Thursday, 23 May

Catalina Suite, House of Freedom

Huang Chaoqin paid me a visit. He said that when I arrived Taiwan last month it so happened that he was abroad, but on return, he had been very preoccupied by the election, having to travel to various districts in Taizhong and Tainan, therefore it was only now that he could come and see me. His words were so courteous that I was deeply touched by his kindness. He also asked me to stay temporarily in his residence at No. 117, Zhongshan Road, Caoshan. He could dispatch one car here for my use. I thanked him for his kindness but did not accept either offer. I introduced Zhongxiong to him and asked if he could help. I told him about the matter of Linting Company.  Afterwards, I talked with him about Taiwan’s economy. He said that a number of certain banks had no money to lend out because the interest rate of private deposits is so high that there is no need to deposit funds in a bank. Also, because the Ordinance for Industry has not been announced, factories have no choice but to mortgage real estate. This made financing difficult so factories were hard put to buy machines. The interest one needed to pay was forty per cent, but the profit from products could not achieve as much as the costs of interest. Therefore, it is natural that factories cannot sustain themselves. Even for Tang Rong’s iron factory, it is the case that the steel bars it produces were mainly used as reinforcing steel and cement in construction work, but the production of cement was insufficient (because transportation was inconvenient and transportation railways were insufficient). Therefore, the marketing of steel bars was difficult. But steel production could not be curtailed. All such factors were posed as the biggest obstacles to industrial development. As for American assistance, we could not persuade the United States to recognize this and provide us with thorough and fundamental help. However, the current situation is much better than several years ago. He made an appointment with me for dinner next month.

Guan Suren came to talk with me. He invited me to have dinner at Jushuixuan.

Zhongxiong met up with Liu Zhongda. They talked for a long while but did not touch on the matter of the sugar business.

Shen Qi came. I went with him to the Yinwo Japanese restaurant for supper. (Chen Zhiwei (陳志為)’s treat).  The food was good, and the reception was quite good too. Tang Chuanzhong and Khóo Péng were interested in the waitresses, whom were quite young. I learnt that they had spent substantial sums on them. But for elderly people to pursue such young females who are so immature would only torment themselves. After supper, I took a walk in the town and returned to the House of Freedom at 10:00 p.m.