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Tourist Bureau reported that it was hoping to open offices in
itain, France and the Netherlands, as well as the one it has in West Germany. The publication of the novel "Satanic Verses" was
banned in Taiwan. This did not prevent an entrepreneur rushing out a quick Chinese translation.
9. The Taiwan press reported on 21 April that a goodwill flotilla, of three warships, had set out on 15,000 mile voyage during which it would visit Singapore and South Africa. The flotilla may well pass by the disputed islands in the South China sea. In a possibly unrelated news item, Taiwan revealed that the Interior Minister planned to visit the islands in June and that boundary markers would be placed on the Pratas (Dongsha) and Spratly (Nansha) Islands. The Head of the Judicial Yuan, Lin Yang-kang, began a of Western Europe on 13 April which was nearly called off after West Germany, allegedly under Chinese pressure, seemed likely to refuse him a visa.
10.
Taiwan's relations with the Soviet Union took a further small step forward with the Cabinet decision to allow Soviet officials to attend the meeting of the Pacific Basin Economic Committee in May. A delegation led by the General Manager of Taipower will visit Moscow also in May to attend a conference of World Association of Nuclear Operations. The First Commercial Bank (government-run) is reported to have set up business ties with major East European counterparts and Poland's first trade delegation visited Taiwan in late March, early April. The Taiwan authorities have also scored an important achievement in the fishing agreement between Vietnam's state-run South-West Fishing Service Corporation and a private shipping organisation in Keelung which allows for 70 Taiwan trawlers to operate in Vietnamese waters.
CHINA/TAIWAN
11. In addition to the visit of Shirley Kuo (para 5) and the agreement on sports delegations, relations continued to deepen. Taiwan announced further relaxations in allowing teachers (who are government employees) to visit the mainland and also press and film crews. Visitors in the month also included a group of 50 industrialists and a Buddhist delegation, both of which were received at a high level by the Chinese.
12. The Taiwan authorities floated a new concept of "one country, two governments" during the month. It seemed to come with considerable authority when it was voiced by the Foreign Minister, Lien Chan, on the instructions of Premier Yu Kuo-hua. There was later some backtracking, possibly as a result of opposition by the Taiwan military, and Kuomintang Secretary General Lee Huan declared that it had never been fully approved by the Party. Its official status (in Taiwan) would now seem to be that it is a concept "under study". It fits in well with their "flexible diplomacy" however and looks as though it will eventually gain full endorsement. Peking, of course, dislikes it intensely and has dismissed it as another gimmick aimed at creating two Chinas.
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