As regular readers know, Talking Points Memo concerns itself with American politics, grand strategy abroad, Enron, snarky comments about the likes of Maureen Dowd and Howard Fineman and the admittedly rather obscure matter of whether a gentleman named Douglas H. Paal will ever be appointed -- as long rumored -- to serve as the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, America's de facto embassy in Taiwan.

In February in The New Republic, TPM outlined a series of controversies surrounding Paal's think-tank, the Asia Pacific Policy Center. That article played some role in continuing to hold up the nomination until now.

However, this article in today's China Post confirms a rumor that's been circulating on Capitol Hill: that the decision to appoint Paal has now been made and that the state department is simply waiting for Congress to reconvene to make the announcement.