Auto Insurance In Taiwan

Page 88 of the Taiwan Report, the newcomers guide to living in Taipei, described the procedures for registering and operating a motor vehicle in Taiwan.  It stated the minimum insurance requirements as well, and said that your insurance had to be through a company that had a claims agent in Taiwan. I didn't own a car during my tour at USTDC, but I'm wondering if anyone who did can recall what company he/she was insured by.  Also, where was your agent located -- in the compound, in Taipei or elsewhere?

Does anyone recall how much you were paying for insurance in Taipei back then?  I remember that as a young airman with a clean driving record, my car insurance rates in the States were through the roof.  I was stationed in Sacramento when I turned 25 and got married in the same month and my car insurance rates plummeted.  It was like I magically became a model citizen overnight.

*** UPDATE ***

Sarj Bloom just submitted his insurance card from 1961-62.

 

Selling Vehicles in Taipei

I received a note from Sarj Bloom a few days ago describing how he went about selling his car in Taipei. 

Some time ago someone posted a note about not being able to sell your car in Taiwan. I sold mine and still have the MAAG form used for the contract.  In August of 1961 while on leave I bought a 1957 Chevy in Ohio and drove it to California knowing that the Navy would transport it to Taiwan for me.

My car arrived about a month after I did (Oct '61).  The day it arrived I was told I could sell it for $1,500.00 US easy, but I would have to wait for [reassignment] orders first. I wasn't interested in selling it until I was supposed to leave in Oct. of '62 so I did nothing.

In Oct. of 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis happened and I volunteered to extend at TDC for another year. I had already written a contract with a local for the sale of my car upon orders to transfer. 

Well, when I extended my tour, this poor guy, who thought he would get the car in a month or so, was told he would have to wait another year.  He was very upset but I didn't plan it and my hands were tied.

So the story goes that in 1961 I paid $900 for a great car, drove it across the country and all over Taiwan for 2 years, and still got $650 for it.

Enlisted Aides and Drivers

The USTDC Chief of Staff -- USAF Brigadier General Burrows, in my day -- had an enlisted aide. By regulation, an aide's job was to help maintain the general's quarters, assist at receptions and other social events, and pretty much do whatever else the general needed to have done. I wouldn't call them butlers, exactly, but that's probably close to how many of them served.

I don't recall the name of General Burrow's aide, but I remember him as a tall, thin, bookish looking guy with horn rim glasses. He once told me that his main job was to drive the general's wife wherever she needed to go. To avoid any possible legal or diplomatic issues resulting from an accident, he explained, she was not to drive anywhere in Taiwan.

I don't remember if General Burrows ever drove himself anywhere, but I do know that he was assigned a ROC enlisted man as his driver. Throughout the day, whenever the general had an appointment away from the building, BMC Gagne (or whoever was standing watch) would be alerted by the flag office via the squawk box to tell the general's driver to bring the car alongside. The driver was a nice guy who was pretty fluent in English, which I'm sure was a prerequisite for the job.

Anyway, back in those days the number of enlisted aides that any general had was based on his number of stars -- an aide for each star. The Air Force changed that rule a few years later and the officer then had to be a major general (two stars) before he got one aide. I don't know what the rules are today but I suppose they're something similar.

I assume the admiral (Vice Admiral Beshany, in my day) also had enlisted aides but I don't remember much of anything about them. He also had a ROC driver.

The Phantom Regulation

I received a note from Gene Hyden, who was at Taipei Air Station during 1960-1962. His story, however, directly involves USTDC -- and not in a very good way. Here's his story:

My "TDC story" happened in the Spring of 1962. I was a USAF E-4, stationed at Taipei Air Station in the ATF13(P) Intel shop -- the Indications Center -- behind the combination locked door, just down the walkway from General Sanborn's office.

I put in my papers to marry a Chinese National and immediately found myself working in the Motor Pool, which I expected. I also knew that my wife would not be allowed to shop at the PX or commissary according to the TDC regulations. But being a natural-born troublemaker, I did some research and caused some embarrassment for a few high-ranking folks!

I discovered that the all-services regulations absolutely forbade the denial of dependent privileges to any legal dependent of military personnel. It was all extremely clear in the regs. But the TDC regulation was equally clear in denying all PX and commissary privileges to Chinese Nationals married to U.S. servicemen in Taiwan.

So I wrote a to-the-point letter, with copies of all pertinent regulations, and sent it to about a dozen U.S. Senators and Representatives. The "system" for such letters includes a pretty strict time limit for the Congressman to get the letter over to the Pentagon for response...and the Pentagon folks responded quickly...with a statement that the TDC regulation was written "due to an international agreement" between the U.S. and Chinese governments.

Then the Congressmen quickly forwarded the Pentagon responses to me in Taiwan. All except for one: Senator John Tower from Texas. He asked the Pentagon to provide him with a copy of the international agreement. Guess what? There was no such international agreement!"

While all this was going on, I was getting "short," but still using my intelligence training, making contacts at every possible level. My buddy in the TAS Base Commander's office had a buddy in TDC who handled the actual distribution of copies of TDC regulations and changes. They told me that a new regulation was being printed, which ended the denial of PX and Commissary privileges for Chinese Nationals marrying U.S. military personnel!"

Now for the real kicker: The new regulation had already been printed, and was being held, to be distributed after our departure from Taiwan! I was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of the new regulation...which I "filed" with the "old" regulation and copies of all the Congressional correspondence!

So...I can take credit for correcting a nasty situation for all U. S. military personnel who married a Chinese National in Taiwan after the Spring of 1962.

And to all of you: You're more than welcome!

Gene Hyden
Taipei, 1960-62