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Taiwan Quick Take

■ POLITICS
Bolton to visit Taipei
Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton will visit Taiwan in the middle of this month at the invitation of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. Bolton has been a staunch supporter of Taiwan, meeting with first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) in Washington in 2002 in his official capacity as then-undersecretary for arms control and international security. He also expressed his support for Taiwan to join the UN at a congressional hearing on his appointment as undersecretary in 2001. He visited Taiwan twice in the spring of 2000 to witness the presidential election and President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration.

■ ENTERTAINMENT
Tap festival opens in Taipei
Taipei City's tap festival kicks off today, with shows and classes offered by well-known dancers from around the world. The festival, organized by the Taipei Arts Promotion Association, will run through Aug. 14. Barbara Duffy and Van Porter from the US, Mandy Petty from England and Keiji Ichino from Japan are among the foreign tappers participating in the festival. A tap contest will be held on Aug. 11 at the Taipei Cultural Center. Petty, Ichino and local groups, including Tapwalker, will perform Sleepless Tap at 7:30pm on Aug.14 at the City Stage next to the center. Free tickets for the show will be available starting at 2:30pm that day at the stage. For further information, call 02-2382-6971 or visit the Web site www.taptaipei.blogspot.com.

■ HEALTH
DOH approves genechips
Locally developed genechips capable of detecting human papillomavirus (HPV) and speeding up HPV genotyping were approved for sale by the Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday. The HPV detection genechips, with the brand name "Easychip HPV Blot," were developed about two years ago by a biotech firm associated with King Car Food. "Easychip HPV Blot" genechips are capable of identifying the genotypes of 15 of 17 high-risk types of HPV via a polymerase chain reaction-based method. Such virus types have been implicated in cervical cancer, which must be treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radical surgery, a company source said.

■ CULTURE
Street art symposium set
The Kaohsiung County Government will hold a street art symposium from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 and has invited French street artists to share their experiences with their Taiwanese counterparts. Elodie Presles, chief executive officer of France's national street art center, and two teams of French street artists will be invited to the three-day event, the officials said. Interested performers can register for the event through Aug. 10, officials said. Kaohsiung County committed itself to developing street art performances last year, and it has issued 104 performing licenses since then, officials said. Street performers' direct interaction with passers-by on streets, at subway stations and at other public facilities brings the art closer to the public, the officials said.

■ CRIME
Malaysian nabbed for drugs
A Malaysian man was arrested on Thursday at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after officials found 35,000 nimetazepam tablets -- a hypnotic drug -- in his luggage. Lim Swee-chye, 29, was about to leave on a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong when Investigation Bureau agents and customs officials asked to check his luggage. An official said 9.25kg of nimetazepam tablets had been hidden in eight bags of corn chip snacks in Lim's luggage.

■ SOCIETY
Tunnel pileup injures 34
A five-vehicle pileup on a northbound section of the No. 3 Freeway in Taipei County injured 30 children and four adults yesterday morning. The accident occurred at 9:25am in the Chungho Tunnel when two buses that had reduced their speed after entering the tunnel were rear-ended by two buses chartered by Kid Castle Kindergarten in Sanhsia Township (三峽). The buses carrying the children were in turn hit from behind by a container truck. A total of seven teachers and 54 children from the school were heading for the Taipei Zoo. One bus drivers suffered a broken leg, the others who were hurt had minor head and shoulder injuries. They were sent to four different hospitals in Taipei County for treatment. The accident caused a 4km traffic jam and traffic did not return to normal until around noon.

■ SOCIETY
Fathers put happiness first
Approximately 90 percent of fathers in Tainan City said the happiness of their family was their single greatest achievement, a survey released yesterday showed. The survey of 851 fathers was conducted by the city's family education center from June 10 to June 30 in order to mark Father's Day, which is next Wednesday. More than 90 percent of respondents were willing to make an effort to maintain their marriage and nearly 80 percent said that they would choose their wives again if given the opportunity to reconsider their marriage partner.

■ DIPLOMACY
Representative offers aid
Deputy representative to Japan Lo Kun-tsan (羅坤燦)visited the Niigata Prefecture government yesterday to express concern for those affected by a July 16 earthquake that killed 11 people. Lo presented Niigata Deputy Governor Kazuo Jinbo with a ?5 million (US$41,960) donation. The 6.8 quake injured more than 1,800 people and destroyed hundreds of houses.


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