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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Elections
KMT approves candidates
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday approved its first wave of candidates for year-end elections for local government positions, announcing its nominees for Keelung City, Taichung County, Nantou County, Kaohsiung County and Pingtung County. Speaking yesterday after the choices were approved by the party's Central Standing Committee, KMT spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文) announced that the party is formally throwing its weight behind incumbent Keelung Mayor Hsu Tsai-li (許財利), incumbent commissioner Huang Chung-shen (黃仲生) for Taichung County, incumbent commissioner Lee Chao-ching (李朝卿) for Nantou County, party legislator Lin Yi-shih (林益世) for Kaohsiung County and current Pingtung Mayor Wang Chin-shueh (王進士) for Pingtung County Commissioner.

■ China Trips
TSU files suit against Lien
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday filed a lawsuit against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), saying he had broken the law by signing an agreement with Beijing during a landmark trip to China. The TSU said Lien, who returned late on Tuesday, had broken Article 113 of the Criminal Code which makes it an offence to sign agreements with foreign powers without government permission. "The fact that Lien arrived at an agreement with China's President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) at Beijing has violated Article 113 of the Criminal Code," TSU spokesman Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) said. "We sue him for betraying his country and countrymen," he said.

■ Politics
Beijing clears journalists
More than 500 journalists have registered with the authorities in Beijing to cover an upcoming visit to China by People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), according to statistics released by the Chinese authorities yesterday. The approved names include 75 journalists from Taiwan, 115 from Hong Kong, seven from Macau and more than 300 from China. The number of registered journalists from other countries was not made available.

■ Education
University signs agreement
Kun Shan University of Technology (崑山科技大學) in Tainan County has signed an agreement with the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) to engage in academic exchanges during a visit by over 40 representatives of Chinese universities to Kun Shan, a university official said yesterday. The visitors come from eight universities -- the USTC, Hainan University, Wuhan University, Zhejiang University of Industry and Business, South China Normal University, South China University of Technology, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Shantou University.

■ Military
Volunteer program starts
The military yesterday launched a new training program for the nation's first batch of 472 volunteer soldiers. Vice Minister of National Defense Tsai Ming-hsien (蔡明憲) presided over a ceremony for the program at a Chiayi military base. Tsai said the new recruits will infuse new blood into the military and help upgrade the quality of service personnel. "You'll play an important role in our conscription reforms and defense upgrading. I hope you'll be able to meet the challenges of rigid training to become outstanding servicemen," Tsai said.

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