To encourage young farmers to return to rural villages, the Council of Agriculture plans to work with other government agencies to promote long-term care programs in remote areas, council Minister Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) told a forum in Taipei yesterday.
The two-day forum which began yesterday was organized by the council and is taking place at National Taiwan University.
Asked about the council’s position on illegal structures built on farmland in Yilan County, Lin said the agriculture sector would be without hope if farmland is used to build houses.
People in the past often evaluated agriculture from a capitalistic perspective, but now they should explore ways that sustainable farming can allow humans, nature and culture to coexist, he said.
The Rural Revitalization Act (農村再生條例) was promulgated in 2010, but the government used the act’s budget to build cement structures in rural villages and did little to revitalize local cultures, he said.
To expedite the revival of rural villages, the council in March launched a program called “Rural Revitalization 2.0,” which places more emphasis on assisting young farmers, promoting casual agriculture and cross-disciplinary collaboration, it said in a statement at the time.
The council hopes to foster the idea among young people that living in rural villages can be fashionable and appealing, rather than something that entails reluctant sacrifices, Lin said.
Meanwhile, the council expects to work with other government agencies to introduce Long-term Care Services Program 2.0 services and experimental education to young farmers in remote regions, he said.
For rural cultures to be revived, mayors and county commissioners should look at agriculture with broader vision, rather than treating farmland as nothing but commercial assets like acting Yilan County Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), said Wu Guo-wei (吳國維), president of Luodong Community University in the county’s Luodong Township (羅東).
People should reconnect with their local cultures and ancestral knowledge about farming and rural living, said Chiu Hsing-wei (邱星崴), director of Cultimount Co in Miaoli County’s Nanjhuang Township (南庄).
Living like a local is difficult for people to do nowadays, given the effects of globalization, which encourages a homogenous lifestyle, Chiu said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by