Taipei - Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian Wednesday admitted that his wife had wired abroad 2 million US dollars, in the latest twist in a snowballing money laundering scandal implicating Chen and his family.

"My wife told me (in January) she still had close to 2 million US dollars in ABN Amro Bank in Singapore that had not been frozen," Chen said after he a court hearing about his alleged role in the scandal.

Taipei- Guatemala and Taiwan on Wednesday agreed to strengthen bilateral ties by expanding trade and increasing exchange visits.

President Alvaro Colom of Guatemala on his four-day visit to Taiwan was expected to discuss bilateral relations with President Ma Ying-jeou and attend Taiwan's National Day celebrations.

Beijing, Oct. 8: A 6.4 billion dollar deal to sell US arms to Taiwan has ruined years of Chinese efforts to build military trust with the Pentagon.

A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Washington should bear full responsibility for the consequences.

He made the remarks after the US government announced plans on Friday to sell a massive arms package to Taiwan, including 30 Apache attack helicopters and 330 Patriot missiles.

Washington - China's decision to reduce contacts with the United States over weapons sales to Taiwan is "unfortunate", the US State Department said Tuesday, while pledging to continue working with Beijing.

"It's an unfortunate decision that the Chinese have taken," deputy spokesman Robert Wood said.

China strongly opposed the plans announced last week to sell 6.4 billion dollars in arms to Taiwan, and said US-Chinese military relations would be "poisoned" over the deal.

Taipei - Taiwan's September exports suffered their largest decline in six years due to the global recession, the Taiwan Finance Ministry said Tuesday.

In September, Taiwan's exports totalled 21.85 billion US dollars, down 1.6 per cent year on year, the biggest fall since April 2004.

The biggest decline was in exports to China and Hong Kong, which fell 16.3 per cent year on year. China and HK together account for 35 per cent of Taiwan's export.