Taiwan planes to use road as runway in war games

TAIPEI - TAIWAN said Tuesday that fighter jets will use one of the island's main highways as a runway in a drill next month simulating the aftermath of a Chinese attack that has wiped out its airbases.

Nine aircraft, including F-16s and Mirage 2000 fighter jets, will use a strip of highway in the southern county of Tainan during the manoeuvre, which is set for April 12, the defence ministry said.

It is the third such exercise carried out by Taiwan's military following two others in 2004 and 2007, and for the first time, the army will participate with AH-1W attack helicopters, said ministry spokesman David Lo.

The drill will simulate a scenario where jets and other aircraft have to use civilian highways after air force bases are damaged or destroyed during missile attacks, he said.

Taiwan regularly stages war games simulating possible attacks by China, which still claims the island as part of its territory and refuses to renounce the use of force to take it back.

Taiwanese experts estimate China currently has more than 1,600 missiles aimed at the island and has recently deployed a new type of ballistic missile despite improving ties. -- AFP

Veteran Taiwan politician joins presidential race

Su Tseng-chang, 63 (above), will face off against Democratic Progressive Party leader Tsai Ing-wen in what is expected to be a tight race ahead of next March's general election against President Ma Ying-jeou of the ruling Nationalists. -- PHOTO: AP

TAIPEI - A VETERAN Taiwanese politician who once served as premier announced on Tuesday he will seek the nomination of the main opposition party to run for president.

Su Tseng-chang, 63, will face off against Democratic Progressive Party leader Tsai Ing-wen in what is expected to be a tight race ahead of next March's general election against President Ma Ying-jeou of the ruling Nationalists.

Mr Ma has made improving relations with China the centerpiece of his administration. He is expected to go into the presidential contest as a slight favourite, regardless of his opponent.

In announcing his presidential bid to supporters in Taipei, Mr Su said Taiwan should maintain its pride in dealing with the mainland, which considers Taiwan part of its territory.

'We can do business with China, but our sovereignty and democracy are not for sale,' he said.

Mr Su served as premier under President Chen Shui-bian from January 2006 to May 2007, stepping down after he lost the 2008 DPP presidential primary battle to Frank Hsieh. He became Mr Hsieh's vice presidential running mate on a ticket that Mr Ma defeated handily. -- AP

Moderate 5.5 quake strikes off Taiwan

A 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck off Taipei. -- ST PHOTO: LEE SEOK HWAI

TAIPEI - A 5.5-MAGNITUDE earthquake struck off Taiwan on Sunday shaking buildings in the capital, seismologists said, but there were no reports of damage and a tsunami warning was not issued.

The undersea quake hit at 4pm local time (4pm Singapore time) about 44km southeast of Taitung city in the southeast, at a relatively shallow depth of 17km, the US Geological Survey said.

Taiwan's Seismology Centre measured the quake at 5.9-magnitude.

Buildings in the Taipei swayed and the quake was felt across the island but the National Fire Agency said there were no casualties or damage.

Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as the island lies near the junction of two tectonic plates.

In September 1999, a 7.6-magnitude tremor killed around 2,400 people in the deadliest natural disaster in the island's recent history. -- AFP

Taiwan ex-premier to run for president

TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S former premier Su Tseng Chang will bid to run in next year's presidential race, he announced on Sunday, on the eve of his party's primary campaign launch, his office said.

'Now former premier Su is certain to attend the Democratic Progressive Party's primary for the 2012 presidential election,' his office said in a brief statement.

Mr Su, a senior politician from the anti-China DPP, will take on Tsai Ing Wen, chairman of the party, and former vice president Annette Lu in the primary, beginning on Monday and finishing in early May.

The winner is tipped to challenge incumbent President Ma Ying Jeou of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang party, who is widely expected to run for a second term.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949 but Beijing still sees the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Ties between Taiwan and China were strained under the former DPP government but have improved markedly since Mr Ma took office in 2008 promoting trade and tourism with the mainland. -- AFP

Taiwan, Philippine spat over China deportations ends

TAIPEI - TAIWAN said it would immediately lift restrictions on Philippine workers imposed after a row over the deportation of 14 Taiwanese to mainland China, ending a dispute that threatened thousands of jobs.

Taiwan's foreign ministry said in a statement that the Philippine government's decision on Wednesday to replace its acting head of immigration showed a deep regret on the country's part over the incident and goodwill towards Taiwan.

In Manila, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, however, said that the change of immigration chief did not have any connection with the deportation case.

'It was never in response to or in a way of appeasing the Taiwanese officials or the Taiwan government on what happened during the recent deportation incident. It is not related to that,' Mr Lacierda told a news conference.

The row blew up last month after the Philippines sent the 14, who were facing fraud charges in a case that also involved mainland Chinese nationals, to Taiwan's political rival China.

Taiwan said they should have been returned to the island and demanded an apology. Talks last month that lasted 11 hours between a special emissary of the Philippines and Taiwan officials failed to produce a result. -- REUTERS

Hollywood actresses wear Taiwanese designer's jewellery to Oscars

Swank chose to accessorise her metallic and feathered Gucci gown with an Anna Hu 'Exotic Twin Orchid' hairpiece and Gardenia ring. -- PHOTO: AP

AT THE Oscars on Sunday, an event honouring the best movies which also serves as the most important celebrity fashion showcase of the year, famed American actresses Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank chose to wear the Haute Joaillerie from Taiwanese jewellery designer Anna Hu.

