■ Religion
Chen, Lee to give speeches
The World Association of Taiwanese Christian Churches will assemble about 3,000 local and overseas followers in the Taipei International Convention Center today for the association's annual assembly. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) will both participate in the assembly to pray for Taiwan, and Lee will give a speech on the subject of identification with Taiwan as a country. The association, a long-time supporter of Taiwan independence, is holding the gathering to strengthen cooperation among churches and to show its concern for Taiwan's future and next year's presidential election. The assembly starts at 1pm today at the Taipei International Convention Center, and the topic of the meeting is "Justice, Peace, and Unity." Reverend Kao Chun-ming (高俊明) will also give a speech on the presidential election next year.
■ Music
Pianists to compete
The final round of the First Taiwan International Piano Competition is going to be held at the National Concert Hall on Oct. 4 and 5. The six finalists were announced two days ago: Chang Chiao-ying(張巧縈), Day Shiue-lin (戴學林), and Yuan Wei-jen (袁唯仁) from Taiwan; Hwang Sung-Hoon from South Korea, Mariya Kim from Ukraine, and Rufus Choi from the US. The final round of the competition, held by National Endowment for Culture and Arts, is going to be joined by National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Chien Wen-pin (簡文彬). All of the finalists said that they were happy to be able to cooperate with the symphony orchestra and share music with the Taiwanese people.
■ Crime
BTCO warns of scam
The British Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei (BTCO) has issued a warning against an e-mail financial scam issued by a person who described himself as a bank manager named Woo Chong at the Chinatrust Bank Nankan branch. The person seemed to target British expatriates in Taiwan, asking whether they were interested in cutting a share in a deceased British national's account. The BTCO has asked the expatriates to ignore such e-mail messages as there was no such account at any of its branches. The bank urged the public to ignore such messages. For the full statement of the Chinatrust Bank regarding the scam, visit www.chinatrust.com.tw/english/announcement/index.htm or call the bank's customer service at 886-2-27680505 ext. 5408 for more information.
■ Education
No mutual recognition
The vice chairman of the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) denied reports yesterday that China's Peking University and Taiwan's National Chengchi University will each recognize academic credits awarded by the other. Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) pointed out that the government at present allows Taiwan universities to open classes in China, but only recognizes the credits awarded if the teachers and the students are from Taiwan. Chen said that this is tantamount merely to using Chinese facilities as classrooms, which he said is different from recognizing credits awarded by the universities on each side of the Taiwan Strait. Referring to the reports, Chen said: "These are only media reports," and he added that the MAC will take steps to learn more about the matter.
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