PRESS DIGEST-Taiwan - Dec 25

TAIPEI, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Taiwan newspapers carried the following stories on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

CHINA TIMES

-- Hackers via an Internet address in China stole online transaction details of customers of eight Taiwan online gaming and shopping Web sites.

-- Diplomatic ties with Malawi and Panama appeared in danger as China relentlessly tries to lure them away.

UNITED DAILY NEWS

-- The first snowfall of the winter was recorded on the peaks of Jade Mountain.

LIBERTY TIMES

-- The Mainland Affairs Council said that, in a recent poll it conducted, 77 percent of respondents said they would not oppose a referendum on Taiwan's entry into the United Nations because of pressure from Beijing, which has been exerted via the United States.

COMMERCIAL TIMES

-- Want Want Holdings, which delisted in Singapore in September, plans to separate out its food-related businesses for a US$700 million Hong Kong IPO as soon as the first quarter of next year.

ECONOMIC DAILY NEWS

-- Cathay Financial (2882.TW) plans to buy Chifon Commercial Bank, which has a negative net value, for T$1.80 per share.

-- Solar energy company USI Corp (1304.TW) will build a factory in Malaysia, with production to start around the end of next year. (Compiling by Taipei newsroom; Editing by Edmund Klamann)