Taiwan Quick Take

■ Politics
Passport saga continues
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chiu Yi (邱毅) yesterday continued with his accusation that the president's son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), possessed two passports, without providing evidence. Chiu claimed Chen had used his second passport -- a diplomatic passport with his name spelled Zhi Zhong Chen -- to apply as an immigrant investor for US permanent residence status. He said that Chen very likely had a diplomatic passport, as he is a relative of the president. Chen's lawyer, Lin Chih-hao (林志豪), made his client's passport public to debunk the accusation, saying that in it Chen had spelled his name "Chen Chih-chung" and it was his only valid passport.

■ Economy
Premier hails EPZA
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday praised the contribution made by the nation's nine export processing zones to economic development, encouraging them to keep on striving to create a new economic miracle for Taiwan. Su made the remarks while attending a sports meet sponsored by the Export Processing Zone Administration (EPZA) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs at the Chungcheng Stadium in Kaohsiung to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the nation's first export processing zone in the city. Su was accompanied by Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳士駿) and the EPZA director-general. The number of export processing zones has increased to nine across the nation, and their contribution to the country's economic prowess has been remarkable, Su said.

■ Health
Medical center goes global
The Tzu Chi Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Research Center, the biggest of its kind in Asia, has linked up with its two largest global counterparts to better serve patients suffering from diseases of the blood globally, a center official said yesterday. After linking up with the US national bone marrow program -- the largest in the world with 6 million donors -- and the German bone marrow bank -- the world's second largest with 3 million donors -- the Tzu Chi Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Research Center now has access to more than 10 million donors' data worldwide and is in turn contributing to forming a much larger bone marrow databank to help patients with blood diseases, the Tzu Chi official said. Bone marrow transplants are the most effective treatment for blood diseases like leukemia and serious anemia. The Tzu Chi Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Research Center now boasts 290,000 samples, the Tzu Chi official said.

■ Economy
CEPD predicts 4.5% growth
A Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) official said yesterday that the council forecasts the nation's economic growth for next year will exceed 4.5 percent higher than forecasts made by several major economic think tanks. The council will hold a meeting to discuss the forecast today before revealing it as part of the council's views about Taiwan's economic outlook, the official said. The forecast is higher than the IMF's forecast of 4.2 percent, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics' figure of 4.14 percent, the Chung Hua Institution for Economic Research's forecast of 4.14 percent, the Asian Development Bank's prediction of 4 percent growth and Global Insight's figure of 3.6 percent.