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5 The Secretary General of the China External Trade Development Council said on 1 November that Taiwan would find no problem in setting up a trade centre in Hungary. Later in the month it was rumoured that he had visited Budapest for a second round of talks on the establishment of a trade office. Agreement in principle seems to have been reached. In late November the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced new measures to simplify visa procedures for East Europeans, apart from citizens of the USSR and Albania. These would apply especially to people who wished to visit for commercial purposes.
6.
A British Education Exhibition was opened on 2 November in Taipei by Mao Kao-Wen, the Minister of Education and Sir Eldon Griffiths MP. Sir Eldon Griffiths was quoted in the Taiwan press as saying Britain had been slow to recognise the new significance of Taiwan. But there had been major improvements, including the great expansion in trade and contacts between the two countries legislatures but there was also much to be done. Britain could offer Taiwan its experience in town and country planning, policing methods, regulation of financial markets and privatisation of state owned industries.
China Airlines reported on 9 November that their landing rights in Cairo were to be suspended from 20 November less than 5 months after their inauguration, because of Chinese pressure on the Cairo authorities. Press speculation continued to circulate concerning the possible purchase from France of new frigates for the Taiwan navy. It was suggested that such a purchase would be easier from France than from other Western European nations because France was not a member of NATO.
INTERNAL
8. Taiwan's first elections since the lifting of Martial Law and the legalisation of opposition parties take place on 2 December, preceded by a two week formal campaigning period. 724 candidates, from 18 parties, are competing for 293 posts, including seats in the Legislative Yuan (the parliamentary body), the Taiwan provincial assembly, and city and county councils. It is not a full general election, and so even if the opposition were to win all the seats for the Legislative Yuan, they would still not win an absolute majority there. The most widely predicted outcome is that the opposition, in which the DPP is the only really significant group, will take around 30% of the overall vote. It is not likely therefore that the overall dominance of the Kuomintang will be seriously threatened. The DPP has done itself no great favour through an overt split over the issue of Taiwan's independence. the beginning of the month 32 of its candidates formed a new group called the New Nation Alliance which has included an open call for independence in its election of platform. In addition another well known opposition figure, Lin Yi-Hsiung, has returned from exile abroad to publish in the Taiwan press a draft "Basic Law" for a "Taiwan Republic". In theory, public discussion of independence is still illegal. The authorities have contented themselves with collecting information and have taken no overt action. These
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