Former presidential adviser Lin Yang-kang (林洋港), a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) heavyweight who faded from the political scene after losing the nation’s first direct presidential election in 1996 to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), died on Saturday midnight of intestinal obstruction and organ failure. He was 87.
Lin, also known as Uncle A-Kang (阿港伯), was one of the so-called “Taiwanese youths” cultivated by the KMT to consolidate grassroots support. He had served as Nantou County commissioner, Taipei mayor, chairman of Taiwan Province, minister of the interior and head of the Judicial Yuan, and was once seen as the likely successor to former president Chiang Ching-kou (蔣經國).
Chiang instead picked Lee as his vice president, which sparked a power struggle between Lin and Lee. In the 1996 presidential election, Lin violated KMT regulations and paired up with former premier Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) to compete against Lee and former vice president Lien Chan (連戰). The Lin-Hau ticket lost the election and Lin’s party membership was revoked for years until the KMT restored it in 2005.
Photo: CNA
Lin left politics after retiring from his post as an adviser to the Presidential Office in 2006, and went to live in Greater Taichung with his family.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday expressed his condolences to Lin’s family and praised Lin’s life-long dedication and achievements, including the decision to build the Taipei Feitsui Reservoir in 1978 amid concerns about the reservoir’s possible threat to local residents’ safety if it were destroyed in a natural disaster.
“His vision allowed people in the Greater Taipei area to enjoy clean and cheap drinking water for the past 20 years. It was a very wise decision,” Ma said in a written statement.
Ma also expressed his gratitude for Lin’s advice, saying he had often discussed judicial matters with Lin when serving as minister of justice. Lin, then the minister of the Judicial Yuan, helped facilitate cooperation between the Judicial Yuan and the Ministry of Justice.
KMT heavyweights, including Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), son of Hau Pei-tsun, also expressed regret over Lin’s death.
Wang described Lin as a respectful politician who made great achievements, and said politicians in future generations should learn from his dedication to Taiwan’s development.
Hau Lung-bin thanked Lin for building the Feitsui Reservoir for Taipei, saying it prevented a shortage of drinking water for Greater Taipei residents.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS