The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is expected to take over a key position at the National Fishermen’s Association (NFA) from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), a source said yesterday.
DPP-nominated Hsu Te-hsiang (許德祥), a former president of the Taiwan Provincial Fishermen’s Association (TPFA) — now the NFA — is expected to be elected NFA president tomorrow, an unnamed source from the DPP said.
Local-level elections were held on March 18 and April 14 to choose the presidents and general managers of the nation’s 39 fishermen’s associations as well as 86 national representatives.
The DPP failed to gain control of farmers’ associations in February’s elections, but the party might gain some ground at the NFA tomorrow, when the association’s national assembly elects 19 directors and five managers, with 25 director candidates and six manager candidates, including Hsu, standing for election.
NFA president Huang Yi-cheng (黃一成) of the KMT is to step down after completing his term and the DPP has negotiated with former Yunlin County commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味) to have Hsu elected as NFA president, while NFA general manager Lin Chi-tsang (林啟滄), a close aide to Chang, would serve another term, the source said.
While Hsu’s election would see a coalition of the KMT and the DPP ruling the NFA, the “Chang system” would ensure the KMT’s control of the NFA, because although the NFA president represents the association, convenes meetings of directors and appoints the general manager, the general manager has the authority to appoint NFA staff and runs the association, the source said.
Hsu was named a legislator-at-large by the DPP in 2006 to fill the vacancy left by former DPP legislator-at-large Lin Choi-shui (林濁水).
Hsu has close ties with the fishery industry, as he has served as director and president of the Donggang District Fishermen’s Association in Pingtung; director of the Overseas Fisheries Development Council; director of Taiwan Fisheries and Marine Technology Consultants; director of the Taiwan Fisheries Association; and is a member of the Marine Disaster Relief Fund Committee.
Hsu ran for TPFA president during former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) term, marking the first competition between the KMT and the DPP at the association.
Hsu was elected twice, serving as TPFA president for eight years.
Compared with farmers’ associations elections, fishermen’s associations elections are less complex, and except for the fishermen’s associations of Chiayi, Jhongli, Hualien and Hengchun, where competition is fierce, this year’s local-level elections went smoothly, with most officials being re-elected.
The KMT enjoys greater support at fishermen’s associations, but the fishery industry “has prioritized general interests over ideology” and is only concerned with electing people capable of developing and representing the industry, the source said.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
RSS