Free Republic

DAKAR, Oct 25 (AFP) - Senegal said it would restore diplomatic ties with China, becoming the latest west African country to ditch relations with Taiwan in favor of mighty Beijing. A government statement, released after a Beijing trip by Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, hailed the "important decision to renew diplomatic relations with China" and said both countries would soon exchange ambassadors. A joint statement published in the Chinese capital and reported by the state news agency Xinhua said the re-establishment of ties after the hiatus "conformed to the interests and aspirations of the two countries." China had severed its...

Homeless civil war veteran learns that he is a millionaire POST-SARS WINDFALL: Drafted into the army during China's civil war, the man lost everything to burglars, except his unclaimed pensionCNA Wednesday, Jul 09, 2003,Page 4 Thanks to the SARS outbreak, an old vagrant in the Taoyuan area has become a quadruple millionaire. The elderly man, surnamed Hsu, was given accommodation at a halfway house in early May out of concern that homeless people might be carriers of the disease. Taoyuan County social workers later found that Hsu was a retired soldier who had not received his monthly retirement pension payment...