An association yesterday paid tribute to former minister of justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南), remembering him as a model politician.
Chen died of lung cancer in National Taiwan University Hospital on Nov. 5 last year and the Chen Ding-nan Foundation held a series of activities to commemorate him in the run up to the first anniversary of his death.
Former minister without portfolio Lin Sheng-feng (林盛豐) told yesterday's conference that public construction projects are often criticized for their bad quality and having involved bribery, but Chen managed to maintain extremely high standards during his two terms as Ilan County commissioner from 1981 to 1989.
Lin said Chen's choice of a clean and professional government team, his diligence in learning the details of all construction proposals, his habit of convening meetings on construction proposals to discuss the projects and his strict supervision contributed to the high quality of public construction work in Ilan County during his tenure.
He said because Chen stayed away from corruption, kickbacks, or factional interests, he was able to govern the county well.
Lee Min-yung (
Lee said Chen was a man who demonstrated honesty, integrity and prudence.
The Chen Ding-nan Foundation on Thursday also released a biography of Chen entitled An Official with an Esteemed Personality.
The association also proposed building a memorial hall for Chen in his hometown of Ilan.
Dubbed "Mr Clean" by the media, Chen established the Black Gold Investigation Center under the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office to fight serious corruption immediately upon assuming his post as minister in 2000.
Chen received a bachelor's degree in law from National Taiwan University in 1966.
After graduating he ran various businesses until his political career officially began when he was first elected Ilan County commissioner in 1981.
He occupied this position for two terms, until 1989.
Chen's political involvement went back to his connections with the dangwai movement, the forerunner of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Many of those involved in the Kaohsiung Incident in 1979 were Chen's high school or college friends.
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
DEMAND: The government should enact regulations in line with Austria and Germany to incorporate vegan nutrition into school meals, an advocate said More than 1,000 people yesterday marched in Taipei to promote veganism, calling for legislation to incorporate vegan diets into school lunches and the national net zero emissions program. Participants gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building for the march, which was organized by the Vegan Action Network (VAN). Former ambassador to Chad Chiu Chung-jen (邱仲仁), actor Yankee Yang (楊子儀) and actress Cindy Lien (連俞涵) attended the event. VAN member Marianne Chao (趙梅君) said that the campaign aimed to urge the government to promote vegan diets across schools and government agencies via legislation and national policies, which would help build
RSS