Taipei - A Taiwan woman is so good at matchmaking that in the past 30 years, she had helped 573 couples tie the knot, a newspaper said on Sunday.

Lee Hsiu-yen, 57, in Pingtung City, south Taiwan, is a full-time fruit seller and part-time matchmaker. In the past 30 years, she has helped 573 couples tie the knot, averaging 19 couples each year, the United Daily News said.

Out of these 573 couples, only five pairs have divorced.

While most of marriage seekers come from Taiwan, she has offered service overseas-based Taiwanese.

London, Oct. 11 : India, South Korea and Taiwan should join the global trend and immediately establish a moratorium on the death penalty, the rights group Amnesty International has said.

In an appeal to mark World Day Against the Death Penalty, Amnesty said these three nations had stopped executing criminals in recent years and should make that move official, setting an example for the rest of Asia.

Taipei- Taiwan on Saturday reiterated its wish to become a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Vice President Vincent Siew made the statement while attending an internatinoal seminar on how to help Taiwan participate in ASEAN activities.

Taipei- Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom ended his visit to Taiwan Saturday with the two countries pledging to strengthen diplomatic ties and Taiwan offering more aid to Guatemala.

At the end of his five-day visit, Colom on Saturday held talks with President Ma Ying-jeou and signed a joint communique in which the two leaders pledged to strengthen the seven decades of friendly ties and boost cooperation in all fields.

The statement recounted the cooperation projects agreed upon by both sides, but did not mention the cost of the cooperation projects or amount of new aid.

Beijing, Oct. 10: The United States'' decision to sell arms to Taiwan has been strongly condemned by the Chinese defence ministry.

Huang Xueping, a spokesman of the Chinese Defense Ministry, reacting to Pentagon spokesman Stuart Upton''s remarks on Monday that Washington''s arms sales were consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, said: "We are strongly dissatisfied and opposed to the Pentagon spokesman''s remarks. The so-called ''Taiwan Relations Act'' severely ran counter to the principles of the three Sino-U. S. joint communiqués and the fundamental norms governing international relations."

He added the United States had no right to place domestic law above international ones, or use it as an excuse to sell weapons to Taiwan.

Taipei - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, in his National Day speech, called for peace with China under the precondition that Taiwan's sovereign and defence is guaranteed.

Presiding over the first National Day celebration since his May 20 inauguration, Ma said his pursuing peace and expanding exchanges with China has won support from the international community.