President attends mango fair, asks why farmers didn't get Ta-an permit

In a mango-promotion fair that kicked off yesterday at the Taipei Train Station, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) complained that the fair was not permitted to take place in Ta-an Forest Park (大安森林公園), where many agricultural fairs have been held before.

Chen said when he was the mayor of Taipei, he attended the fruit fairs organized by people from his home county of Tainan in Ta-an Forest Park.

In the beginning of summer and at the peak of autumn, Tainan County farmers organize semiannual fairs in Taipei city for the country's most-appreciated fruits -- mangos and pomelos. And Chen has been a big promoter of the fruits.

But since he stepped down from his mayoral position in 1998, the county's farmers have failed to obtain a permit from the Taipei City Government to hold the fair in Ta-an Park, Chen said.

However, Chen appeared at the fair yesterday as he had in previous years, and lauded the taste of mangos as "the flavor of Taiwan."

Chen also unveiled a new variety of the fruit, Yu-wen (玉文), which was developed by Tainan county farmers.

The president also encouraged the nation's farmers to face the challenges brought about by Taiwan's membership in the WTO.

Among the various mangos grown in Taiwan, the small green-skinned "indigenous mango" (土芒果) was introduced by the Dutch from Southeast Asia in the 17th century.

The two major species promoted at yesterday's fair were the red-skinned Ai-wen (愛文) and the golden-skinned Jin-huang (金煌), which were both developed by local farmers.

Chen praised these two varieties of the mango as one of the examples of the ambitious innovations of Taiwan's farmers.

The two-day fair is due to end this afternoon.