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Taiwan Quick Take

■Cross-Strait Ties
Activists in Tiaoyutai bid
Activists from Hong Kong and China planned to land on the disputed Tiaoyutai islands yesterday, although a group of Taiwanese activists turned back because of poor weather. The landing on the Japanese-controlled islands had been planned as the first by activists from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, according to Leung Kwok-hung, who heads a group seeking the return of the islands to Chinese sovereignty. More than a dozen people set sail for the islands on Wednesday in two boats, one from southeastern China and one from Taiwan. Japanese naval ships were reportedly at the scene yesterday to warn the boats away. Japan's coast guard said it had stepped up its watch on the islands to block the activists from landing.

■ Crime
Bogus marriages on the rise
The National Police Administration (NPA) reported yesterday that a significant percentage of marriages between Chinese and Taiwanese have been discovered to be bogus. Officials said that since they began conducting interviews with Chinese coming to Taiwan to visit their spouses, 903 spouses had been interviewed and 2.5 percent of the marriages had been found to be bogus. The officials said 13 of the visitors who were found to be in bogus marriages were repatriated. Interviews with spouses already in Taiwan found that 10 were in bogus marriages. The entry visas of the 10 were revoked and they were given 10 days to leave the country. The officials said there are 190,000 cross-strait couples to date and that the number of Chinese spouses who have applied to come for visits and reunions has reached 95,338. Of this group, 13,149 have obtained residency status and 10,063 have received citizenship.

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