LONG WAIT: Republican presidential candidate John McCain welcomed a decision to unfreeze arms sales to Taiwan, saying that it 'has been on hold for too long'
By Charles Snyder
The US government has expressed disappointment over China’s decision to suspend some joint military activities in retaliation for Washington’s sale of nearly US$6.5 billion in advanced military equipment to Taiwan, reminding Beijing that the US has a legal obligation to supply Taiwan with the defensive weapons it needs.

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PRAISE: Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said that Taiwanese were known around the world for their diligence and that Taiwan is a role model for his nation
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday welcomed Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom with a military review and 21-gun salute at Taipei’s Liberty Square.

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By Flora Wang
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who also serves as chairman of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD), yesterday denied a media report that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) had attempted to interfere in the non-governmental foundation’s affairs.

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By Shih Hsiu-Chuan
Crime rates in the first eight months of the year have remained stable compared with the same period last year, National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-chun (王卓鈞) said yesterday.

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CASH IN HAND: Chen Ching-hsiu said it would be unreasonable to ask government officials to give up bonuses as they were comparatively poorly paid
By Ko Shu-Ling
It is not a good time for a pay raise for civil servants, nor is it feasible for high-level government officials to forsake their “special allowance funds” and year-end bonuses, even if they continue to receive low approval ratings, the country’s top manager of civil servants said.

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By Flora Wang
Pan-blue and pan-green legislators have initiated separate proposals in the legislature to probe a confrontation last Friday that left Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) hospitalized, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday.

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SEEKING EFFECTIVENESS: DOH Minister Yeh Ching-chuan defended his agency’s decision not to allow a controversial heavy-ion therapy facility to be built
The nation’s level of cancer treatment has kept pace with other countries and will remain among the leaders in proton radiation therapy, Department of Health (DOH) Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) said yesterday after his agency nixed a foundation’s plan to introduce heavy-ion therapy to Taiwan last month.

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By Mo Yan-Chih
Taipei City’s Health Department yesterday said traces of melamine were found in 10 more types of Nestle and Klim milk powder manufactured in China, and it demanded stores pull the products from shelves.

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By Meggie Lu
The Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) environmental impact assessment (EIA) panel yesterday rejected CPC Corp, Taiwan’s (CPC) renewal plan for its third naphtha cracker in Kaohsiung County’s Linyuan Township (林園).

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QUESTION OF SIZE: Kaohsiung City residents will go to the polls on Nov. 15 to decide on the size of elementary school classes
The Kaohsiung Election Commission said yesterday it would increase the number of polling stations from 145 to 203 for an upcoming municipal referendum on reducing class sizes at elementary and junior high schools.

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A vast majority of tourists who have visited Lanyu (桮蜉) support the idea of imposing a quota system to control the number of visitors to the small island, a tourism organization said on Tuesday.

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PATENT-WORTHY: The industry should work to upgrade its manufacturing sector for various medical equipment, a partner from a venture capital firm said
By Meggie Lu
To push for the developmental maturation of Taiwan’s biotech industry — and potentially help the trade generate trillions in profits — the Executive Yuan’s Science and Technology Advisory Group (STAG) said yesterday that it had set concrete goals for the industry.

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By Mo Yan-Chih
Thousands of Hakka and foreigners will shoulder bamboo poles with sacrifices to the god of Yimin (“righteous people,” 義民) on Sunday as a major part of the celebrations of the 21th anniversary of the Taipei Hakka Yimin Festival this weekend.

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By Flora Wang
A National Taiwan University (NTU) undergraduate recently sparked controversy by offering sexual lubricant for free at an NTU male dormitory.

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■ GOVERNMENT

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In yesterday’s story “MOFA expects few foreign dignitaries on Double Ten ” on page 3, Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom was mistakenly called Oscar Berger. In Tuesday’s story “Beijing has SARS virus in its arsenal: NSB chief” on page 3, the story mistakenly reported that the NSB chief said “the SARS virus has become part of China’s biochemical warfare program,” when he had actually accused China of possibly launching the SARS outbreak in 2003 as a form of biological warfare. The Taipei Times regrets the errors. [ FULL STORY ]