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Taiwan News Quick Take

■ MILITARY

Taiwan signs aircraft deal

Taiwan has signed a deal to buy 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft from the US and has asked the US to build a P-3C maintenance center in Taiwan, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Saturday. The report quoted Vice Admiral Wu Wei-rong (吳偉榮), director-general of the Armaments Bureau, confirming the P-3C deal during a background briefing to the press on Saturday. Wu said the Industrial Development Bureau signed the deal to buy the aircraft from Lockheed Martin last December, after the firm had agreed to include technology transfer, or industrial cooperation, in the deal. Under the agreement, Wu said, Taiwan has requested that eight of the 12 P-3Cs be manufactured in Taiwan, as well as a flight simulator. Lockheed Martin has submitted its industrial cooperation plan for Taiwan to the US Navy, the report quoted Wu as saying. The P-3C can perform in various roles including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, maritime surveillance, naval fleet support and search and rescue.

■ TRANSPORTATION

Cable car celebrated

The Maokong Gondola, plagued by breakdowns and controversy in its first few weeks of operation and open for less than a year, served its 3 millionth passenger yesterday afternoon just after 2pm, Taipei Rapid Transit said. As part of the celebrations marking the 3 millionth ride, the company handed out 10,000 commemorative gondola-shaped bottles of mineral water to passengers yesterday. The transit company also had five cable cars painted with colorful patterns and fitted with lights to celebrate the event. At 4.03km, the Maokong Gondola is the longest cable car system in the country and ferries passengers between two popular tourist attractions -- Taipei Zoo and the Mucha tea growing area -- in just 20 minutes.

■ AGRICULTURE

Vegetable prices soaring

Prices of vegetables have soared by an average of 30 percent to 50 percent after the Lunar New Year holiday and are expected to remain high this week, said a spokesman for Hsiluo Fruit and Vegetables Market, the country's largest wholesale produce marketing company. Tight supplies caused by reduced harvests as a result of weeks of cold and rainy weather, together with increasing demand from schools, are likely to keep vegetable prices high for at least another week, the spokesman said yesterday. The Agricultural and Food Agency said the cold spell has led to losses of NT$85.4 million (US$2.67 million) in aquaculture products and NT$57.1 million in fruit crops nationwide.

■ PUBLIC SAFETY

Cheap jewelry has a price

Nearly 80 percent of low-priced fashion accessories sold at bookstores may be of substandard quality and contain excessive amounts of toxic substances. The Bureau of Standards, Meteorology and Inspection selected 24 accessories randomly from bookstores and stationery shops that are popular with elementary and junior high school students. Test results showed that 19 of the 24 items failed to meet specified standards -- a failure rate of 79.2 percent if the results are representative of jewelry sold in such stores nationwide. Four of the accessories were found to contain excessive amounts of lead, with one piece of jewelry containing 2,305ppm. Safety standards set the limit for jewelry at 90ppm, the bureau said.