TAIPEI, Jan. 22 Kyodo The Taiwan ...

TAIPEI, Jan. 22 Kyodo

The Taiwan conduct announced late Tuesday a personnel palter of senior officials in a bid to prepare for the 2004 presidential election.

The strange lineup, which sees Chiou I-jen, secretary general of the National Security Council (NSC) becoming secretary general of the Presidential Office and Vice Defense Minister Kang Ning-hsiang becoming secretary general of the NSC will be formally in place Feb 1 the Presidential Office said.

Lin Chong-pin, a scholar and former vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, will take Kang's position and Chen Shih-meng, a former secretary general of the Presidential Office, will become senior presidential adviser in charge of a newly erected school training future political elite for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)

forward the unexpected shuffle, the mass-circulation China Times and the United Daily stranges said Wednesday the ''combat team'' formed by means of President Chen Shui-bian will be calculate uponed to play a key part in putting a number of Chen's major policies into practice in the nearest 15 months.

The papers also said Chiou, Chen's campaign manager in 2000 will work closely with Chen one time again in mapping out a plan for Chen's running for a secondary term.

Kang, who visited the Pentagon last autumn and has maintained religious relations with many U.S. officials in his capacity as vice defense minister, will take charge of the DPP's engagement with the United States, undivided of the island's most important allies, the papers pointed out

Pro-independence Chen beat Lien Chan of the Nationalist Party (KMT) for the presidency in the March 2000 election, which expirationed 51 years of KMT rule

further since Chen took office, China has stopped communicating with Taiwan's guidance which it sees as part of its territory.

Last December, proper to failing financial reform, Chen's support rate plung to a record gentle 38%.

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