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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Charity
Call for donations
The Taiwan Red Cross has joined with the International Red Cross and India Red Cross to raise funds for victims of the tsunamis that devastated coastlines across South and Southeast Asia. Taiwan Red Cross is calling on the people of Taiwan to donate generously. This can be done by making a post office remittance to account number 1434-1596 or making a transfer to the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China at Hua Nan Bank, Hoping branch, account number 121-10-0072227. For more information on donations, contact Taiwan Red Cross at (02) 2363-8232.

■ Weather
Cold days to come
The approach of a cold mass from the north will bring several damp days while the temperature in the north of the country will drop sharply to around 13oC today. However, the drop in temperature will continue to late next week, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. According to forecasters, a cold current will arrive this morning, pushing temperatures down. On Friday, a second wave will arrive, further lowering temperatures to below 10oC. From Friday to Thursday next week, colder temperatures will be sustained, with nighttime temperatures in coastal areas dropping to at least 8oC. Forecasters said that farmers in the agricultural and aquaculture sectors should take precautions to protect crops and fish or other aquatic products from being damaged during the cold snap.

■ Politics
Chen coy on new premier
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is unlikely to mention his choice for the next premier in his New Year's Day message, a Presidential Office spokesman said yesterday. The spokesman was responding to a newspaper report that Chen would do so during his New Year's Day message. He added that Chen would speak on his vision for national development and the government's agenda for the new year. Premier Yu Shyi-kun and other Cabinet members will resign en masse before the new Legislative Yuan is inaugurated on Feb. 1. Speculation on who the next premier will be is rife. After the pan-blue alliance of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party managed to retain its slim majority party in the Dec. 11 legislative elections, senior KMT officials have claimed that the majority party in the legislature should have the right to form a new Cabinet. However, the Democratic Progressive Party has said that the right to name a premier rests with the president under existing constitutional provisions.

■ Diplomacy
Chen meets minister
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) met with visiting Gambian Foreign Minister Sidi Morro Sanneh in the Presidential Office yesterday. Chen said that Taiwan has entered into a five-year cooperation agreement with Gambia, and that this would help with the promotion of bilateral exchanges. Chen thanked Gambia for its support for Taiwan in its bid to join the UN and the World Health Organization, and extended an invitation to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to visit Taiwan. Sanneh relayed Jammeh's greetings to Chen and confirmed Gambia's support for Taiwan's access to international organizations.

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