Taipei  - Taiwan's former vice president announced plans Sunday to start a newspaper to advocate for Taiwanese independence from China.

Annette Lu, 64, who ended two terms as vice president in May, held a luncheon in Taipei to raise funds for the afternoon paper, the Formosa Post, scheduled to begin publication July 1.

Lu raised 13 million Taiwan dollars (400,000 US dollars) at the event but said she needs 600 million (18 million US) to start the paper, and is recruiting reporters.

Taipei - Taiwan people love the two Chinese pandas so much that they have composed nearly 100 songs for the two animals to express their love for the pandas, the Taipei Zoo said Saturday.

After Chinese President Hu Jintao offered two pandas to Taiwan in 2005, Taiwanese songwriters began to write songs for the animals to praise their beauty and cuteness.

The two pandas arrived in Taiwan on December 23, and made their public debut at the Taipei Zoo on January 26. Since then, tens of thousands of Taiwanese have flocked to the Taipei Zoo to see the pandas every day.

Taipei  - Taiwan's computer giant Acer Inc will venture into the cellphone market with the launch of the Acer Smartphone in February, it was reported Saturday.

Acer will unveil its Smartphone at the GSMA Mobile World Congress to be held from February 16-19 in Barcelona, the Economic Daily News reported.

Taipei - A Taiwan family spent more than 12 hours just to have a 10-minute glimpse of two giant pandas sent as a goodwill gift to the island from China, news reports said Friday.

The family of three from the southern county of Chiayi started out from their home Thursday night and was stuck on the island's packed freeways for seven hours before arriving at the Taipei Zoo before dawn on Friday, the United Evening News reported.

Taipei - A Taiwan family began the Chinese New Year with bad luck when a hospital wrongly informed it that a family elder had died and sent them another man's corpse, a cable television channel reported Thursday.

The hospital phoned the Yuan family in Nantou in central Taiwan Wednesday, the third day of the Lunar Chinese New Year, to say its
92-year-old grandfather had died and it should prepare for his funeral, TVBS reported.

Taipei - Some 100,000 people flocked to the Taipei Zoo Monday to see the two giant pandas that China gave to Taiwan as a symbol of friendship.

The pandas, named by China as Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan - Tuanyuan means Reunion in Chinese - were shown to Taiwan's President Ma Ying- jeou and 500 children on Saturday, but they made their official debut on Monday, the first day of the Chinese New Year holidays.

Visitors began to queue up early Monday outside the Taipei Zoo, arriving by plane, train, bus or car from all parts of Taiwan.