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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Crime
Cambodia jails Taiwanese
A Cambodian court has sentenced a sobbing Taiwanese man to 11 years in prison after he was nabbed at Phnom Penh International Airport on July 26 last year with 1.4kg of heroin strapped to his body. Pan Chin-hsiung, 45, had pleaded guilty to the charge, but denied knowing that the material he was carrying was heroin, saying a man known only as "Lim" had asked him to carry it to Taiwan when they met at a guesthouse in Phnom Penh last year. "I thought it was Chinese medicine," Pan told the court. "If I had known it was heroin I would not have done it, because if you are caught with heroin in Taiwan it is death by firing squad." The judge said Pan must serve time to set an example for others thinking of trafficking drugs through Cambodia.

■ Cross-strait ties
Ma pushes Sungshan as hub
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was keenly touting Sungshan Airport as a hub for direct transport links with China, saying that the opening will reduce travel time for Taiwanese businesspeople traveling between the two sides by more than 25 percent. Ma made the remarks at a seminar yesterday with local business leaders and representatives. Claiming that direct air links between Taipei, Shanghai and Dongguan will save passengers a great deal of time, Ma contended that Sungshan should be made into an exclusive gateway for cross-strait travel, while CKS International Airport should continue to handle international passenger and cargo travel. Ma said that Taiwan should make the move to sharpen its competitive edge and create business opportunities in view of the grouping of economies in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia by 2010.

■ Diplomacy
DOH head visits Austria
Department of Health Director-General Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) headed for Vienna on Tuesday to attend the 2004 European Health Forum after ending a three-day visit in Rome. The three-day annual forum opened yesterday in Bad Hofgastein, Austria. Chen will preside over a session on issues related to health insurance. He said that in addition to giving the participants a better understanding of the National Health Insurance system, he will also lobby for the support of European countries for Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Organization (WHO). Chen visited Italy's Chamber of Deputies and Senate, accompanied by Repre-sentative to Italy Lin Ki-tseng (林基正), on Tuesday morning.

■ Medicine
First son-in-law sued
President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) son-in-law Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘) was yesterday sued for negligence following the death of one of his patients. The patient, 84-year-old Ko Hsia (柯霞), passed away on Sept. 6. Ko's son, Chao Tieh-hsiung (趙鐵雄), called for Chao Chien-ming to take responsibility for his mother's death and filed the suit yesterday. Ko was admitted to hospital on July 2 after a fall that left her complaining of back and leg pain. The hospital diagnosed her with a lumbar fracture and lumbar spinal canal stenosis. Chao operated on her on July 7, and again on July 15, to clean up the wound. On Aug. 26, Ko felt unwell and was sent to the hospital again. After a detailed exam, her heart suddenly began to fail. Hospital superintendent Huang Kun-chang (黃焜璋) said the cause of death was ventricular fibrillation, which was unrelated to the surgery performed by Chao.

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