Territorial tensions in the South China Sea could explode into "full-scale conflicts" unless quarrelling neighbors abide by international law, a Vietnamese diplomat warned on Friday.

Dang Dinh Quy, president of the state-run Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, told a Hanoi conference on maritime disputes that the significance of the sea to regional peace was becoming increasingly evident.

Taiwan moved Thursday to curb eating contests, a fad that has caused at least one death, and suggested the national health insurance stop paying for participants seeking medical treatment afterwards.

Competitions involving eating everything from oversized steaks to meatballs by the dozen are endangering public health and wasting medical resources, according to the Control Yuan, the top government watchdog.

China's president on Sunday used the centennial of a revolution that ended imperial rule to make an appeal to further relations with Taiwan, saying they should move beyond the history that divides them and focus on common economic and cultural interests.

At a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Hu Jintao said that China and Taiwan should end antagonisms, "heal wounds of the past and work together to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."

Authorities in Taiwan said Wednesday they had changed more than 690,000 traffic lights through the island in a project that will save enough electricity to power more than 60,000 homes.

Under the Tw$550-million ($18-million) project launched in 2009, the traffic lights have had their traditional bulbs replaced with technology using light emitting diodes (LEDs), the Bureau of Energy said.

Two Hong Kong-bound flights carrying more than 600 people narrowly missed each other over the Asian city, officials said Tuesday, after pilots scrambled to react to warning signals.

A Cathay Pacific Boeing 777 arriving from New York and a Dragonair Airbus A330 from Taiwan were both told to hold off landing due to bad weather on September 18 but strayed into each other's path.

Faded and forgotten Western brands are being dusted off and brought back to life by companies in Asia targeting the burgeoning number of people looking for labels to match new middle class lifestyles.

Asians have been buying or licensing fashion names — many of them European with long and rich histories including royal connections or haute couture origins — that have fallen out of favor back home, as they seek to lure the region's newly affluent.

The head of Taiwan's top technical institute says economic downturns in the West and Japan provide the island an opportunity to lure talent from abroad to develop its high-tech sector.

Industrial Technology Research Institute Chairman Tsay Ching-yen says his institute will try to recruit recent graduates and experienced tech company workers to come to Taiwan.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou on Tuesday pledged to pursue peace with China as he paid homage to hundreds of people killed during a Chinese artillery attack over half a century ago.

Ma made the remark at a ceremony on the offshore island of Kinmen, where hundreds were killed in a 44-day Chinese artillery bombardment that began on August 23, 1958.

Taiwanese director Wei Te-sheng has reason to be thrilled about the upcoming Venice premiere of "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale," his four-hour epic about a 1930 aboriginal uprising against Taiwan's Japanese rulers.

A decade in preparation, the $24 million production is stirring hopes that the island's film industry is set to stage a comeback, after flaming out in the 1980s following a series of groundbreaking efforts, many about young romance in rural locales.

Taiwan plans to develop a long-distance precision-guided missile which would be able to strike military bases along China's southeastern coastline in the event of war, a legislator said Monday.

Taiwan's defense ministry has budgeted Tw$30 million ($1.04 million) for developments including the design of the missile bases and safety systems, said Lin Yu-fang, a lawmaker who sits on the national defense committee.