As China's first non-Communist Party minister in more than three
decades, Wan Gang's first news briefing on climate change yesterday
was a media highlight.
Wan, a member of the China Zhi Gong (Public Interest) Party - a
small organization with 15,600 members - was appointed science
minister in April by the State Council.
The previous non-Communist minister was Fu Zuoyi, a former
Kuomintang general, who was minister of water resources until
1972.
"The biggest challenge for me is the change from a scientist and
engineer to an executive officer," Wan said, adding that his
appointment was an "important" step in the development of China's
political democracy.
"It's a pity that that I cannot continue to work on automobile
research and development," a smiling Wan told reporters.
A former automobile engineer at the Audi Corporation in Germany,
Wan, born in August 1952, served as president of Shanghai's Tongji
University before being entering the cabinet.
Wan said he had accumulated some experience in practicing
multi-party cooperation, because "even when I was president of
Tongji University, I was the one of the very few non-CPC member
presidents of elite Chinese universities."
In the 1950s, a number of non-Communist members were appointed
ministers in the country's cabinet, but they were soon dismissed
during the "anti-rightist" movement.
In recent years, the CPC Central Committee has issued a series
of directives and recommendations to promote non-CPC members to
political positions.
Having lived abroad for many years, Wan said he is keen to
improve cooperation and exchanges between China and foreign
countries in science and technology.
He is also vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Zhi
Gong Party, which was founded in 1925 and mainly composed of
returned overseas Chinese, relatives of overseas Chinese, and noted
figures and scholars who have overseas ties.
(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2007)
