Taiwan Quick Take

■ Society

Suicide jumper hits passerby

A suicide jumper leaped from a hospital building yesterday, landing on a passer-by and seriously injuring her. According to the victim's husband, Lai Pei-ching was leaving St. Joseph's Hospital in Yuanlin County when the man jumped from one of the floor's in the 11-story hospital. "He landed on a parked car, bounced up and landed on my wife," he told the Broadcasting Corp of China. The man died on the spot and Lai was rushed into the hospital's operation room for surgery for a fractured skull. "She is in critical condition," a nurse said. Taiwan has one of the highest suicide rates in Asia, with seven people committing suicide every day, averaging one suicide every three-and-a-half hours.

■ Maritime

Coast guard brings boat back

The coast guard authorities yesterday escorted home a fishing boat allegedly hijacked by nine Chinese crew members who tried to sail it to the US, coast guard officers said. The Chinese fishermen on board the Hsiang Man Fu 31 were immediately whisked away for interrogation after the 150-tonne Hsiang Man Fu 31 returned to its base in the northern Keelung port, they said. The nine were accused of tying up captain Liu Hsin-chi (劉新吉) and chief engineer Chuang Ka-chi (莊改明) on Aug. 30 when the ship was in waters off Hawaii and diverting it towards the US west coast. The US Coast Guard spotted the vessel off California on Sept. 14 and urged Taiwan to take custody of the ship or it would face expulsion, the officers said. Seven Taiwanese coast guard officers were dispatched to take control of Hsiang Man Fu 31 and sail it home. The ship was joined by a Taiwanese patrol vessel near Hawaii. The two Taiwanese crew members were unharmed and two other Chinese crew members were not involved in the hijacking, the officers added.

A love-sick Taipei man, who asked a woman to marry him in front of her husband, is being sued by the furious husband, local news media reported yesterday. The man, a van driver, identified by his surname, Lee, had been having an affair with his married colleague since April this year, a local Chinese-language newspaper said. He loved the woman so much that he finally went to her home to propose to her in front of her surprised husband and family, the paper said. The dumbfounded husband sued the couple for adultery, a crime that carries a prison sentence, the paper said.

■ Culture

Cartoon contest opens

An international contest for cartoonists, the 2002 Taipei International Cartoon Contest, opened yesterday in Taipei. The contest, with "world peace" and "counter-terrorism" as its themes, has drawn 938 works from artists of 40-odd countries, but only 60 works were put on display, including 20 works judged to be "excellent" and five as "best." Authors of excellent and best works will get cash prizes of various amounts in a ceremony today, organizers said. Cartoonists from China, eastern Europe and South America accounted for 60 percent of the prize winners while only two Taiwan artists made the grade, the organizers said. The display, which opened yesterday, will run until Nov. 10. Renowned artists will give instruction on cartooning at the exhibition at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

Staff writer, with agencies