Taipei  - Taiwan is to welcome 2009 with fireworks, prayers and the arrival of a pair of giant pandas China gave the island nation as a symbol of peace.

A spectacular fireworks display will be mounted from the top of Taipei 101, the world's tallest skyscraper, during the countdown to the New Year, the press officer Michael Liu said Friday.

Some 16,000 fireworks will be exploded, 4,000 more than last year, Liu said.

Since its opening in 2004, tens of thousands of Taiwanese have gathered around the 508-metre building to watch the New Year fireworks and enjoy all-night concerts at the foot of the skyscraper.

Taipei  - Two Taiwanese coastal villages plan to hold a referendum on Saturday on whether to allow a German firm to build a wind farm along the coast, The China Times reported Thursday.

InfraVest Group was scheduled to start building 13 turbines along the coast of Hsinwu in Taoyuan County, north Taiwan, in October, but construction has been delayed due to local opposition.

Villagers said the wind farms along Taiwan's coast have already destroyed vegetation and trees along the coast and create noise.

Taipei  - President Ma Ying-jeou said Wednesday he does not rule out holding peace talks with China, but stressed that Taiwan must boost its defences in any event.

Ma made the statement after supervising a military drill in Pingtung County, east Taiwan, the first war game he has watched since taking office on May 20.

A total of 1,686 troops took part in the live-fire drill, which simulated Taiwan troops smashing enemy attempts to make an amphibious landing on Taiwan's coast.

Dozens of F-16 fighter jets, OH-58D helicopters and AH-1W attack helicopters took part in the drill.

"Holding this drill shows that despite improving cross-strait ties, our combat readiness has not slackened," Ma said.

Taipei  - Two giant pandas given by China to Taiwan are adapting well to life at the Taipei Zoo, and will make their debut after one month's quarantine, the Taipei Zoo said Wednesday.

Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan were a little bit upset after arriving at the Taipei Zoo Tuesday afternoon. They paced nervously in the Panda House, sniffing every corner and everything to get familiar with the new environment, zoo spokesman Chin Shih-chien said.

But they slept soundly Tuesday night.

"We turned out the light for them at 9:14 pm. They ate from 11 pm Tuesday until 3 am Wednesday. After sleeping for five hours, they woke up at 8 am to eat again," he said.

Taipei  - Taiwan, hit by recession and a rising jobless rate, may cut the number of foreign workers in an effort to provide jobs to Taiwanese, a newspaper said on Monday.

The Liberty Times quoted Tsai Hsun-hsiung, minister without portfolio, as saying that Taipei is studying the possibility of tightening the quota for foreign workers, a move that could create 70,000-80,000 jobs for Taiwanese.

Beijing  - China's ruling Communist Party on Sunday announced a 10-point cooperation plan to help Taiwan and China through the global financial crisis.

The 10 measures include loans for Taiwan-owned businesses by Chinese state-owned commercial banks, support for small and medium- sized Taiwan-based companies and the promotion of bilateral investment.

Wang Yi, the party's top official for Taiwan affairs, announced the measures at the end of a two-day economic forum organized by the Communist Party and Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang (KMT or Nationalist) party in Shanghai.

The measures were "aimed at jointly coping with the global financial crisis," the official Xinhua news agency said.