Taiwan Quick Take

■ Development
Council targets gold medals
In a bid to attain the goal of winning seven gold medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Cabinet yesterday approved a measure mapped out by the National Council for Physical Fitness and Sports. Under the plan, the council will select 500 outstanding athletes from junior and senior high schools and improve the four-tier training system of athletes. The council will also form national teams trained for eight specific sports activities and continue to hire foreign training coaches to offer world-class training programs. The eight targeted sports are taekwondo, archery, air-gun shooting, weightlifting, table tennis, badminton, baseball and softball. The council also wants to see the population practicing swimming and track-and-field to increase.

■ Computers
Cabinet wants digital society
The Cabinet yesterday approved the spending of NT$6.8 billion over the next four years to digitalize the nation, in an effort to push its world ranking on the digitalized society list from this year's ninth place to fifth in 2008. With the implementation of the four-year plan, the Cabinet hopes to see 65 percent of the Aboriginal population get access to the Internet in 2008. The current figure is 37 percent. The Cabinet also hopes to see the percentage of the population living in mountainous or remote areas with access to computers to increase from 57 percent to 70 percent in four years. The government wants to increase the penetration rate of broad-band connection and e-commerce in small and medium industries from the current 10 percent to 70 percent. To narrow the digital gap between cities and rural areas, the Cabinet plans to establish over 300 digital development centers in remote areas, improve the TV signals in mountainous areas and donate second-hand computers to families there.

■ Charity
Orphanage club raises funds
The Taipei American School's Orphanage Club will hold its 34th beginning-of-the-year rummage sale on Saturday. Club members have gathered a variety of new and used items ranging from toys for three-year-olds to sports items, games and clothing for teenagers and adults. The club, one of the school's oldest organizations, raises money to help needy children and orphans in Taiwan and other countries. The rummage sale will be held from 10am to 5pm in the lobby of the school, which is located at 800 Chungshan North Road, Sec. 6, in Tienmu.

■ Population
Kaohsiung most dense
The population of Taiwan totaled 22.65 million as of the end of last month, with Kaohsiung City having the highest population density, according to statistics released yesterday by the Ministry of the Interior. The population increased by 86,000 over last year, the statistics showed. The nation's population density as of the end of last month was 626 people per square kilometer. By region, the highest density was recorded in Kaohsiung City, with 9,842 people per square kilometer, followed by Taipei City, with 9,655 people per square kilometer. Pingtung County had the lowest density, with 69 people per square kilometer. In terms of sex, there were 104 males per 100 females in Taiwan as of the end of August. Lienchiang County registered the highest ratio of men to women at 136, while Taipei had the lowest ratio at 96. A total of 17,932 babies were born nationwide last month, with the birth rate per 1,000 population being 9.35, up 0.38 from the figure for the same period last year.