`Only' four Taiwanese busted

Only four of 27 people arrested in California last week in a bust on an alleged software counterfeiting ring were born in Taiwan, contrary to reports that most of those arrested are Taiwanese, government officials said yesterday. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Board of Foreign Trade staff stationed in the US have carried out their own investigation into the matter and discovered that most of the ethnic Chinese involved in the piracy ring were born in China. Noting the need to protect Taiwan's international image, economics officials said that contrary to recent reports implicating Taiwan, it remains to be determined whether the case of criminal copyright infringement is in any way related to this country. The officials said that the government has spared no efforts in trying to crack down on piracy.