Taipei - Taiwan's state-funded Straits Exchange Foundation said Monday that China had apologized to Taiwan for the losses and troubles caused by the recent tainted milk scandal.

The foundation said it received a letter of apology to Taiwan's consumers and manufacturers Monday from the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.

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Taipei - A Taiwan delegation flew to China Monday to hold preparatory talks on the upcoming Taipei-Beijing dialogue aimed at expanding exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.

The 11-member delegation is led by Kao Kung-lien, vice chairman of the Straits Exchange Association. The talks will be held Monday afternoon in Shenzhen, south China.

The talks would pave the way for the November 3 formal dialogue between Taipei and Beijing to discuss expanding exchanges as proposed by President Ma Ying-jeou.

China negotiator Chen Yunlin will be the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Taiwan since 1949, when Taiwan and China split at the end of the Chinese Civil War.

Taipei - The global financial crisis and soaring oil prices have hit the airline and car industries, but for the likes of Taiwanese bicycle maker Giant the crisis proves a boon.

The bike industry has seen its sales soar as people abandoned their cars and motorbikes for bicycles.

Giant Bicycles, the world's largest manufacturer of high-end bikes, said its sales have spiked in recent months, causing the company to raise its 2008 growth target from 
10 per cent to 20 per cent.

Taipei - Taiwan's pro-independence groups rallied tens of thousands anti-China and anti-government supporters in Taipei Saturday to protest President Ma Ying-jeou's pro-China policies and the island's economic downturn.

"Opposing toxic China, defending Taiwan," the protesters shouted as they marched along the streets of the capital's bustling centre from five directions towards the Presidential Office, where they staged a demonstration against the Ma government.