Johnny Chiang Chi-chen (Chinese: 江啟臣; pinyin: Jiāng Qǐchén; Wade–Giles: Chiang1 Chʻi3-chʻên; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kang Khé-sîn; born 2 March 1972) is a Taiwanese politician and former international political economy scholar who is currently the vice president of the Legislative Yuan.

Johnny Chiang
Chiang Chi-chen
江啟臣
Official portrait, 2024
16th Vice President of the Legislative Yuan
Assumed office
1 February 2024
PresidentHan Kuo-yu
Preceded byTsai Chi-chang
Member of the Legislative Yuan
Assumed office
1 February 2012
Preceded byShyu Jong-shyong (Taichung County 4th district)
ConstituencyTaichung VIII
10th Chairman of the Kuomintang
In office
9 March 2020 – 5 October 2021
Secretary GeneralWilliam Tseng
Lee Chien-lung
Preceded byLin Rong-te (acting)
Succeeded byEric Chu
Minority Leader of the Legislative Yuan
In office
14 June 2018 – 1 February 2019
SpeakerSu Jia-chyuan
Preceded byLin Te-fu
Succeeded byWilliam Tseng
27th Director-General of the Government Information Office
In office
24 December 2010 – 1 May 2011
Prime MinisterWu Den-yih
Preceded bySu Jun-pin [zh]
Succeeded byPhilip Yang [zh]
Personal details
Born (1972-03-02) 2 March 1972 (age 52)
Fengyuan, Taichung County (now Fengyuan District, Taichung), Taiwan
Political partyKuomintang
SpouseLiu Tzu-ling
Children2
EducationNational Chengchi University (BA)
University of Pittsburgh (MA)
University of South Carolina (PhD)

Chiang served as an associate professor in Soochow University before his political career. He was the penultimate Director-General of the Government Information Office from 2010 to 2011, a post he resigned to become a member of the Legislative Yuan in which he has served since 2012. In March 2020, he was elected the Chairman of the Kuomintang and assumed office on 9 March until he was succeeded by Eric Chu on 5 October 2021. Chiang took office as vice president of the Legislative Yuan on 1 February 2024.

Early life and education

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Chiang was born on 2 March 1972. He attended elementary and junior high school in his hometown of Taichung before studying diplomacy at National Chengchi University.[2]

He served in the 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion during his compulsory military service. He was honorably discharged from the Army's special force with the rank of corporal.

He earned a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh,[3] followed by a doctorate at the University of South Carolina, both in the United States of America. His doctoral dissertation was "Globalization and The Role of the State in Contemporary Political Economy: Taiwan and India in the 1980s and 1990s".[4]

Academic career

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Then, he taught at the Department of Political Science of Soochow University as a full-time associate professor,[5] and worked in multiple positions at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.[6][7]

Political career

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He was named the head of the Government Information Office in 2010.[6] When Chiang was selected as a Kuomintang candidate for the legislature in April 2011,[8] he resigned the GIO position and was replaced by Philip Yang [zh].[9] Chiang was one of five former GIO officials to appear on the ballot.[10] He won election in 2012, and again in 2016. Chiang was chosen as one of five conveners of the Legislative Yuan's constitutional amendment committee in 2015.[11] He shared foreign and national defense committee convener duties with Liu Shih-fang in 2016.[12] Chiang announced his intention to contest the Taichung mayoralty in October 2017, becoming the second Kuomintang politician after Lu Shiow-yen to declare interest in the position.[13] It was reported in February 2018 that Chiang had narrowly finished second to Lu in three different public opinion polls that served as the Kuomintang's Taichung mayoral primary.[14] Chiang declared his candidacy for the 2020 Kuomintang chairmanship election on 25 January 2020, ten days after Wu Den-yih resigned the position.[15] Chiang defeated Hau Lung-pin in the leadership election, held on 7 March 2020.[16][17] Chiang took office as Kuomintang chairman on 9 March 2020.[18][19]

In March 2021, KMT chairman Johnny Chiang rejected the "one country, two systems" as a feasible model for Taiwan, citing Beijing's response to protests in Hong Kong as well as the value that Taiwanese place in political freedoms.[20] In September of that year, Chiang lost his bid to retain the chairmanship, finishing third behind Eric Chu and Chang Ya-chung.

Chang won his fourth consecutive legislative term in 2024, and was subsequently elected Vice President of the 11th Legislative Yuan.[21][22]

Personal life

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Chiang is of Hakka descent from Teochew people.[23] He is married to the daughter of former legislator Liu Shen-liang, with whom he has two children.[6] One of his uncles is Antonio Chiang [zh], a former National Security Council secretary-general.[24]

References

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  1. ^ 立法院 (23 July 2013). "立法院". 立法院 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Chiang Chi-chen (8)". Legislative Yuan. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Chiang Chi-chen (9)". Legislative Yuan. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  4. ^ Chiang, Chi-chen (2002). Globalization and the role of the state in contemporary political economy: Taiwan and India in the 1980s and 1990s (PhD thesis). University of South Carolina. ProQuest 3059424.
  5. ^ "Chiang Chi-chen (10)". Legislative Yuan. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Shih, Hsiu-chuan (21 February 2010). "Johnny Chiang to join Cabinet". Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  7. ^ Huang, Jewel (8 November 2006). "China hinders Taiwan's participation in meeting". Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  8. ^ Mo, Yan-chih (21 April 2011). "KMT announces first-round legislative nomination list for upcoming elections". Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  9. ^ Hsieh, C. C.; Wang, Flor (30 April 2011). "New government spokesman appointed". Central News Agency. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  10. ^ "KMT, DPP to field 5 former gov't spokesmen in legislative elections". China Post. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  11. ^ Loa, Lok-sin (27 March 2015). "New committee chooses five conveners". Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  12. ^ Hsiao, Alison (3 March 2016). "Blunder gives KMT seven legislative convener seats". Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  13. ^ Chao, Li-yen (31 October 2017). "KMT's Chiang Chi-chen to run for Taichung mayor". Central News Agency. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  14. ^ Hsu, Stacy (10 February 2018). "Lu edges Chiang for KMT's Taichung nomination". Taipei Times. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  15. ^ Lin, Sean (26 January 2020). "KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang enters chair race". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  16. ^ Shih, Hsiao-kuang; Chen, Yun; Chung, Jake (8 March 2020). "Johnny Chiang sweeps KMT vote". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  17. ^ Lim, Emerson (7 March 2020). "Legislator Chiang Chi-chen elected KMT chairman". Central News Agency. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  18. ^ Strong, Matthew (7 March 2020). "Taiwan opposition KMT elects reformist leader". Taiwan News. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  19. ^ Liu, Kuan-ting; Hsu, Elizabeth (9 March 2020). "New KMT chair sworn in, vows to promote 'collective leadership'". Central News Agency. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  20. ^ Blanchard, Ben; Lee, Yimou. "Taiwan opposition chief in no rush for China meeting". Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  21. ^ Hsiao, Alison (1 February 2024). "KMT wins speakership, deputy speakership in newly sworn-in Legislature". Central News Agency. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  22. ^ Shan, Shelley (2 February 2024). "KMT's Han Kuo-yu elected legislative speaker". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  23. ^ Brown, David G. (15 September 2021). "Pay Attention to the KMT's Chair Election". The Diplomat. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  24. ^ Mo, Yan-chih (6 November 2011). "Ma opens Taichung campaign HQs". Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
Political offices
Preceded by Director General of the Government Information Office
2010–2011
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Kuomintang
2020–2021
Succeeded by