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Taiwan News Quick Take

■ POLITICS

lin vouches for candidates

former democratic progressive party (dpp) chairman lin i-hsiung (泓義雄) yesterday endorsed dpp presidential candidate frank hsieh (謝長廷) and urged the public to support him. lin said it would be bad for the country's political development if the central government does not have any representatives from the dpp, particularly after the chinese nationalist party (kmt) won the legislative elections last month. when asked whether he would campaign for hsieh, lin said it was unnecessary because he quit politics in 2000 and left the party in 2006. lin made the remarks after attending a memorial service held for his family members in ilan county yesterday. lin's six-year-old twin daughters and his mother were murdered on feb. 28, 1980, while he was in jail for participating in democracy demonstrations in kaohsiung in december 1979. the attack is believed to have been politically motivated, as it occurred on the anniversary of the 228 incident.



■ POLITICS

yang named as gpwb chief

lieutenant general yang tien-hsiao (楊天廣), the commander of the kinmen defense command, has been designated as head of the general political warfare bureau (gpwb) a ministry of national defense (mnd), news release on wednesday said. yang is due to succeed chen kuo-hsiang (陳國祥), who will be transferred to serve as a presidential strategy adviser. the assignment will take effect tomorrow and yang will be promoted to the rank of general. it was reported that chen's job transfer came as a result of his role in the bungled defense company taiwan goal, but the mnd would not confirm the reports. the mnd said the move was a normal personnel reshuffle. meanwhile, yu sy-tue (虞思祖), director of the office of military spokesmen, will be appointed to another post, with the vacancy to be filled by chih yu-lan (池玉蘭), now deputy head of the office. chih will be the country's first female military spokesperson. her new assignment will take effect tomorrow.



■ POLITICS

commission head named

premier chang chun-hsiung (張咨雄) on wednesday appointed former democratic progressive party (dpp) lawmaker lin tai-hua (泓岱樺) as chairwoman of the national youth commission, succeeding cheng li-chun (頜礪君). cheng resigned earlier this month to campaign for dpp presidential candidate frank hsieh (謝長廷). lin, born in 1970, was first elected to the legislature in 2001 in kaohsiung county, obtaining the second highest vote in the country. she won re-election in 2004, but lost to a kmt challenger in last month's legislative election.



■ AID

medical team helps in india

a taiwanese medical team arrived in darjeeling in the indian state of west bengal, on wednesday morning to provide medical services despite ongoing riots. the 13-member team, organized by the state-run international cooperation and development fund, included doctors, pharmacists and nurses and was expected to help about 500 local people daily. the group was scheduled to head to india's himalayan state of sikkim yesterday and stay there for three to five days before returning to darjeeling and moving on to new delhi on march 15, team leader chen chih-fu (陳志福) said. ■ CRINE

Police crack fake drug ring

Police in Kaohsiung and Taichung raided a factory that produced counterfeit drugs and its distribution network on Wednesday, seizing fake aphrodisiacs in three different packages and arresting four suspects. A spokesman for the Kaohsiung City Police said a suspect surnamed Lin, 42, and his two accomplices were charged with violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法) for selling fake aphrodisiacs under the "Love Strong" brand name. Another suspect surnamed Chen, 45, who was in charge of the manufacturing, was also taken into custody and will be prosecuted. A police investigation showed that the fake drugs could cause side effects such as low blood pressure, headaches, vomiting, dizziness and blurred vision.



■ CRIME

Second TV series on Taiwan

Viewers in 270 million homes in 166 countries will soon be able to learn more about the nation's culture and biodiversity on the National Geographic Channel. Next month, the channel will take its viewers on a discovery tour of Taiwan's transgenic and fluorescent pigs, black bears, Kung Fu, fighting crickets and conservation of the horseshoe crab, a "living fossil." The series of five one-hour documentary films -- ?co-produced by National Geographic and the Government Information Office -- is designed to showcase the nation's customs, biodiversity and culture. Broadcast in 34 languages, the first film in the series, Super Pigs, airs on Sunday in English. The first series, produced in 2003, comprised four episodes on the nation's cockroaches, butterflies, racing pigeons and beliefs and aired in late 2005. A third series is in production.
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