FAR EASTERN ROUND-UP
a
A SUMMARY of events in South and East Asia, October 19 to 25
By a Correspondent
CHINA: 20. Buddhists from 11 Asian countries ended three-day conference in Peking with an appeal to Buddhist throughout the world to support South Vietnam Buddhist actions.
President de Gaulle was seriously considering the idea of recognising China, according to an UPI report. Mean- while, French former Premier Edgar Faure was now pay- ing his second visit to China. He had a long private talk with President de Gualle before leaving for Peking.
21. The final result of voting in the UN General Assembly on the Albania-Cambodia proposal to seat China in the United Nations was 41 in favour, 57 against and 12 abstaining.
22. China has demanded that the Royal Laotian Government "take effective measures" to end all pro
Taiwan activities on Laotian soil.
23. The State Council decided to establish an Agricul- tural Bank of China. Also approved at the meeting was the draft of a boundary treaty between China and Afghanistan.
25. A contract worth several million pounds sterling for construction in China of a large synthetic fertiliser plant producing ammonia was signed between China and the British firm of Humphreys and Glasgow Ltd.
Mr Per Hackkerup, the Danish Foreign Minister, in an article published in the Danish paper B.T., called for world cooperation with China in order to prevent the isolation of China from leading to the creation of another political bloc.
JAPAN: 21. A ten-member Japanese fisheries group left for Peking to conclude a private Japan-China fisheries agreement.
23. Premier Ikeda dissolved the Lower House of the Diet and called for a general election on November 21.
HONGKONG: 22. The Government
was
inquiring
about importing water from Japan following the announce- ment that the Chinese authorities were able to give the Colony only 28% of the normal supplies from Shumchun Reservoir.
24. Local firms engaged in delivering food parcels to China reported that business had dropped drastically in many cases by about 98%.
PHILIPPINES: 25. The Government announced it has asked for a two-fold guarantee relating to the Borneo claim from Malaysia before restoring their severed diplomatic relations,
SOUTH VIETNAM: 24. The seven-member UN fact- finding mission arrived in Saigon to investigate the alleged ill-treatment of Buddhists.
25. According to diplomatic sources, truce moves are apparently being carried out between the South and the North Vietnam Governments. (UPI)
INDONESIA: 20. Dr Subandrio told a rally at Palem-
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hap that Indonesia was prepared to hold
FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC RFW
further talks to settle the Malaysian dispute but "with or without talks confrontation must proceed."
21. A baby is being born every five minutes in Djakarta. The number of babies born in the capital totals 15,000 per annum. (Antara)
22. The Navy intensified patrols off Portuguese Timor after Portuguese guns were reported to have shelled on Indonesian fishing boat off the island recently. Retaliatory actions would be taken if the report was confirmed, reports Antara.
President Sukarno decreed death penalty for those con- victed of political and economic subversion against the State. The decree was announced in the framework of confrontation against Malaysia.
23. Indonesia had parachuted crack army commandos into thick jungle bordering Malaysian Northern Borneo. MIG fighters had been ordered to intercept all aircraft en- tering Indonesian air space and to shoot down any plane they considered dangerous.
MALAYSIA: 20. The Berita Indonesia (Indonesia News) reported that Malaya "freedom fighters" had established a rebel government with Achmad Bustaman as Prime Minis- ter and Defence Minister.
21. A number of anti-Indonesia rallies had been held in several states of Malaysia. In Jesselton, an effigy of Sukarno was hanged and burned.
22. A special envoy of the Japanese Foreign Ministry arrived with "concrete plans" to settle Japan's "blood debt" to Malaya and Singapore whose claims come out to a total of M$160 million.
Registration for national service is to begin soon throughout Malaysia as the first step toward a general mobilisation against Indonesian confrontation.
THAILAND: 21. The Government set the par value of Baht at 0.0427245 fine gram gold giving an exchange rate of 20.80 Bahts to one U.S. dollar.
BURMA: 20. The Revolutionary Council Chairman pro- mulgated Law No. 33 retrospective from August 16 to en- ble the Government to nationalise any industries, trading business or other undertakings.
NEPAL: 23. Premier Tulsi Giri arrived in Moscow on an official visit.
INDIA: 22. The giant Bhakara Dam-the highest of its kind in Asia-has been completed. It has two power plants with a capacity of 1,050,000 Kw.
24. Secretary General of the Indian Swantantra Party M. R. Masani urged closer ties between India and Taiwan; arriving at Hongkong after a five-day visit to Taiwan, Masani said he welcomed the U.N.G.A. decision against scating China.
CEYLON: 23. The Prime Minister Mrs Bandaranaike arrived in Moscow on an official visit.
PAKISTAN: 21. Pakistan would "meet force with force" if India-Pakistan's enemy number one”-tried to seize any border villages in disputed Kashmir, said Khan Habibullah Khan, the Minister for Kashmir Affairs.
