Print

Mail

wiki links

Taiwan Quick Take

■ DEBATE PLANNING BEGINS
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) camp confirmed yesterday that it would begin negotiating today with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) camp over the first presidential debate. Hsieh spokesman Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said that both candidates would like to see a debate scheduled as soon as possible. Chao said the DPP would like to have at least three debates, with one focusing on the referendum on UN membership and another on economic policy. They are open to the content of the third one, he said, and Ma's running mate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) was welcome to participate. Ma's spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) confirmed the debate plan, but urged Hsieh's camp not to manipulate the debate process because details were still in the planning stage. Lo said Ma's camp is flexible about the number, time and manner of the debates, but it would like to make the economy the main topic.

■ POLITICS
East Timorese invited
A close aide to East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta is expected to discuss his country's push for an independence referendum during a conference in Taipei this weekend, Taiwan Thinktank officials said yesterday. Joao Boavida, vice president of East Timor's Democratic Party will discuss his country's fight for independence since 1975, the 1999 referendum and its independence on May 20, 2002, the officials said. The International Conference on the Comparative Studies of Referendum will review Taiwan's democratic development over the past four years, they said. Other guests include Dane Waters, chairman and founder of the Initiative and Referendum Institute (IRI) and Bruno Kaufman, president and cofounder of IRI-Europe, they said.

■ SCIENCE
Research pact signed
The National Science Council and the Italian National Research Council (NCR) have signed a scientific research cooperation agreement. National Science Council Deputy Minister Yang Hung-duen (楊弘敦) and Acting NCR president Federico Rossi signed the documents in a ceremony in Rome last Friday. The two institutions will jointly organize seminars and cooperate in research projects and the exchange of visits by researchers and students, Yang said. There will be at least two seminars, one in Taiwan and one in Italy, five research cooperation projects and 10 visits by researchers from each country annually, beginning next year, Yang said. Biotechnology, industrial design, material technology and nanotechnology are on the priority list for the cooperation projects, he said. Taiwan's government will also offer scholarships annually to five Italian graduate students for two-month visits during the summer vacation starting next year, he said.

■ RESEARCH
New mapping project set
The Central Geological Survey will begin a four-year research project next year to investigate hydrate gas deposits on the ocean floor off Taiwan's southwest coast, institute deputy director Chiang Chung-jung (江崇榮) said yesterday. The institute has already mapped the areas off Taiwan's southwest and northeast coast. Preliminary estimates show there are approximately 500 billion cubic meters of hydrate gas, also known as "combustible ice" in the region off the southwest coast, Chiang said. That would be more than enough for 65 years, he said, describing hydrate gas as "a great potential source of future energy."

This story has been viewed 1045 times.