Taiwan Provincial Governor Fan Kuang-chun (范光群) became the Judicial Yuan's secretary-general on Oct. 7. His old position was filled by National Policy Adviser to the President Lin Kuang-hua (林光華) on Friday.
Former secretary-general Yang Jen-shou (楊仁壽) became a grand justice on Oct. 1 so Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生) nominated Fan as the new secretary-general and submitted the proposal to the Presidential Office for President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) approval last month.
To take the secretary-general's post, Fan quit his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) membership the day he took the office.
"Justice should stay neutral, especially when it comes to politics. So I gave up my DPP membership," Fan said.
Fan's taking the post was not regarded as a smart move because a provincial governor enjoys more administrative authorization.
In addition, Fan is 64 years old this year, so it is almost impossible for him to be promoted again.
"President Weng has been working hard for judicial reform since 1999. I wanted to do something and contribute while I still can," he said.
Born in Hakka-dominated Hsinchu in 1939, Fan is the first Hakka secretary-general of the Judicial Yuan.
Fan began his close relationship with Chen and became one of the his favorites in 1998, when he was the head of Chen's "fan's club" and the chairman of the Taiwan Bar Association.
In a speech at a campaign dinner party, held by lawyers at Taipei's Grand Hyatt Hotel, for Chen, who was running for re-election as Taipei mayor, Fan praised Chen's work during his four-year term as mayor.
According to John Chen (陳傳岳), president of the Judicial Reform Foundation (民間司法改革基金會) and also Fan's college classmate, when Chen Shui-bian was considering nominees for minister of justice, Fan and current Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) were both candidates.
"Many people felt sorry for Fan since he did not make it eventually. But he became Judicial Yuan secretary-general anyway and still has a chance to devote himself to justice as he wished," John Chen said.
Fan earned a good reputation as an acting commissioner of Hualien County for a few months, after late Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) commissioner Chang Fu-hsing (
Hualien County Government Secretary-General Chung Wen-chin (
"Fan only needed to make sure that everything is on the right track during his three-month term as the acting commissioner in Hualien," Chung said.
"However, he did a lot more than what he was supposed to and tried very hard to understand the county as much as possible. That really meant something to us fellow county government staff," Chung said.
With Fan having been a DPP member and involved in politics for more than 30 years, the pan-blue camp's criticism that his appointment is the result of favoritism is not surprising.
Generally speaking, the Judicial Yuan post requires somebody who can "hit and go" and is very familiar with court affairs.
Fan has been away from the field since 1971, however, so it could be a great challenge for him as well.
Fan said these obstacles are not reason to fear.
"I am always geared up for all kinds of challenges. I am more than happy to contribute and help President Weng on judicial reform, which is no easy task," Fan said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS