Panama president arrives in Taiwan for state visit

Taipei, Oct. 21 (CNA) Panama President Ricardo Martinelli arrived in Taiwan Thursday for a three-day state visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a press release.

Martinelli is the first president from Panama to visit Taiwan in six years, according to the MOFA.

The 58-year-old president is leading a high-ranking delegation which also includes vice president Juan Carlos Varela, who also serves as the Central American country's foreign minister, and Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industries Jose Domingo Arias.

The delegation is scheduled to meet President Ma Ying-jeou, Foreign Minister Timothy C.T. Yang, Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan and other government officials, as well as local businessmen, the MOFA said.

It added that the delegation will also visit the Taipei International Flora Exposition, which will officially open in early November, and Nangang Software Park. (By Chris Wang) enditem/cs

MOFA probing alleged slavery in Costa Rica involving Taiwanese

Taipei, April 13 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday that it was trying to collect information on the involvement of Taiwanese nationals in an alleged case of the enslavement of 36 Asians on fishing boats and suspected human trafficking in Costa Rica.

The MOFA was responding to reports from media outlets stating that three men and one woman -- three of which are Taiwanese -- were arrested by the Costa Rican authorities at the port of Puntarenas and accused of using 36 Asians on two fishing boats as slave labor. All the suspects were released under their own recognizance.

The ministry instructed its embassies in Panama and Nicaragua to monitor the situation and collect information, as there are no diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Costa Rica, MOFA deputy spokesman James Chang said.

Costa Rica severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 2007 after maintaining official ties for almost 60 years.

"We would like to express our concern from a humanitarian standpoint for the people abused if the case proves to be true, " he said, adding that although the four had been released, the Costa Rican authorities were still investigating the case.

Costa Rican police Sunday freed the 36 Asians -- 15 Vietnamese, 13 Indonesians, five Filipinos, two Taiwanese and a Chinese national -- from "inhumane" conditions aboard two fishing boats, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and local paper La Nacion reported, adding that the men were allegedly beaten and forced to work for up to 20 hours a day without pay.

The case surfaced after nine Vietnamese men escaped by jumping overboard, swimming to shore and alerting the authorities four months ago.

Two employees surnamed Espinoza and Wang, and a brother and sister by the family name of Tseng who are the president and treasurer, respectively, of the Imperio Pesquero del Pacifico S.A. company, were finally arrested Saturday.

A local newspaper reported that the three Taiwanese and one Costa Rican were charged with human trafficking, which in Costa Rica carries a sentence of between eight and 16 years in prison. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J

Taiwan, U.S., Cuba, Australia clinch advance in Baseball World Cup

Taipei, Nov. 13 (CNA) Taiwan enjoyed a five-run sixth inning explosion en route to a 10-0 victory over Panama Tuesday to clinch a quarterfinal berth in the Baseball World Cup.

Cuba, Australia and the U.S. also secured places in the next round.

With one game left to play in the preliminary round, Taiwan advances to the final eight with a 5-1 record and will meet the U.S., which advanced with an identical record after beating South Africa 4-2, in its last Group A game Wednesday.

Defending champion Cuba beat Thailand 11-1 to lead Group B and remains the only undefeated team in the tournament. Australia also advanced with a 4-2 win over Germany.

Taiwan finally woke from its offensive slump with four hits from Chen Chin-feng, Liao Ying-chieh, Lin Chih-sheng and Cheng Chao-hang, and taking advantage of Panama's two defensive errors to score five runs at the top of the sixth inning to boost the score to 8-0.

Peng Chen-min, who had three of Taiwan's 10 hits, had two RBI singles in the second and the fifth inning as Taiwan took a 3-0 lead into the sixth. His RBI double in the top of the eighth inning led to the ninth run of the game.

Hsieh Chia-hsien added a solo home run, his third home run of the tournament, in the top of the ninth inning.

Seven Panamanian pitchers combined for eight walks in the game.

The top four teams from Group A and B advance to the single elimination quarterfinal round of the biennial tournament, which runs through to Nov. 18 with games being played in four baseball stadiums in Taipei and Taichung.