The overall economic position of Pakistan began to show real improvement in 1962 and early 1963. All this was reflected in improved stability for the Rupee, according to Pick's 1963 World Currency Yearbook.
October 31, 1963
brutan Brunei Burma Cambodia China Ceylon
ECAFE Hongkong India Indonesia Japan Laos
Pakistan Philippines
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United
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Regional
Affairs
China Ceylon
North. Borneo North Kore Philippines Notth
Bhutan Brunei Burma Cambodia China Ceylon
ECAFE Hongkong India Indonesia Japan Laos
Macao
Nepal Pakistan
Some Successes
By Colina MacDougall
IN THE Peking Review at the beginning of this month the Chinese Government announced a list of successes which have been achieved this year. They were: a better grain harvest than in 1962; a cotton output some 20%-30% above last year's; more livestock; a 43% increase in fertili- sers produced in the first eight months of the year and a 27.3% increase in insec- ticides; 30% more tractors; 20% more plastic goods; a new 72,500-kw generator installed in the Hsinan River Hydro- power Station; new machine tools from Shenyang; and developing capital con- struction in "hundreds" of large and medium-sized projects.
Western observers tend to be sceptical about Chinese claims to a successful grain harvest in view of the poor weather in many parts of China, but it seems quite likely that, in spite of some flooding, the cotton crop has done well. The Chinese say that 666,000 hectares more than last year were planted to cotton this season, and they claim that many areas are harvesting "the best crop in years", not surprising considering how deplorable it has been recently.
Draft animals, pigs and poultry are all reported to have multiplicd, which indi- cates that the food situation is genuinely ameliorating for this could not be done unless there was some supply of fodder. How universal these better supplies are cannot be estimated, but it is unfor- tunately likely that the farmers who have been badly hit by drought or floods will endure considerable hardship this winter. The high figure for the increase in
Philippines
production of chemicals is surprising, and not really explained by the Chinese, who simply say that it will increase further when seven more large modern nitro- genous fertiliser plants come into produc- tion. Three of these, including the Wuching Chemical Plant in Shanghai, are already partially completed, and Wuching is reported to be working at the rate of 100,000 tons of ammonium sulphate a year.
Eight plastics factories are manufactur- ing polyvinyl chloride resin, the raw material for plastic goods, and the Chinese remark on the fact that plastics are coming into use much more both in domestic and in industrial surroundings. Besides plastic chopsticks and slippers, there are plastic valves, insulating ma- terials, gears, conduits, pumps and on the farms even plastic waterwheel parts.
China is now making, so she says, polyvinyl resin, polystyrene, organic sili- con, epoxide resin, vinyl chloride and polyesters. Home production is now able to meet domestic demand, and the prices have been steadily lowered as the industry expands or so the Chinese say.
The Hsinan River hydroelectric scheme, the first big power station built entirely by Chinese, is having its fourth
-out of nine -generator unit installed.
It was started in 1957 and went into operation in April 1960. It was connected up to a large power grid in east China, and is reported to supply power to Shanghai, Nanking and Hangchow and to pump- ing stations which help to irrigate farm land in the Yangtse delta,
At Shenyang, the former Mukden, a very big industrial centre, more and better machine tools are being produced. These the Chinese claim are up to the highest standards. The Chinese now say that their machine tool factories have got
Paco 36.
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beyond the stage of copying foreign makes and can now design their own, even large, precision tools.
Among the capital construction projects under way are 71 new coal pits, which are expected to help in east, central, south and west China where coal so far is not mined on a large scale. The report says that two large open-cut iron ore mines, a big iron-ore shaft mine and a magnesium mine are all under construction. These are for Anshan, in the north-east. Penki is building a modern limestone quarry and an open-cut iron mine for its iron and steel works. Both these projects are advertised as being designed by Chinese personnel and equipped with Chinese-made machinery.
Maanshan Steel Works
In Anhwei province, the Maanshan Iron and Steel Works is putting up an ore-dressing plant which can handle 5.4 million tons of iron ore a year.
The Likuo iron ore mine in Kiangsu is building new vertical shafts and a crush- ing and screening plant which is expected to raise production 50%.
Resources of raw materials for the chemical industry are also being deve- loped, not surprisingly since it has suffer- ed from a considerable shortage over the last few years.
A pyrite ore mine at Yingteh in Kwangtung is being expand- ed and a pyrite ore-dressing plant has been built in Anhwei. A phosphorus mine is being built in Hupch (from Chinese blueprints, it is emphasised) to supply the phosphate fertiliser industry.
The production of cement is also going up.
"The first big rotary cement kiln designed, built and installed entirely by Chinese personnel was commissioned last May in "Canton."' A limestone quarry, described as the largest in China, is being constructed inPagega69.ût 344ther,
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