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Taiwan Quick Take

■ DIPLOMACY
Sogavare honored
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) conferred the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Cordon on Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare at the Presidential Office yesterday morning. The two men later signed a joint communique to address regional and international disputes in a peaceful manner on the basis of sovereignty, democracy and equality. They also agreed that all countries are entitled to the right of participating in international affairs. Sogavare pledged to continue his country's support for Taiwan in the international arena. He also invited Chen to visit his country. Meanwhile, Chen said the government would apply to re-enter the UN in September under the name "Taiwan."

■ POLITICS
Scuffle mars Ma's tour
A scuffle broke out in Taichung yesterday after bodyguards for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) shoved a reporter. Protesters led by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Ming-hsien (李明憲) had confronted Ma as his cycling campaign trip group arrived at a temple. Ma's bodyguards, mistaking a reporter for a protester, violently pushed the reporter away, sparking a minor clash between the bodyguards and Lee's supporters. Ma later apologized to the reporter by saying, "I'm sorry ... and we'll compensate you for the damage to your camera."

■ SOCIETY
Marriages, divorces rising
A total of 143,000 couples were married in Taiwan last year, 1,529 more than in 2005, according to tallies released by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) yesterday. Marriages involving a non-Taiwanese spouse accounted for 16.8 percent of the total last year, down 3 percentage points from 2005, an agency official said. There was a steep decline in the number of marriages involving a Southeast Asian spouse, just 6,950 last year compared to 11,454 the year before. Meanwhile, 64,500 couples divorced last year, a year-on-year increase of 1,969. Divorces involving a non-Taiwanese spouse accounted for 18 percent of the total, up a marginal 0.4 percentage points from 2005.

■ CROSS-STRAIT TIES
Kinmen chief heads to China
A 68-member delegation headed by Kinmen County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽) left yesterday for a four-day trip to China. The delegation -- made up of county officials and tourism industry representatives -- took the ferry plying the route between Kinmen and Xiamen in Fujian Province. The group will visit Quanzhou and Fuzhou. In Fuzhou they will attend the ninth Cross-Strait Fair for Economy and Trade to promote Kinmen tourism and products, county officials said. Lee said he hoped to attract more Chinese tourists to Kinmen during the trip.

■ CRIME
Officials seize mushrooms
Customs officials have seized 50 tonnes of mushrooms with a street value of NT$30 million (US$898,200) that were found in two containers at Taichung harbor, the Taichung Customs Office said yesterday. A spokesman said customs officials inspected two containers offloaded from a Chinese ship after receiving a tip-off. The mushrooms had been hidden in 60 rolls of corrugated paper. Each roll weighed nearly 700kg. The paper belonged to a new trading company in Kaohsiung, the spokesman said, adding that the company owner would be prosecuted and could face a heavy fine.

■ CULTURE
Dates set for Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate Dance Theater will perform in Beijing in July, its first performance in China's capital in 14 years, a spokesman for the dance troupe said yesterday. The troupe will perform excerpts from its Gala Dance program and the full-length Moon Water, all choreographed by artistic director and company founder Lin Hwai-min (林懷民). Before Beijing, Cloud Gate will embark on a two-month overseas performance tour which will take the company to Australia, Russia, Germany, Portugal, Spain and the UK.

■ POLITICS
Absentee vote draft on hold
Because of the lack of consensus on a bill allowing government officials stationed abroad to cast absentee votes, lawmakers yesterday delayed a scheduled preliminary review of the bill in the legislature's Home and Nations Committee. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Su Chi (蘇起) introduced an amendment to the Public Officials Election and Recall Law (公職人員選舉罷免法) that would allow overseas officials to vote. Lee Chung-cheng (李忠正), deputy director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of Personnel, said the ministry supports the bill because overseas officials should have the right to participate in politics.

■ SOCIETY
Mayor re-issues warning
Taipei Mayor Hau Long-bin (郝龍斌) reiterated yesterday that anyone caught damaging the Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) Memorial Hall in Taipei would be punished according to the law. Hau made the comments while answering questions from reporters, stressing that the building has been proclaimed a "historic relic" by the Taipei city government.


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