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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Industry
Goliath crane rebranded
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船), formerly China Shipbuilding Corp (CSBC, 中國造船), has painted its new name on the huge Goliath crane at the CSBC Kaohsiung shipyard, a company official said on Tuesday. It took a team of laborers a full day to complete the project. The Goliath crane is 177m wide and 87m high, and each Chinese character covers 9m2. The official said that CSBC's name-change was approved by its board of directors but pending final approval by general investors on March 1. This is seen as a formality as the Ministry of Economic Affairs holds most of CSBC's stocks. Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) will host an unveiling ceremony marking CSBC name change on March 3, the official said.

■ Travel
Early check-ins mandatory
From today, passengers departing on international flights are advised to check in three hours prior to their departure times, the Civil Aeronautic Administration (CAA) said yesterday. Passengers will be forbidden from carrying containers holding more than 100ml of liquid, gel or spray on international flights and liquids of less than 100ml must be sealed in see-through plastic bags and inspected by security officials. The aviation police will provide each passenger with a single 24cm by 17cm plastic bag, CAA officials said, adding that the bags are similar to those in use at international airports in the US, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Macau. Dismissing criticism from certain airline companies that the early check-in requirement is unnecessary, CAA officials said it was in line with US air transport security measures.

■ Politics
Chen still house-hunting
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is looking for an apartment in Kaohsiung but has no plans to spend taxpayers' money on real estate, the Presidential Office said yesterday. Chen said before last year's mayoral elections that he was very fond of Kaohsiung City and would like to move there if the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the Kaohsiung election. DPP candidate Chen Chu (陳菊) was elected by a margin of just 0.14 percent ahead of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) opponent Huang Chun-ying (黃俊英). An article in the latest issue of Next Magazine claimed that the president had decided to buy an upscale apartment in the city and planned to spend tens of millions of NT dollars in public funds renovating the abode. The report said that the president would complete the transaction around the time of the Lantern Festival and then make an official announcement.

■ Politics
Lu challenges magazine
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday asked Next Magazine to produce evidence to prove its allegation that she used her allowance fund to buy pickles and personal items. Lu added that she needed more time to understand the magazine's allegation before making any further comments. The magazine alleged in its latest issue that it had obtained copies of Lu's receipts that indicated the vice president had spent money from the fund at various department stores on clothes and groceries, including a NT$30 jar of pickles and a NT$30 corn salad. The article alleged that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) allocates NT$150,000 from his "state affairs fund" every month to Lu for her disposal.

■ Aquaculture
Head office goes south
The Fisheries Administration is preparing to relocate its headquarters from Taipei to the south of the country in line with the government's policy of bolstering fishery development. Fisheries Administration Director Hsieh Dah-wen (謝大文) said the relocation was ordered by the Executive Yuan. Hsieh said the administration already maintains a regional office in Kaohsiung. Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said while delivering an administrative report at the legislature on Tuesday that the Fisheries Administration would be moved to southern Taiwan, presumably Kaohsiung. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) also said recently that several Cabinet agencies should relocate, including the Council of Agriculture and the Council of Labor, to the south before talking about any relocation of the nation's capital.

■ Olympics
Torch route decision coming
A decision on whether the Olympic torch will pass through Taiwan on its way to the Beijing Summer Games will not be known until next month, a Chinese official said yesterday. China has offered to allow the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch relay to pass through Taiwan, but Taiwanese officials have said that this would be acceptable only if Taiwan is part of the torch's international leg. "The question will be answered in April when the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games unveils the relay map," spokesman Li Weiyi (李維一) of China's Taiwan Affairs Office said when asked at a news conference if the torch route would include Taiwan. Chinese Olympic officials have already announced that the Olympic torch route will include the summit of Mount Everest, with organizers planning to make a trial run up the world's highest mountain later this year.

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