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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Politics
Soong wins one-man race
James Soong (宋楚瑜) was re-elected head of the opposition People First Party, the party said yesterday. Soong garnered 36,273 votes, or 99.19 percent of the ballots received by post, said PFP spokesman Hsieh Kung-ping (謝公秉). The party has some 70,000 members in Taiwan and abroad. Soong, who is on vacation in the US, was unopposed in the party's second leadership election.

■ Economy
Still counting storm's cost
Agricultural losses resulting from havoc wreaked by Typhoon Haitang have risen to NT$4.02 billion (US$127.21 million), according to the latest estimate released yesterday by the Council of Agriculture. Crop losses amounted to NT$3.39 billion, with 45,179 hectares devastated. Livestock losses amounted to NT$26.97 million, with 197 pigs, 187,000 chickens, 92,000 ducks and 5,000 geese killed. Fishery losses amounted to NT$121.3 million and forestry losses amounted to NT$150.05 million. Losses as a result of damage to farmland and farming facilities totalled NT$235.98 million. Those of livestock facilities totalled NT$67.51 million and those of fishery facilities totalled NT$34.94 million. The agricultural sectors in the nine hardest-hit counties are entitled to cash relief and low-interest loans from the government, while those in Hsinchu, Yunlin and Chiayi counties and Taichung City are entitled to low-interest loans, council officials said.

■ Education
MOE does about-face on fees
The Ministry of Education (MOE), which gave permission on Thursday for 18 universities and colleges to increase their tuition fees this year, changed its mind abruptly yesterday by cutting the list to 10. A ministry spokesman said the change was made to comply with the new policy of Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) to maintain overall price stabilization after two major natural disasters struck the country, hurting people's livelihoods. The spokesman said Minister of Education Minister Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) had noted that the devastation caused by the June 12 flooding and by Typhoon Haitang this week brought considerable hardship to the people and that Tu did not wish to see tuition hikes add to inflation. The 10 schools given the green light to raise their fees are: National Chengchi University, National Chi Nan University, the National University of Kaohsiung, Chung Yuan Christian University, Feng Chia University, Taipei Medical University, Tatung University, Cardinal Tien College Of Nursing, Vanung University, and St. John's and St. Mary's Institute of Technology.

■ Foreign affairs
Support for Taiwan urged
In the face of China's rise and its regional and global ambitions, the US should continue to support Taiwan, said Randall Schriver, former deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs on Thursday. Schriver made the statement while testifying at a hearing held by the congressional US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in Washington. The retired official said that if Taiwan can maintain its democratic system, it can push China to move in a positive direction. The US should certainly interact with China, but it should continue its support for Taiwan at the same time, Schriver said. Meanwhile, Sino-US exchanges should be carried out under a framework with a clear vision, he stressed during his testimony.

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