His resignation as chairman of the Council of Agriculture (COA) may be the last-stand in politics for Peng Tso-kwei (
Telling reporters yesterday that he was "fed up" with politics, Peng leaves a legacy of relatively idealistic policy-making and a pragmatic approach rare at the highest levels of government.
His background -- both as an academic and a government official -- could well have influenced this approach.
FILE PHOTO
As a student at National Chunghsing University, Peng Tso-kwei was a determined and aggressive player on the sports field.
His 110-meter hurdle record remains unbeaten at Chunghsing University, and he once referred to taking up the post at the COA as an obstacle race, which requires extra strength and patience.
His venture into the political arena from the academic field was something unexpected.
Four days before the Cabinet reshuffle in 1997, Peng was given 40 minutes to make a decision that would change his life.
He decided to take a chance and become COA chairman, although the decision was later not supported by his own family.
Soon after taking up his new post, Peng established three major policy directions for the field of agriculture: production (
He said he believed that agricultural production had to be modernized to be effective, that agricultural trading liberalization was a must, and that farmers' benefits had to be well taken care of in the event of natural disasters.
Peng pushed for building resort-like farm villages, preserving endangered animals, and opposing the over-development of mountainous areas and logging.
He also suggested taking better care of older farmers, since they had contributed so much to the development of agriculture, and to respect younger farmers in order to encourage more young people to join the farming business, which has seen a rapid decline in recent years.
He also proposed adopting compensation measures to take care of farmers' losses if their rights were violated.
Peng had proposed that agricultural policy should pay attention not only to producers, but also to consumers. Peng had made it a goal to ensure that the government provided consumers with safe, quality, diverse, and hygienic agricultural products.
As for the management of farmland, Peng had proposed liberalizing the agricultural land market, to allow non-farmers to buy farm land to help the development of the industrial sector.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
Taiwan must invest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to keep abreast of the next technological leap toward automation, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at the luanch ceremony of Taiwan AI and Robots Alliance yesterday. The world is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution centered on AI and robotics, which would likely lead to a thorough transformation of human society, she told an event marking the establishment of a national AI and robotics alliance in Taipei. The arrival of the next industrial revolution could be a matter of years, she said. The pace of automation in the global economy can
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,