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Taiwan quick take

■Arts
Musician wins top prize
Huang Ai-yun, a Taiwanese-Canadian percussionist, won the first prize in the percussion category at the 2002 Geneva International Music Competition on Sunday. The 30-year-old musician was born in Taiwan and emigrated to Canada at the age of 18. She got her undergraduate degree with honors in Music Performance from the University of Toronto, a Premier Prix from Conservatoire Nationale de Region de Rueil-Malmaison in France. She is currently reading for her doctorate degree in Musical Arts and teaching at the University of California, San Diego. She performs regularly and has four professional recordings. The third prize in the percussion category this year was awarded to another musician from Taiwan, Yang Yi-ping.

■ Signature
Seal certificates abolished
The Ministry of the Interior yesterday announced the abolishment of the seal certification system, which has been licensing chops in Taiwan for more than thirty years. Every year, there are around 2 million seal certification applications. Under the current practice, the public must apply for seal certification from local population administration departments for land registrations and notarizations. From next month, Taiwanese won't need seal certification for these cases. In future, citizens will apply for notarization and land registration with their identification card.

■ Diplomacy
Helicopter delivery finished
A military delegation has arrived in Asuncion to deliver the last two of the six helicopters Taiwan has donated to Paraguay, Paraguayan Defense Minister Miguel Angel Candia Fleitas said on Sunday. Candia told a news conference that the two helicopters are currently undergoing test flights and maintenance. ROC Ambassador to Paraguay Yen Bing-fan (顏秉璠) will formally present the two choppers to the Paraguayan air force in a ceremony scheduled for Wednesday. The helicopters will then be displayed at a Paraguayan air force base.

■ Religion
Buddhist group donates aid
The Tzu Chi Association in Turkey, an affiliate of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, donated food and other daily necessities on Sunday to residents in Golcuk, a northwestern city hit hard by an earthquake in August 1999. Hu Kuang-chung (胡光中), president of the Tzu Chi Association, headed a team of volunteers in distributing food, household articles and second-hand clothes to earthquake victims and low-income families in Golcuk, a coastal town 78km southeast of Istanbul. The team also included volunteers from Syria, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkey.

■ Direct links
Lufthansa weighs in
Deutsche Lufthansa AG will increase its flight services for passengers if direct air links between Taiwan and China are opened, an official from the German carrier said yesterday. Lufthansa plans to explore direct cross-strait passenger flight services if the often talked about direct air links become reality, said Manfred Reimer, vice president of the Lufthansa Asia Pacific. Reimer was quoted by the Hong Kong Economic Journal as saying Sunday that presently, about 40 percent of tickets for Lufthansa flights departing from Hong Kong for Frankfurt or Munich are sold in Hong Kong.
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