Nurses in the Hello Kitty-designed maternity ward, at the Hau Sheng hospital, checks on the newborns, in the southern Taiwan city of Chunghua. Hau Sheng Hospital, located 95 miles (150 kilometers) south of Taipei, is the latest destination for the cute feline with the penchant for pink, reflecting its owner's belief that mothers and their newborns will be soothed by the well-known Hello Kitty ambiance.

YUANLIN, Taiwan – Japan’s iconic Hello Kitty has been recruited to help calm anxious mothers at a maternity hospital in Taiwan where the cartoon image adorns everything from walls to newborns’ blankets .

Hau Sheng Hospital, located 95 miles (150 kilometers) south of Taipei, is the latest destination for the cute cat with a penchant for pink.

A giant Hello Kitty figure dressed in a pink doctor uniform greets visitors in the lobby, while colorful murals of the feline are found in recovery rooms, the nursery and on elevator doors.

Owner Tsai Tsung-ji approached Sanrio Co., the maker of Hello Kitty, about decorating his hospital with a Hello Kitty theme at the suggestion of his mother, wife and daughter — all of whom are huge fans.

“When new moms feel anxious and lost about how to deal with their new babies, Hello Kitty can make them more relaxed and reduce their sense of discomfort while giving birth,” said Tsai.

He declined to reveal how much he was paying Sanrio for the Hello Kitty rights except to say it was a “reasonable” figure.

Introduced in 1974, Hello Kitty has become one of the most powerful brands in the world, adorning some 50,000 products in 60 countries.

First-time father Chen Wen-sheng, 24, said he was pleased his son was born at Hau Sheng. “The place is quite pretty, and warm and fuzzy like Hello Kitty should be.”

But Angela Lee, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, said the idea of a cartoon themed hospital was “controversial” because some people are bound to “think the entire hospital is like a theme park.”

Tsai said the hospital has delivered about 2,000 babies since it underwent its Hello Kitty makeover in 2006.

Associated Press writer Deborah Yao contributed to this report from Philadelphia.

Visitors view newborns in the Hello Kitty-designed maternity ward, at the Hau Sheng hospital in the southern Taiwan city of Chunghua.

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou welcomed Saturday a U.S. decision to sell the island up to $6.5 billion in advanced weaponry, ending a months-long freeze on Washington’s arms sales to Taipei.

The U.S. government announced the package, which includes Apache helicopters and Patriot III missiles, in a notification to Congress on Friday. The State Department said the deal would proceed if no lawmaker voices any objection within 30 days.

The United States is required by law to provide Taiwan with defensive weapons against a possible invasion by China. It remains Taiwan’s most important ally and largest arms supplier, even after Washington switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949. China continues to claim Taiwan as part of its territory and threatens to attack if the island moves to make the break permanent.

Friday’s move came three months after Admiral Timothy Keating, the top U.S. military commander in the Pacific, announced a freeze on U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. Analysts speculated the decision reflected U.S. reluctance to anger China before President George W. Bush attended the Olympics in Beijing in August.

On Saturday, Taiwan’s Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi thanked the U.S. and said the government wants to maintain a strong defense against any threat from China while seeking improvement in cross-strait relations.

“President Ma Ying-jeou would like to express gratitude to the U.S. for the arms package,” said Wang. “A strong defense and peace in the Taiwan Strait are necessary for Taiwan’s prosperity.”

U.S. approval of the arms sale was unlikely to foil warming ties between Taiwan and China, said Wang Kao-cheng, an international affairs specialist at Taipei-based Tamkang University

“The weapons in the package this time are of a defensive nature, and do not pose a security threat to China,” Wang said. “They will not cause tension in cross-strait relations.”

Since taking office in May, Ma has turned the corner on his predecessor’s hard-line China policy and pushed for better mainland ties.

He has opened the island up for an increased number of mainland tourists, and facilitated regular direct flights across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait. He has also loosened restrictions on Taiwanese investment in China, and welcomed Chinese investors to the island.