Lin Tsung-hsien or Lin Tsong-shyan (; born 22 February 1962) is a Taiwanese politician. He was elected Yilan County Magistrate in 2009 and served until 2017, when he was appointed to lead the

Council of Agriculture The Council of Agriculture (COA, ) is the official government body in the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the Executive Yuan in charged with overseeing affairs related to agriculture, forestry, fishery, animal husbandry and food affairs. CAO is a ...

Education and early career

Lin was born in

Luodong Luodong Township () is an urban township An urban township is a designation of a unit of local government in several countries. United States The term is called ''urban township'' Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio and urban town in Wisconsin. General ...

to a family of farmers, and received his bachelor's degree from

Chiayi Agricultural College Chiayi (, Taigi POJ: ''Ka-gī''; ), officially known as Chiayi City, is a city located in the plains of southwestern Taiwan. Formerly called ''Kagee'' during the late Qing dynasty and ''Kagi'' during the Japanese era (), its historical name ...

and master's degree from

Fo Guang University Fo Guang University (FGU; ; lit. ''Buddha's Light University'') is a private university in Linmei Village, Jiaoxi Township, Yilan County, Taiwan. It was founded by the Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhist monastic order Fo Guang Shan in 2000 and as ...

. Upon completion of mandatory military service, Lin became an insurance agent.

Political career

Lin became active in Luodong Township's local politics in 1988, having worked his way up to the position of district secretary-general by 1994. In 1998, Lin joined the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...

. In February 2002, he became the mayor of Luodong Township, serving for two terms until December 2009.

Yilan County Magistracy

Lin assumed the magistracy of Yilan County on 20 December 2009 after winning the 2009 Republic of China local election on 5 December 2009 under the

. During his first term as county magistrate, Lin improved the county's standing through reform. He also restored the annual

Yilan International Children's Folklore and Folkgame Festival The Yilan International Children's Folklore and Folkgame Festival (YICFFF; ) is an artistic festival in Taiwan, which has taken place during the summer vacation each year at the Dongshan River Water Park in Yilan County since 1996. *The festival ...

which was suspended by his predecessor

Lu Kuo-hua Lu Kuo-hua (; born 22 February 1956) is a politician in the Republic of China. He was the Magistrate of Yilan County from 2005 to 2009.http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2008/4/26/96765.html Yilan County Magistrate 2005 Yilan County magistr ...

. Lin had also supported several agricultural policies, such as banning chemical herbicides in farms and ending the use of unprocessed manure as fertilizer. In terms of housing development, he had created regulations on farmhouses and reduced the number of residential buildings permitted on farmland. On 29 November 2014, Lin won the Yilan County magistrate election as the DPP candidate. In his second term, Lin supported

Ko Wen-je Ko Wen-je (; born 6 August 1959), also known by his nickname, Ko P (), is a Taiwanese politician and physician. Ko was mayor of Taipei from 2014 to 2022, and Chairman of the Taiwan People's Party since 2019. Before becoming mayor, he was a docto ...

's proposal to build a railway connecting Yilan and Taipei. However, the project drew harsh criticism for its predicted negative effects on the environment.

Minister of Agriculture

Lin was appointed the head of the

in February 2017. He resigned the position on 1 December 2018.

References

Magistrates of Yilan County, Taiwan Living people 1962 births Democratic Progressive Party (Taiwan) politicians Taiwanese Ministers of Agriculture People from Luodong, Yilan County, Taiwan {{Taiwan-DPP-politician-stub