TAIWAN

Government to Halt Controversial Fishing Practice: Taipei has drafted a plan for ending--by July--all Taiwanese drift-net fishing, a practice recently condemned by the United States and a number of other nations. Drift nets, which can stretch up to 40 miles, are controversial because they catch virtually every creature within their path--including dolphins, whales and birds. Officially, the Taiwanese government said it developed the plan in response to a United Nations resolution calling for a prohibition on drift-netting. The U.S. government last month threatened to impose a ban on Taiwanese imports if Taipei failed to eliminate drift-netting.