PENSION FEARS: A union spokesman said the party's employees fear for their future and want to see more than talk from KMT leaders who have planned layoffs
By Caroline Hong
In an effort to force the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to answer to the needs of its employees, the party's union said yesterday that it is considering a mass strike on July 16 -- the day of the KMT's highly anticipated chairmanship election.

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OLD AND NEW FACES: The chancellor of the exchequer and foreign ministers kept their jobs, the defense portfolio changed hands and ally David Blunkett is back
British Prime Minister Tony Blair was putting the finishing touches on his new team yesterday, as observers studied changes in the Cabinet for hints about his political future.

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RELUCTANT CHINA: Beijing is reportedly growing irritated at the mounting pressure it faces to persuade Pyongyang to return to the six-nation negotiations
Asian and European foreign ministers urged North Korea yesterday to return to talks on its nuclear arms program "without any further delay" as concerns grew that Pyongyang was preparing for an atomic test.

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First lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) will be treated as the wife of a national leader and will be protected as such when she visits the US next week, a close friend of the first family said on Friday.

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Japan yesterday renewed a demand that China apologize and compensate for sometimes violent anti-Japanese protests as their foreign ministers tried to find a way through a series of bitter disputes.

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