Taipei  - Taiwan on Tuesday admitted it is mulling cutting its armed forces, but denied reports that the cuts could be as much as one-third of its troops.

"Regarding the adjustment of the size of our military forces, it is still being planned. We have not made a decision yet and all possibilities are under consideration," the Broadcasting Corp of China quoted Ho An-chi, a Defence Ministry official in charge of personnel planning, as saying.

Taipei- Taiwan said Monday that it hopes to approve an application by Star Cruises to launch a Taiwan-China cruise service, while the cruise company denied speculation it will quit Taiwan.

"We are still negotiating with Star Cruises and hope to approve its application without violating the Taipei-Beijing sea links agreement," Yin Cheng-peng, an official at the Transport Ministry, which is in charge of sea transport, told the Central News Agency (CNA).

Taipei  - Taiwan's ex-president, Chen Shui-bian, is scheduled to appear in court Monday in a corruption trial that his lawyer says is weighted against him.

"Not only that the presiding judge Tsai Shou-hsun is (biased), but most local news media are also one-sided. So the chances to win the case in the district court trial are not high," Chen's defense lawyer Cheng Wen-lung told reporters Sunday.

He said local news media have been making unfavourable reports against Chen, which Cheng believed would affect the decisions of the judge's panel.

Taipei- Taiwan on Saturday relaxed restrictions on visits by Chinese tour groups as part of its effort to boost its slow- growing tourism industry.

Starting Sunday, Chinese citizens will only need to show a permit from their working units - instead of proof of bank savings as is currently required - when they apply to visit Taiwan, the Tourism Bureau said in a statement.

Taipei- Two maintenance cars collided during test runs on Taiwan's high-speed rail system on Saturday, leaving eight Taiwan engineers and two German engineers injured, one seriously.

The crash occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning at Yanchao, Kaohsiung County, south Taiwan, when the two maintenance cars were undergoing tests before their formal delivery to the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation.

The two German-made cars running on opposite lines collided, leaving a total of 10 engineers in both cars with multiple injuries.