Taiwan Quick Take

■ Corruption
Police expand task force
More than 5,000 policemen have been mobilized to assist in a national campaign to prevent vote-buying in the run-up to the March 20 election, a spokesman for the National Police Administration said yesterday. An additional 5,904 policemen have been organized into 1,476 units to join the current force of 154 people in 38 groups which are normally in charge of probing fraud. Members of the force have been equipped with advanced digital video cameras since Jan. 10 to record evidence.

■ Sports
Council focuses on Olympics
The National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports has earmarked NT$80 million to upgrade the competitive edge of local athletes and boost their chances of medals in this year's Olympic Games. A total of 62 athletes have registered to compete in nine pre-event competitions held to test their qualifications for the Athens Olympics in August. The nine sports events include archery, shooting, boxing, weightlifting, taekwondo, table tennis, wresting, soft ball and cycling. The council has also earmarked NT$738 million to help local athletes win medals in the Asia Games and East Asia Games.

■ Economics
Klein joins KMT think tank
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) announced yesterday that Lawrence Klein, the winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize in economics, has agreed to serve as an adviser to the National Policy Research Foundation, a KMT-run think tank. KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) made the announcement after Klein delivered a speech on strategies for Taiwan's economic development in Taipei.Klein, 84, is the think tank's first foreign adviser.