-day visit as "very useful"