Taiwan Quick Take

■ AID
Rice donated to Mongolia
Taiwan donate 120 tonnes of rice to help feed poor families in Mongolia, a foreign ministry official said yesterday. The rice will be shipped on Sept. 10 and is expected to arrive in Mongolia in early October, the official said. The Rotary Club and World Vision would take charge of the distribution, he added. Taiwan has offered humanitarian assistance to Mongolia despite the lack of diplomatic relations. Last December it donated 7,000 tonnes of rice to help relieve food shortages in northern Mongolia. It also began labor imports in May from Mongolia, which recognizes Beijing rather than Taipei.

■ Crime
Two arrested in drug bust
Thai have arrested two Taiwanese brothers on drug trafficking charges after allegedly finding 14kg of heroin in their Bangkok apartment, media reports said yesterday. Huang Chien-hua (黃健樺), 28, and Huang Chien-yu (黃健育), 23, were charged with drug possession and trafficking yesterday after police discovered the heroin haul, worth 6 million baht (US$150,000), in the brothers' rented flat, The Nation newspaper reported. "The heroin was packed with dried fruit, nuts and fried durian in small packages destined for Taiwan," Narcotics Suppression Bureau deputy commissioner Major General Suwat Itthikul said. Police suspect the brothers were using Taiwan as a transit point for exports to the US and Europe. Drug trafficking is a capital offence in Thailand.

■ Shooting
Man killed in Bangkok
Unidentified fatally shot the Taiwanese owner of a Bangkok fitness center and his Thai employee, and beat to death a security guard, police said yesterday. The body of Liu Isang, 44, was found in the bedroom of his second-floor apartment above his business, which included a sports equipment shop and a fitness center, said police Lieutenant Namchoke Khunavichai. Police are working on the theory that the killings were motivated by personal conflict because there was no sign of robbery in the house or the shop, Namchoke said. He said a Thai man who worked for Liu was found dead in the bathroom, also with gunshot wounds. The third victim, a security guard, was beaten to death on the ground floor of the building, he said. The attackers are believe to have killed the victims during the night and the bodies were discovered yesterday by other employees, he said. No other details were available.

■ Crime
Yen's sentence reduced
Taiwan High Court judges yesterday ruled that Independent Lawmaker Yen Ching-piao's (顏清標) sentence should be reduced 13 years in jail and shall pay back NT$35 million, the public fund he used for covering his expenditures at hostess bars and KTV lounges. Yen was charged for corruption, attempted murder, possession of illegal firearms and attempting to pervert the course of justice. He was initially sentenced to 20 years by the Taichung District Court in 2001. In 2002, the high court sentenced him to 11 years and six months in prison. The Supreme Court upheld Yen's appeal and asked the high court to rehear the case. Yesterday's verdict was the result of that appeal, but Yen is allowed to appeal again. In a government crackdown on organized crime in 1986, Yen spent three-and-a-half years in Green Island's maximum-security prison. His participation in local politics began soon after he was released.