Taiwanese candidate indicted

Prosecutors indicted Taiwan presidential hopeful Ma Ying-jeou for allegedly misusing public funds, the Wall Street Journal reported. Ma, during his time as mayor of Taipei, allegedly diverted US$333,000 of public money directly into his private account. He denied the charges in a televised speech on Wednesday and announced for the first time that he would run for president in the 2008 election. Ma also said he would step down as chairman of the Nationalist Party and his party membership would be suspended in accordance with Kuomintang party bylaws. Many Taiwanese have hopes that the politician will be able to improve Taiwan's rocky relations with China.