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.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
RSS