Edgar Lin Chun-yi (; born 23 July 1938) is a Taiwanese biologist, environmentalist, diplomat and politician.

Early life and career

Lin studied English at

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imper ...

and earned a Ph.D in ecology from the

University of Indiana Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

. He remained in the United States for a time, working as a research fellow for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

Committee on Science, Space and Technology The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over non-defense federal scientific research and development. More specifically, the committee has complete juris ...

. After his return to Taiwan, Lin taught at

Tunghai University Tunghai University (THU; ) is the oldest private university in Taiwan, established in 1955. It was founded by the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA). It is located in Xitun District, Taichung, Taiwan. According to ''Tim ...

. Lin began participating in Taiwan's environmental movement in the 1980s. He became known as a "godfather" of the cause and was a noted

anti-nuclear The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, nationa ...

activist, later serving Greenpeace Taiwan as its president.

Political career

Lin ran in the 1989 legislative election for a

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel ...

seat in Taichung. His unsuccessful campaign was backed by the Democratic Progressive Party. He was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

in 1992. The National Assembly voted to block a set of reform proposals after its convocation. Alongside fellow DPP members Huang Hsin-chieh and Chen Yung-hsing, Lin walked out of the assembly on 4 May 1992, criticizing the body for procedural violations. In September 1993, Lin accepted the DPP nomination as its candidate for the Taichung mayoralty. Lin lost to , who secured a second consecutive term. Lin led Taipei's while

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whi ...

was mayor. Chen was elected president in 2000, and Lin was appointed minister of the Environmental Protection Administration by Premier

Tang Fei Tang Fei (; born 15 March 1932) is a retired ROC Air Force general. He served as the premier of the Republic of China between May 20 and October 6, 2000, under the Chen Shui-bian government of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), even thoug ...

in April, taking office with the rest of the cabinet on 20 May. Shortly after joining the EPA, Lin renounced his opposition to nuclear energy, stating that he had held that stance largely to combat totalitarianism. In October, Lin made his first trip to the United States in an official capacity and became the first EPA executive to include environmentalists as part of his contingent abroad. The Amorgos oil spill occurred in January 2001, and the

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its leader is the Premier, who is appointed by the President of the Republic of China, and requires confirmation by the Legislative Yuan. Unde ...

was criticized for its delayed response. Subsequently, Lin resigned his position in March. In August of that year, Lin was named ambassador to

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 c ...

. He served until December 2004, when he was sworn in as Taiwan's representative to the United Kingdom. His first trip in the UK took place the next month. While in the UK, Lin has spoken out against the

One China principle The term One China may refer to one of the following: * The One China principle is the position held by the People's Republic of China (PRC) that there is only one sovereign state under the name China, with the PRC serving as the sole legit ...

, Anti-Secession Law, and

one country, two systems "One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. The constitutional principle was formulated in the earl ...

. Instead, Lin proposed that the European Union pass its own version of the United States'

Taiwan Relations Act The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA; ; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Thôi-van Kwan-hè-fap''; ) is an act of the United States Congress. Since the formal recognition of the People's Republic of China, the Act has defined the officially substantial but non-diplom ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lin, Edgar 1938 births Living people Taiwanese environmentalists Taiwanese anti–nuclear power activists Representatives of Taiwan to the United Kingdom Democratic Progressive Party (Taiwan) politicians Writers from Taipei Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Taipei National Taiwan University alumni Indiana University alumni Tunghai University faculty Taiwanese biologists People associated with Greenpeace Ambassadors to the Gambia Taiwanese Ministers of Environment Ambassadors of the Republic of China