■Legislature
Nationality redefined
The Legislative Yuan yester-day approved a bill to ratify the status of people from Hong Kong, Macau and China to that of non-overseas Chi-nese, as the new law defines that "overseas Chinese are those who live in foreign countries." A clause of the "statute on the identification of overseas Chinese" (華僑身 份証明條例) stipulates that residents of Hong Kong, Macau and China or holders of Chinese passports will
no longer be viewed as overseas Chinese. This will legalize the obligations and rights promulgated for overseas Chinese in admin-istrative regulations. A separate new statute rede-fines the ROC's Mongolian and Tibetan minorities as those people who are ROC citizens, have at least one parent who is a direct descendent of a Mongolian
or Tibetan and who have household registration in Taiwan.
■ Legislature
Nursing home rules eased
The legislature yesterday revised the rules for retired servicemen who want to live in state-run nursing homes. Under the revision, ex-soldiers who are injured on duty may also apply to live in nursing homes at public expense, not just those with war-related injuries. PFP lawmakers had pushed for the changes. Family members of qualified veterans will also be able to apply for a room in the same residences, although they will have to pay their own expenses. Some veterans have given up the right to live in state-run nursing homes because they didn't want to be separated from family members.
■ Health
Donations a family affair
The gift of life is a family affair for a husband and wife in Taipei who both donated bone marrow to overseas patients over the last year. The Stem Cell Center of Tzu Chi Buddhist General Hospital reported yesterday that a 44-year-old man recently donated bone marrow for a 28-year-old British woman suffering from leukemia. His wife also donated bone marrow in January 2001 to a boy in South Korea. Nearly 237,800 people nationwide have registered with the center as potential bone-marrow donors.
■ Diplomacy
Honduran visits Keelung
Mayor Marlon Guillermo Lara Orellana of Cortes, Honduras visited Keelung yesterday and pledged to push for the establishment of sister-city ties. In a meeting with Keelung Mayor Hsu Tsai-li (許財利), Lara said that he was pleased the two cities have been increasing exchanges and he noted that the two harbors have already established relations. He said Keelung and Cortes can learn from one another. He said that he wants to learn more from Taiwan, espe-cially about municipal administration, and he praised Keelung as a prosperous and beautiful city. Hsu expressed hope that the two cities will further increase bilateral exchanges and cooperation.
■ Travel
Japan eases restrictions
Japan has eased restrictions on senior officials visiting Taiwan on official business. Under the revised rules, officials at levels higher
than section chiefs can
now travel to Taiwan to negotiate on issues regard-ing major international organizations of which
both Taiwan and Japan are members. The new rules also stipulate that applications by higher-level officials to visit for negotiations on WTO affairs or other international matters can be handled with a "soft" or flexible approach.
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