President Chen Shui-bian (
The Presidential Office is due to publish the list of senior advisors and national policy advisors to the president today when the one-year tenure for incumbent positions expires.
Most of the 100-plus advisors will stay on, sources close to the president said, adding that a dozen or so will be removed for possessing dual citizenship.
King, a long-time independence advocate, will remain at her post, they said.
The tough-talking advisor created uproar during her recent trips back to Taiwan during which she refused to count herself as a citizen of the Republic of China.
"The ROC has long ceased to exist," she said. The remarks outraged opposition lawmakers who have since pressed for her dismissal. Pro-independence activists, on the other hand, have come to her defense. Wary of entering the row, the president has said he does not always agree with his advisors but respects their freedom of speech.
Some DPP lawmakers have suggested that King must take the initiative to tender her resignation, while others have said she will never quit voluntarily.
Prominent industrialists Nita Ing (
The president is to leave certain posts open to allow some aides to resume their posts after taking measures to comply with nationality guidelines.
Chen Chao-chuan (陳朝傳), owner of Shihlin Paper Co, who has been accused of sexual harassment, will probably be dropped for good.
Created in 1948, both classes of aide have traditionally been filled by senior retired officials to keep their prestige aglow -- if only nominally.
Only a handful of advisors keep an office inside the Presidential Office, and there are no regular meetings between the president and the advisors.
Although seldom consulted, a senior advisor receives NT$201,960 in monthly salary as does a vice premier. A national policy advisor receives NT$179,520, the same as a Cabinet minister.
Only 45 advisors are on the government payroll, while the rest perform their services voluntarily.
Shi Wen-long (許文龍), president of Chi Mei Corp, who caused an uproar by telling a Japanese cartoonist that some Taiwan women volunteered to serve as prostitutes for the Japanese army during World War II, will be retained.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique