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Taiwan Quick Take

■ DIPLOMACY
US posting delayed
Former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) deputy chairman David Huang (黃偉峰) has been appointed deputy representative to the US, sources told the Taipei Times yesterday. The move was approved by former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), but Su's sudden resignation last week left the documents authorizing Huang's posting unsigned. However, a senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said that the appointment is not likely to change under the new Cabinet. The source said Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) would deal with the issue.

■ DIPLOMACY
Ortega cool on Taiwan
A Nicaraguan daily reported on Tuesday there were signs that the administration of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega had increasingly alienated Taipei since he was sworn in in January. One such signal was Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos not attending a ministerial-level meeting tomorrow in Belize between Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) and his counterparts from Taiwan's Central American allies, the El Nuevo Diario reported. The newspaper said Santos had appointed his deputy, Valdrack Jaentschke, to attend the meeting. Santos would be the third foreign minister to miss tomorrow's meeting. His counterparts from Panama and Costa Rica will also not attend. The Republic of China embassy in Nicaragua did not comment on the report.

■ POLITICS
Lu, Su eyed for legislature
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun yesterday said he is considering nominating Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) to be legislators-at-large. Yu said he will put himself in the 18th or 19th place in the list. According to the party's regulations, the chairman is authorized to nominate four candidates for legislator-at-large. The first 12 candidates on the list are considered safe nominations. Yu said that all the nominees he suggests will still need to be approved by the DPP's nomination committee. Lu's office said later that she appreciated Yu's gesture of goodwill but she thought it would be a good idea to give the opportunity to be legislator to someone else because there are many talented people in the party. Su yesterday also declined to be put on the nomination list.

■ HEALTH
Measles alert for Japan
The Centers for Disease Control yesterday urged the public to make sure that children traveling to Japan have been vaccinated for measles. The center said that more than 95 percent of children in Taiwan receive the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and there have been no cases of measles in this country this year. However, it urged caution as the volume of travel between Taiwan and Japan is high. A measles outbreak in the Kanto region of Japan has spread to surrounding areas.

■ SOCIETY
Men win big at lottery
More men have won big lottery prizes in the first four months of this year than women, the Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. It said 72 percent of the 163 winners during that period were men, most of whom live in Taipei City and Taipei County. Some 29 percent of the men who won large prizes are aged between 40 and 49 and work in the service sector or as freelancers. Nearly 30 percent of them purchase lottery tickets every week, spending from NT$100 to NT$500.


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