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.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
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The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
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