Ms Hu's precious pieces won the hearts of two-time Academy Award winning actress Swank and blonde bombshell Johansson.

Swank chose to accessorise her metallic and feathered Gucci gown with an Anna Hu 'Exotic Twin Orchid' hairpiece and Gardenia ring. The hairpiece, a one-of-kind creation, is a purple titanium metal construction studded with 200 briolette silver-gray and white diamonds. The 18k white-gold ring she wore was glittering with white diamonds.

The sexy Johansson, who wore a lacy, puce Dolce & Gabbana gown, completed her look with a pair of Anna Hu earrings and a ring decked in rubies, emeralds and diamonds that formed an Asian dragon-motif.

ABC news anchor Robin Roberts, who live broadcast the entire 2011 Academy Awards, was also a huge fan of Ms Hu's, flashing her haute baubles for the camera lens.

Notable celebrities who have worn Ms Hu's creations in the past are singer Madonna and actress Drew Barrymore. -- THE CHINA POST

Dance transforms inmates in Taiwan 'jail of art'

ERLIN (Taiwan) - WHEN Wang, 24, went to jail three years ago he had no idea he would end up in a bid to break a record for most inmates dancing together.

Wang is one of more than 2,000 inmates in Changhua Prison in central Taiwan who routinely take part in mass dancing sessions as part of a larger programme aimed at reforming prisoners through art and creativity.

'I've made new friends since I joined the drills in July,' said Wang, incarcerated for seven years for robbery, speaking to AFP on condition that only his family name be revealed. 'I feel happier now than before.' The culmination of the twice-weekly dance practice was a mass Lunar New Year performance given by 2,011 prisoners in front of Justice Minister Tseng Yung-fu to the tunes of a famous song by local pop diva A-Mei.

'I believe we've created a new record,' said a proud Tai Shou-nan, who in his capacity of prison chief has the responsibility for altogether 2,724 inmates, all of them in their late teens or 20s.

This was a veiled reference to the recent Internet sensation created when 1,200 Filipino inmates were caught on video dancing to late superstar Michael Jackson's hit This is It.

But for Tai it is more than a question of breaking records. The prison's programme, unique among the island's 48 detention centres, is based on a belief in the transforming powers of art. -- AFP

No apology for deporting 14 Taiwanese: Philippines

MANILA - THE Philippines says it isn't apologising for deporting 14 Taiwanese to China and that the deportations ensure successful prosecutions over an investment scam.

Taiwan's representative Donald C.T. Lee had demanded an apology and indicated repercussions for Filipinos working in Taiwan. The move has angered Taipei because it appeared to suggest that China, not Taiwan, has jurisdiction over the deportees.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Thursday the deportees were undesirable aliens who were subjects of an arrest warrant and who did not have travel documents when arrested.

Mr Lee said the documents were seized when the suspects were arrested. -- AP

Taiwan set to lift ban on solo Chinese tourists

TAIPEI - TAIWAN is expected to lift its decades-old ban on visits by individual Chinese tourists from April in yet another sign of the island's fast-warming ties with China, officials and local media said on Sunday.

Currently Chinese are only allowed to travel to the island in groups as Taiwan's authorities are concerned they might otherwise over-stay their visas and work illegally.

'We're ready for the further opening measures,' an official at Taiwan's China policy decision-making body Mainland Affairs Council said on condition of anonymity. She would not provide details, but the Taipei-based China Times said that up to 500 residents from Shanghai and Beijing would be permitted to travel to the island each day on a trial basis.

'The two sides have reached a consensus on the long-anticipated policy, with the measures starting around the Tomb Sweeping Day' which falls on April 5, the Times said, without identifying its source.

Solo Chinese tourists would be allowed to stay in Taiwan for up to 15 days, it said. When asked to comment on the report, Chen Chiung-wen, an official at Taiwan's Tourism Bureau, said she expected the new measures to be realised soon 'as they meet the targets of the two sides'.

She said 'tourists from China for the first time will be given the chance of making in-depth tours of Taiwan,' adding that further discussion would be needed. -- AFP

Media mogul accuses Taiwan of reining in press

TAIPEI - HONG KONG media mogul Jimmy Lai in an opinion piece on Tuesday accused Taiwan's government of increasingly wanting to control the press and 'failing' to provide for freedom of expression.

'The way a government treats its media critics is the true test of whether it truly supports a free press. By that standard, Taiwan is failing,' said Mr Lai, the chairman of Next Media Group, in the Asian Wall Street Journal.

He said the government under President Ma Ying-jeou, in power since May 2008, had undertaken several initiatives to rein in the island's once-vibrant media.

The government has turned down applications by Next Media for a cable TV licence, and stepped up 'embedded marketing... the practice by which the government pays for propaganda articles to appear as news reports,' he said.

'Viewed in isolation, each of these developments might be written off as misguided, if well-intentioned, efforts,' Mr Lai said.

'Taken as a whole, however, they look more like a programme to increase government control over the media.' In the 2010 edition of the Freedom of the Press survey published by Washington-based NGO Freedom House, Taiwan shared the 47th spot with countries such as Poland and Spain. It had slipped from 43rd place in the 2009 survey. -- AFP