■ Public Transport
Number of trains reduced
Beginning today, passengers traveling by train from Taipei Main Station will have fewer options, as 22 trains have been cut months ahead of a platform handover to the high-speed railway in April. To make up for the cancellations, the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) says that the waiting period for trains at the station has been halved to four minutes. In addition, the first two platforms to be used for the high-speed railway have been sectioned off completely. Where northbound trains previously left from platforms one and two, they will now leave from platform four. Southbound trains will depart from platform three.
■ Earthquakes
Temblor shakes Hualien
A moderate earthquake jolted the east coast yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau said, but no damage or injuries were immediately reported. The 4.8-magnitude tremor's epicenter was just off the coast in the Pacific Ocean near Hualien, the bureau said. In recent months, several moderate quakes have rattled the region, but most have caused little damage. Late Sunday, a 5.3-magnitude quake shook Nantou County, the bureau said, but no major damage was reported.
■ Society
Man finds his Gong Li love
A Taiwanese man fascinated with Chinese film star Gong Li (鞏莉) dated nearly 200 women in a search to find a lookalike to marry, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday. The doctor became fascinated with Gong Li after he saw her first film and in 2000 paid a match-making agency to find a lookalike, the newspaper said. Through the agency he met nearly 200 young women before he was introduced to one nicknamed "Small Gong Li." He married his Gong Li clone last year.
■ Cross-Strait Ties
Chen: unification possible
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said in an interview that he wouldn't rule out the possibility of unifying Taiwan with China, a US magazine has reported. Chen was quoted by Time magazine's Asia edition as saying, "Who knows if these two separate countries [Taiwan and China] might become one over time? We do not exclude any possibilities for the future." Chen's reported comments for the Feb. 23 edition of Time were much more moderate than other remarks he has made about China in the run-up to the March 20 presidential election. In recent months, the president -- who is running for re-election -- has been less conciliatory and has leaned more toward pushing for a permanent split with China. Time also quoted Chen as saying, "I think that even if Taiwan were to surrender, they [China] would still say that we are not sincere enough."
■ Haiti
Farming mission evacuated
Some members of Taiwan's agricultural missions in Haiti and their dependents have been evacuated to Port-Au-Prince, capital of the Caribbean country, following fighting between rebels and President Jean-Bertrand Aristide loyalists. Richard Shih (石瑞琦), a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said yesterday that for safety reasons, some members of Taiwan's agricultural missions and their dependents had been evacuated to Port-au-Prince,but Taiwan Ambassador Hsieh Hsin-ping (謝新平) and embassy staff were staying at their posts.
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