Two 'Ministers' Resign after Largest Protest in Taiwan

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, November 25, 2002

Two 'Ministers' Resign after Largest Protest in Taiwan

Some 115,000 Taiwan fishermen and farmers gathered in Taipei on Saturday to stage a protest march against Taiwan authorities' decision to abolish the agricultural credit co-operatives, often the only source of funding for poor farmers and fishermen. "Premier" of the Taiwan authorities Yu Shyi-kun said Sunday he would stay in office two days after he offered to resign but he agreed to let two of his "cabinet members" go.

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Largest Protest in China's Island Province

"Premier" of the Taiwan authorities Yu Shyi-kun of Taiwan said Sunday he would stay in office two days after he offered to resign amid a row about delayed changes to the shaky farm and fish credit system, but he agreed to let two of his "cabinet members" go.

Yu accepted the resignation of "Finance Minister" Lee Yung-san and Fan Chen-tsung, chairman of the "Council of Agriculture", one day after more than 100,000 farmers and fishermen protested against plans to reform the farm/fish credit co-operatives.

Some 115,000 Taiwan fishermen and farmers gathered in Taipei on Saturday to stage a protest march against Taiwan authorities' decision to abolish the agricultural credit co-operatives, often the only source of funding for poor farmers and fishermen.

This is the biggest demonstration ever broke out in recent years, triggered off by postponed credit system reform that touched the fundamental interests of local farmers and fishermen.

The cooperatives, which make up only a small part of Taiwan's financial system, are plagued by soaring non-performing loans and analysts worry the delay could signal weakening government resolve to tackle larger, more important reforms.

Opponents of credit controls argue they will lead to the disappearance of the agricultural co-operatives, often the only source of funding for poor farmers and fishermen.

Protesters rushed into Taipei in over 2300 touring vans and gathered firstly in front of the Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall at 2:00 pm, then they took the main streets respectively and the protestation lasted a whole hour. Many farmers started out the night before in order to arrive in time, and 8 cross-Strait representatives from Kinmen (Jinmen) also joined in the procession.

While Fan Chen-tsung, chairman of the "Council of Agriculture", delivered a speech on the spot and received farmers' petition. Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan and PTP chairman Soong Chu-yu also expressed their support for farmers.

Both Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian talked previously with farmers in an effort to stop the demonstration, but were rejected by angry farmers.

An emergency group was set up by Taipei local government, and the "Executive Yuan" and "Office of the President" were heavily guarded by police during the demonstration, which finally ended at 5:00 pm.

"Premier" Yu Shyi-kun himself offered to step down over the issue but later he agreed to stay in office at the request of "President" Chen Shui-bian. "Chen told me that a stable cabinet is important for continuous reforms, therefore I accept the president's request to remain in office," Yu told reporters.

Chen's approval rating had slumped to near record lows of 36-38 percent after the controversial policy was announced, compared with 80 percent when he took office in 2000. His four-year term ends in May 2004.

The delay in the planned reforms led to four straight days of declines on the stock market before it rebounded on last Friday.

Bankers say the delay in reforms would make it more difficult for the local government to convince Taiwan lawmakers to increase a planned bank rescue fund by T$910 billion (US$26 billion) to T$1.05 trillion to help clear out bad debt.

By People's Daily Online

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