■ Diplomacy
Mongolian office opens
Mongolia's representative office in Taipei is open and visa service has begun, sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Vagva Vatmunkh, Mongolia's first represen-tative, arrived in Taipei earlier this month to preside over the opening of the representative office, said Lin Chin-hsiung (林金雄), deputy director of the minis-try's Department of West Asian Affairs. The foreign ministry is cooperating with the Ministry of Economic Affairs in promoting trade and business with Mongolia, Lin said. The foreign ministry is also collaborating with the Council of Labor Affairs to introduce Mongolian workers to this country, he said.
■ Public security
Alleged shovel thief nabbed
The Criminal Investigation Bureau of the National Police Administration announced yesterday that police had broken a theft ring that specialized in stealing earth-moving hydraulic shovels to sell overseas, mostly to con-tractors building China's Three Gorges Dam. Wang Teh-ming (王德明), 43, a fugitive on the most-wanted list, was arrested in Tai-chung on Sunday, the bureau said. Police discovered 14 shovels, with a value of around NT$3 million (US$86,200) each that Wang had allegedly stolen from surrounding areas. Another suspect, who police declined to identify, is still at large. A police officer told reporters that "most of the hydraulic shovels were smuggled to China via containers .... The rest of them were either shipped to Southeast Asia or sold to the remote moun-tainous areas here," the officer said.
■ Executive yuan
Liu to keep present job
Cabinet Deputy Secretary-General Liu Yu-shan (劉玉山) will stay on at his post, a Cabinet official revealed yesterday. "Since it's extremely hard to find someone who has such extensive experience and prestige as Liu, he has agreed to stay on," said Cabinet Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳). It was widely believed that Liu would replace former Mainland Affairs Council vice chairman Lin Chong-Pin (林中斌).
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