Taipei - Taiwan's detained former president Chen Shui-bian continued his hunger strike Friday, while prosecutors questioned his son and daughter-in-law over money-laundering allegations.

Chen launched the hunger strike Wednesday after he was detained over graft allegations. Since then, he has refused to eat and only drinks water at the Taipei Penitentiary.

Taipei  - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said Friday that the Taiwan Strait is no longer a flashpoint because both Taipei and Beijing are striving for peace.

"In the nearly half a year since my inauguration, both sides have expressed goodwill and built more consensus and mutual trust," he said while receiving a delegation from the US non-profit Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Therefore, the Taiwan Strait, which used to be the flashpoint in East Asia, is moving towards peace."

Taipei - Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian has gone on a hunger strike to protest against his detention over a corruption probe, as Taiwan's High Court upheld a seven-year prison sentence against his son-in-law, officials said Thursday.

"The ex-president has stopped eating since he was placed under custody at the Taipei Penitentiary Wednesday to show his protest against the authorities for political persecution," said his lawyer Cheng Wen-lung.

He said Chen did drink water and his health condition was fine so far.

Taipei - The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSEC) launched a Sharia Index Thursday to attract funds from Islamic countries and to help Taiwan break into Islamic nations' financial markets.

TSEC launched the TSEC Taiwan Sharia Index in conjunction with the FTSE Group - a London-based index company owned by the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange.

The TSEC Taiwan Sharia Index covers 68 medium and major stocks selected from FTSE's global equity index series and listed on TSEC.

Taipei - The