Sat, Jul 28, 2007 page3

• Taiwan Quick Take

  • STAFF WRITER, WITH AGENCIES
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  ■ CRIME

  Police smash extortion ring

  Police have nabbed the alleged ringleader of a group of Philippine officials and naval officers who have been extorting money from seized Taiwanese fishing trawlers, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) reported yesterday. Hsu Chih-yi (許志宜), a Taiwanese, was arrested upon arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Thursday. In April last year, several tuna boats were intercepted by two Philippine warships in the waters between Taiwan and the Philippines. Their captains were taken into custody and accused of trespassing in Philippine waters. The captains paid thousands of dollars to have their vessels released. Through telephone taps, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation learned that Hsu and several Philippine officials and navy officers had masterminded the seizure of the ships. Hsu, who lives in southern Taiwan, used his connections to a Philippine naval officer to "assist" the captains by telling them how to deposit cash to an account in the Philippines to secure the release of their boats.

  ■ TRANSPORTATION

  THSRC adds more trains

  Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) increased the number of southbound and northbound daily train runs yesterday from 31 to 37. Officials also said that ticket sales would be extended by a half-hour, until 10:30pm, to accommodate passengers on the last train of the day, while ticket vending machines at the Taipei station would remain open until 11pm. This is the third increase in train runs in less than four months.

  ■ EDUCATION

  System to add another year

  Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) said yesterday that the ministry was planning to extend the nine-year compulsory education system by one year to include kindergarten. Speaking during a visit to Tung Ho Elementary School, Tu said that with myriad issues needing to be tackled before the compulsory education system is formally extended, the ministry has decided that the first step will be to offer subsidies to low-income families to help them cover the costs of sending their children to kindergarten. Providing a year of free kindergarten is expected to cost the government around NT$25 billion (US$762 million) per year, Tu said. He said more qualified teachers will have to be recruited and the quality of private kindergartens upgraded as part of the ministry's reform plans. The subsidy program may be implemented as early as this September, he said.

  ■ SCIENCE

  Cloned pigs give birth

  Three female cloned pigs raised at the Animal Technology Institute Taiwan (ATIT) in Miaoli have given birth to 19 piglets in recent months, indicating a breakthrough in cloning technology, institute researchers reported on Thursday. The researchers cloned five "spotty mini pigs" from a female Lanyu small-ear pig last year, they said. Three of the five became pregnant early this year through natural insemination and one gave birth to six piglets in late May, while the others delivered six and seven youngsters earlier this month. Six of the piglets died because of insufficient milk, but the rest are doing well. The researchers said ATIT produced its first generation of cloned pigs in 2002, although those pigs could not reproduce. The fact that some of the second-generation clones have given birth to piglets with no genetic abnormalities was evidence of the improvement in the institute's cloning technology, the researchers said.
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