With a mission to promote harmony in agricultural circles, Fan Cheng-chung (
Yu said that he tapped Fan, the current Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council Speaker (台灣省諮議會諮議長), for the agriculture council's helm because of Fan's success in representing and managing Hsinchu County's agriculture.
Fan, now 61, is a graduate of National Taiwan Ocean University and has been a public figure since he began his first term as a Hsinchu County councilor in 1977.
After serving two terms as county councilor, Fan, a Hakka from Hsinchu, was elected as a National Assembly representative in 1986. Three years later Fan won the support of residents to become Hsinchu County Commissioner and was later re-elected in 1993.
After handing over the leadership of Hsinchu County in 1997, Fan served as a legislator for about a year.
On Tuesday, Yu said that Fan's experience would help to bridge the gap between the central and local governments.
Fan's appointment, however, surprised agricultural officials because of his lack of experience in managing agricultural affairs.
Inside the council, factions formed by National Taiwan University graduates and their counterparts from National Chung Hsing University have reportedly long been engaged in a power struggle.
Agricultural officials, however, said on Tuesday that Fan's position at the council's helm might put an end to the struggle between the two dominant factions.
Fan said Tuesday that a top priority for the council would be listening to local farmers and coming up with strategies for Taiwan's WTO participation.
Fan also said that he would seek out the experience and knowledge of agricultural experts in order to improve his agricultural management skills, acknowledging that his background is in shipping and transportation management.
Ecological conservationists, however, expressed their disappointment over Fan's appointment.
Lin Sheng-zhong (
About 53 percent, or 1,428km2, of Hsinchu County is mountainous. According to Chung Shu-chi (鍾淑姬) of the Hsinchu Environmental Protection Association, in 1991 there were 26 proposals to build golf courses in the county put forward for Fan's approval. Among them, four were located in water source protection areas but two of the four still received approval by local authorities.
In 1992, when conservationists visited Fan to criticize his poor strategies for land management, Fan said that he was unaware of the controversial approvals. In 1997, Fan faced stronger opposition from activists, who claimed that no other county had as many golf courses as Hsinchu. Ecological conservationists argued that the large quantity of pesticides being sprayed on the courses had seriously polluted the county's water.
"Looking at Taiwan's heartbreaking experiences with typhoons last year, we suggest Fan halt inappropriate land management in mountainous areas right away," Lin said, adding that well-planned afforestation should also be carried out.
Lin also said that council-run fruit farms in mountainous areas, such as Fushoushan Farm (福壽山農場) and Wuling Farm (武陵農場) in Taichung County, should be relocated to maintain land resources in the central mountain range.
Despite being one of the founding members of the DPP, critics have questioned Fan's loyalty to the party because of his close ties to the KMT.
In 1996, when former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) established his local campaign headquarters in Hsinchu County, Fan, a senior DPP heavyweight, openly pledged his support to the KMT in the country's first presidential election.
In 1999, Fan decided to support independent president candidate, former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (
At the time, Fan criticized the DPP for not showing enough interest in him after he handed over the leadership of Hsinchu County in 1997. Although Fan served as a member of the Hakka Commission (客家委員會) in June 2000, he was not given a position of national policy advisor by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) until last year.
In the year-end elections, Fan gave his full support to DPP candidate Lin Kuang-hua (林光華), who was re-elected Hsinchu County commissioner.
Last December, Fan was appointed Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council Speaker.
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source