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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Diplomacy
Paraguay firm on ties
Paraguay will not sever its diplomatic ties with Taiwan for the sake of an agreement between the South American trade bloc Mercosur, of which it is a member, and China, a top foreign ministry official said on Wednesday. Mercosur is the Southern Common Market that groups Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, with Chile and Bolivia as associate members. The group is negotiating is a free-trade agreement with China. "The government [of Paraguay] maintains that it can establish trade and economic ties with any country," said Jose Martinez Lezcano, the deputy foreign minister for economic affairs and integration. "After the agreement is signed, we are not obligated to trade [with China]" or to establish diplomatic ties with the country, he said. Paraguay has had diplomatic relations with Taiwan since 1957. It is the only South American nation that maintains ties with Taipei.

■ Election
Observers on their way
Fifteen groups from Hong Kong and Macau will start to arrive in Taiwan in mid-February to observe the presidential election scheduled for March 20, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The council's vice-chairman, Huang Chieh-cheng (黃介正), made the announcement following an MAC meeting about political reform in Hong Kong and relations between Taiwan and Hong Kong. He said that the observers from Hong Kong and Macau, which will include journalists, lawmakers, scholars and election experts, will come to Taiwan at the invitation of local private groups and think tanks. This is five more groups than in the 2000 presidential election.

■ Society
Contest links families, heat
The Taiwan Fund for Families and Children (CCF) and Taiwan Sakura Corp are sponsoring a "Warming Up Homes" contest which will help raise money for the fund. People can participate by sending in a suggestion on how to improve relations among family members. Those interested can fax in their suggestions to (02-23688833 UFO Radiom) or submit them online (value.yam.com/2004/sakura). Submissions must include the contestant's name, age, ID-card number, contact number and suggestion. The company will donate NT$10 for every ID-card number registered to the fund. The suggestions will then be listed for public voting and the submission with highest number of vote will win a Sakura stove and water-heater.

■ Earthquakes
Southern Taiwan jolted
Two moderate earthquakes jolted southern Taiwan on Wednesday, seismologists said, but there were no reports of damage or casualties. The first earthquake, measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale, hit at 3:13am with an epicenter 19.8km northwest of Peinan in Taitung County, the Central Weather Bureau said. It originated 10km underground. A second earthquake with a magnitude of 4.2 followed at 3:34am, with an epicenter 19.9km southwest of Litao in Taitung County, 4.8km under the ground. A powerful quake with a magnitude of 6.6 shook Taiwan on Dec. 10 last year but left only minor damage and injuries in some southern cities. The island suffered its worst quake in a century when one measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck central Taiwan on Sept. 21, 1999, leaving 2,400 people dead.

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