Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou will bid for a second term in next year’s election, riding on a strong economic recovery and markedly improved ties with rival China.

Tunisia’s interior minister suspended all activities of the country’s former ruling party amid the most serious protests since the country’s autocratic president fled into exile.

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters chanted anti-communist slogans as they marched in Taiwan's capital today to protest against a planned trade agreement with rival China.

Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika, a former World Bank official credited with bringing economic gains to the southern African nation of 12 million, today was declared the winner of a national election.

A PAIR of pandas left China yesterday on a long- awaited goodwill journey to their new home in Taiwan, in the latest move symbolising the warming ties between the two countries.

Taiwan’s president appealed to protesters to keep rallies peaceful as the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit since 1949 arrived on the island for economic talks today amid a warming of ties between the long-time rivals.

Taiwan’s incoming premier says a former ally of the outgoing government will take on the key post of implementing policy towards China.

Taiwan’s opposition candidate cruised to victory in the presidential election today, promising to expand economic ties with China while protecting the island from being swallowed up politically by its giant communist neighbour.

TAIWAN’S ruling Democratic Progressive Party passed a resolution yesterday asserting the island’s separate identity from rival China and calling for a referendum on Taiwan’s sovereignty.

Taiwan today pledged to forge ahead with its campaign for United Nations membership, as China celebrated an expected victory after a Taiwanese application to enter the world body was rejected for the 15th straight year.

Taiwan’s planned referendum on United Nations membership may damage its crucial ties to the United States, but President Chen Shui-bian is likely to defy American pressure and see the proposal through, analysts say.

THOUSANDS of protesters blocked a central Taipei street and displayed candles in the shape of the Chinese character for “fart” yesterday to demand that Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian step down over suspected corruption.

Two MPs who falsely reported a mass kidnapping at a prestigious Taiwanese university to test preparedness in the wake of the US school shooting could face a year in prison, an official said today.

A Taiwanese politician threw a shoe at the Legislature’s speaker today as the final day of the legislative session dissolved amid massive pushing and shoving.

Taiwan’s wheelchair-bound first lady failed to attend the second session of her embezzlement trial today while opposition lawmakers accused her of using a stalling tactic to help president Chen Shui-bian serve out the remainder of his term.

Taiwan’s wheelchair-bound first lady was rushed to hospital early today after she passed out during the first session of her fraud and forgery trial.

The worst period of China-Taiwan tension has passed, but Taipei will still keep a wary eye on Beijing, the Taiwanese premier said today.

China said today it won’t talk to Taiwan’s president until his party drops a clause in its constitution calling for formal independence for the island.

China announced today it was giving a pair of giant pandas to the people of Taiwan, plus concessions on fruit imports and tourism, in a mix of symbolic and concrete gestures as the Taiwanese opposition leader capped a ground-breaking visit to the mainland.

TAIWAN opposition leader Lien Chan and Chinese President Hu Jintao closed the book on decades of hostility yesterday with a simple handshake in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

Taiwan’s ruling party today criticised a history-making trip to Beijing by opposition Nationalist Party leaders, saying the visit plays into the hands of the communist mainland in its efforts to divide the Taiwanese people.

China’s parliament enacted a law today authorising force to stop rival Taiwan from pursuing formal independence, prompting anger on the self-governing island and warnings from Japan of a rise in regional tensions.

Opposition supporters hurled stones and water bottles as some 1,000 riot police today tried to end a demonstration demanding a recount of ballots in the president’s razor-thin election victory two weeks ago.

TAIWAN’S political turmoil showed few signs of letting up yesterday as the island’s two biggest political parties squabbled about how to do a speedy vote recount for last weekend’s disputed presidential election.

Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian and his vice president survived today when assassins bullets were fired into their motorcade on the eve of a landmark election that could be a turning point in the island’s tense relationship with China.

Taiwanese leader Chen Shui-bian was shot in the stomach today while campaigning on last day of the presidential election, a lawmaker travelling with the President said.

Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams stepped into an row when she addressed a Taiwanese presidential election rally last night.

Taiwan's ruling party has agreed to pull a television advertising campaign which includes an image of Adolf Hitler.

President George W Bush today ignored objections from Beijing and offered breakaway island Taiwan a wide arsenal of military equipment, including submarines, to combat a Chinese invasion threat.