Taipei  - The 17th Taipei International Book Exhibition opened on Wednesday, this year focussing on Thailand's literature and culture.

Some 328 Taiwan publishers and 578 overseas publishers have set up 2,108 booths at the Taipei World Trade Centre to display books and sign copyright and translation rights deals.

Organizers said the focus of this year's fair is Thailand - Reading Thai. Thai publishers have set up nearly 40 booths and a dozen Thai publishers and authors will meet the Taiwan audience.

During the five-day book fair, there will be about 300 speeches and book signings by local and foreign authors.

Taipei  - Taiwan plans to send first lady Chou Mei-ching to China in a bid to improve ties, a magazine said Wednesday, but the presidential office denied it.

Chou, wife of President Ma Ying-jeou, plans to go to China in August as the honorary president of the Taiwan Red Cross to deliver Taiwan's donation for earthquake relief for Sichuan province, Next Magazine said, citing unnamed security sources.

Taipei- Sheng Yen, one of Taiwan's four most respected Zen Buddhist masters, died of natural causes Tuesday at the age of 79.

"He died of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome at around 4 pm (0800 GMT)," said a spokesman of the Dharma Drum Mountain, a Zen Buddhist centre established by the eminent monk.

Rated as one of Taiwan's 50 most influential people in 400 years, Sheng established the mountain retreat in Taipei County in 1989 to promote Zen Buddhism.

Taipei - Taiwan has signed an oil exploration agreement with Belize in a deal described Tuesday by Taipei as deepening relations with its Caribbean ally.

"CPC Corporation Taiwan signed the production sharing agreement with Belize on January 14, indicating further improvement of both diplomatic and substantive relations between our two sides," Diego Chou, deputy director for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, said in a news conference.

Belize is one of just 23 nations that recognize Taiwan diplomatically.

Taipei - Taiwan, after issuing shopping vouchers, plans to issue education vouchers to allow unemployed college graduates and young white collar workers to receive vocational training while waiting for jobs, an official said Tuesday.

"We will use 20-30 billion Taiwan dollars (600-900 million US dollars) to issue the education vouchers, and will issue them as soon as the cabinet has approved it," said Liao Yao-tzung, secretary-general of the Council for Economic Planning and Development.

Taipei - China will send a delegation to Taiwan this month for talks on expanding the number Chinese tour groups visiting the island, Taiwan radio said on Monday.

Shao Qiwei, director of the China National Tourism Administration, will lead the delegation at the cross-strait tourism conference in Taiwan on February 26, Broadcasting Corp of China said.

Some 500 mainland travel agents and tourism representatives have applied to attend the conference.

Officials plan to expand the daily charter flights - currently 54 round-trip flights by each side's airlines per week - to regular flights in July.