Taipei - The number of foreigners visiting Taiwan fell more than 5 per cent in January and February, but the number of Chinese tourists surged more than 100 per cent, the Tourism Bureau said Tuesday.

In the first two months of the year, 580,196 foreigners as well as people from China, Hong Kong and Macau visited Taiwan, down 5.29 per cent from the same period a year earlier, the bureau said.

Two-thirds of those visitors were tourists while one-third were business travellers.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian police have detained four Taiwan men and seized more than 430 kilograms of drugs worth 61.3 million ringgit (16.5 million dollars) in the country's biggest seizure of the hypnotic drug Nimetazepam, a news report said Tuesday.

Police also detained six locals in Sunday's pre-dawn raid on a factory in the southern Johor state, said federal narcotics chief Zulhasnan Najib Baharuddin.

Taipei - Taiwan's jobless rate skyrocketed to 5.75 per cent to a record high in February, as sharply reduced global demand seriously battered the local manufacturing industry, a government agency said Monday.

Some 624,000 Taiwanese were officially classified as out of work, 46,000 more than in January, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said in a press statement.

Taipei - Taiwan will launch the "One Dollar First Night" campaign to lure transfer air passengers to spend at least one night in Taipei, an official said Monday.

The Tourism Bureau said it will launch the promotion campaign in May because each year 2 million foreigners pass through Taiwan airports without visiting the island.

Taipei - Taiwan stocks rose 3.28 per cent Monday to a five-month closing high, bolstered by the technology sector, dealers said.

The main TAIEX share index opened higher and continued its upward trend to close at 5,124.18 points, up 162.56 points, or 3.28 per cent from Friday's trade, a closing level not seen since October 15.

Fuelled by expectation of more export orders for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp and United Microelectronics Corp, two of the world's leading contract chip makers, the technology sub-index rose sharply higher, dealers said.

Taipei  - El Salvador's president-elect Mauricio Funes, who has reportedly considered closer trade ties with China, has assured Taiwan of continued relations, it was reported Saturday.

Funes sent an envoy to Taiwan's embassy Friday to deliver his message of support, the Liberty Times reported.