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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Society
Man sets himself on fire
A man immolated himself in front of the Presidential Office yesterday, but was said to be in stable condition after being rushed to the hospital, according to the Public Affairs Department of the Presidential Office. It is not known why the man wanted to kill himself, but he reportedly told police that his bride from China had cheated him out of some NT$400,000 (US$12,000). A spokesman for the department said that around 3:25pm, the man, 34, surnamed Wang, poured a bottle of gasoline over himself on a sidewalk beside a parking lot of the Presidential Office and turned himself into a human torch. Fortunately, military police guarding the Presidential Office heard his shrieks of pain and rushed to the scene with fire extinguishers. They put out the fire and called an ambulance that took him to nearby Taiwan University Hospital. Police are investigating the incident.

■ Health
Nation worried about bird flu
Eighty-six percent of Taiwanese worry about the nation being affected by bird flu, according to a survey on cross-strait relations released yesterday by the Mainland Affairs Council. Respondents also said that the government should set stricter regulations on cross-strait interactions to prevent an epidemic. Meanwhile, 53.1 percent believe that China would prevent Taiwan from being assisted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other countries if bird flu spreads to Taiwan. In addition, 54.9 percent agree that cross-strait negotiations should be handled by the government. About 60 percent think stricter regulations on investments in China are necessary. On the issue of unification or independence, 82.1 percent of respondents prefer the status quo and 78.3 percent dislike Beijing's "one county, two systems" policy. The survey was carried out from Nov. 25 to Nov. 27 through phone interviews with 1,102 residents older than 20.

■ Politics
DPP vows to reform pensions
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday vowed to enact a law to regulate the pension program for civil servants. It also requested that those who included the years they worked at the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as part of their time in the civil service return any income that they acquired improperly. DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) said that many KMT members count the time they served at 11 different KMT-affiliated organizations toward the time they serve in the civil sector, entitling them to handsome retirement pensions. Such officials include former Judicial Yuan president Lin Yang-kang (林洋港), who counted two years and four months of party service into his civil service, Lai said.

■ Labor Affairs
Migrant labor bosses polled
The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) has started conducting telephone interviews with employers of 130,000 foreign laborers, CLA officials said yesterday. In view of the fact that some employers of foreign laborers might have inadvertently violated the law due to their unfamiliarity with regulations, officials from the CLA's Department of Employment and Vocational Training Administration said they have decided to conduct the interviews with the aim of providing employers with the latest information regarding laws on hiring foreign laborers. They have commissioned Trendgo, a polling company, to conduct the interviews through Dec. 18, the officials said. Employers are urged to check the Web site www.evta.gov.tw or call 02-27791155.

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