Few changes seen among aides

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is expected to retain most of his advisors for the next year, including Tokyo-based national policy adviser Alice King (金美齡), who has openly claimed the Republic of China to be "dead."

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 (殷琪) of the Taiwan High-Speed Railway Co (台灣高鐵) and Morris Chang (張忠謀) of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC, 台積電), among others, will be removed because they have dual citizenship.

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.