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Taiwan Quick Take

■ SARS
Civet cats back on the menu
Civet cats, raccoons, scorpions, terrapin turtles and 50 other types of wildlife, banned from restaurant menus during China's SARS outbreak, were allowed to return as the disease wanes, local Chinese-language media reported yesterday. Wildlife and game animals allowed to be bred and sold to restaurants also include centipedes, deer, pheasants and canaries, media said, citing China's forestry department. The animals must be tested and proven to be free of viruses that cause SARS before they are allowed to be served, the paper said. Snakes will stay off the menu for now, reports said, without giving a reason for the exclusion.

■ Politics
Chen upholds plebiscite
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) reiterated his commitment to holding a referendum before last year and his belief that there is one country on each side of the Taiwan Strait in an meeting with DPP officials in Chiayi County yesterday. Chen was quoted as telling DPP officials in Chiayi that his administration will take into account the opposition parties' opinions and compromise on some issues, but will never compromise on its claim that Taiwan and China are separate countries on different sides of the Taiwan Strait.

■ Politics
US concerned, KMT says
Washington remains deeply concerned about Taiwan's plan to hold a referendum, despite a recent visit by a ranking government official to the US to explain the matter, a KMT official said yesterday. Chang Jong-kung (張榮恭), deputy director-general of the KMT's Policy Coordination Committee and head of the Mainland Affairs Department, said US concern about Taiwan's referendum plan has remained unchanged following a visit by Presidential Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) to Washington to try to clarify Taiwan's position.

■ Shipping
Captain wounded in attack
The captain of a Taiwanese fisheries cargo ship was wounded after his vessel was attacked by pirate boats in the Malacca Strait, officials said yesterday. The 3,000-tonne Tung Yi based in Kaohsiung, was attacked by two pirate vessels while it was sailing for Singapore Saturday, an official from the National Rescue Command Center told reporters. "The two pirate ships were disguised as oil rig tug boats ... that was why the captain did not pay attention to them when they showed up," an official from the center quoted the captain as saying. The captain, identified as Lo Ying-hsiung (羅英雄), said his ship had to speed away following the submachine gun attack which lasted for some two hours. The captain was hit in the knee by a bullet and some of the ship's steering equipment was damaged.

■ Allies
Taiwan talks constructive
The foreign ministers of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Saint Christopher and Nevis, and Dominica said on Friday in a news conference that the cooperation between Taiwan and their countries has been constructive. They also said that the four countries will continue to support Taiwan's bid to join international organizations, especially the UN and the World Health Organization. They made the remarks on the eve of Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien's (簡又新) departure for Taiwan from Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where he attended a conference of foreign ministers on Friday.

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