Hau Pei-tsun

Hau Pei-tsun 郝柏村
13th Premier of the Republic of China
In office 1 June 1990 – 10 February 1993
President	Lee Teng-hui
Deputy	Shih Chi-yang
Preceded by	Lee Huan
Succeeded by	Lien Chan
17th Minister of National Defense of the Republic of China
In office 5 December 1989 – 31 May 1990
Premier	Lee Huan
Deputy	Kuo Tsung-ching
Preceded by	Cheng Wei-yuan
Succeeded by	Chen Li-an
12th Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China Armed Forces
In office 1 December 1981 – 4 December 1989
President	Chiang Ching-kuo Lee Tung-hui
Deputy	Wu Yueh (Air Force) Tsou Chien (Navy) Kuo Ju-lin (Air Force) Chiang Chung-ling (Army)
Preceded by	Soong Chang-chi (Navy)
Succeeded by	Chen Sheng-lin (Air Force)
16th Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of China Army
In office March 1978 – November 1981
President	Yen Chia-kan Chiang Ching-kuo
Preceded by	Ma An-lan
Succeeded by	Chiang Chung-ling
Personal details
Born	13 July 1919 Yancheng, Kiangsu
Nationality	Republic of China
Political party	Kuomintang
Spouse(s)	Kuo Wan-hua
Children	2 sons 3 daughters
Military service
Allegiance	Republic of China
Service/branch	Republic of China Army
Years of service	1938–1989
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Second Sino-Japanese War World War II Chinese Civil War Second Taiwan Strait Crisis

Hau Pei-tsun (Chinese: 郝柏村; pinyin: Hǎo Bǎicūn, courtesy name 伯春 Bóchūn; born 13 July 1919) is a Taiwanese politician who was the Premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 30 May 1990 to 10 February 1993, and the longest-reigning Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China Armed Forces from 1 December 1981 to 4 December 1989.

Biography

Born to a well-to-do family in Yancheng, Jiangsu, Hau received a military education from the Republic of China Military Academy, National Defense University, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the War College, Armed Forces University. Hau was appointed an artillery officer in 1938, and served in the Chinese expeditionary forces in India during World War II. In the subsequent Chinese Civil War he was a staff officer.

As commander of the 9th Infantry Division from 1958 to 1961, Hau presided over the 44-day bombardment of Quemoy by the People's Liberation Army. He commanded the 3rd Corps from 1963 to 1965, served as Chief Aide to Chiang Kai-shek from 1965 to 1970. He continued his army career as Commander of the 1st Field Army from 1970 to 1973, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the ROC Army from 1975 to 1977, Executive Vice Chief of the General Staff in the Ministry of National Defense from 1977 to 1978, Commander-in-Chief of the ROC Army 1978 to 1981, and Chief of the General Staff in the Ministry of National Defense from 1981 to 1989 his retirement.

He was a member of the Central Standing Committee of the Kuomintang from 1984 to 1993 and served as Minister of National Defense from 1989 until 1990 when he was appointed Premier. He was appointed by President Lee Teng-hui in part to mollify the conservative mainlander faction within the KMT that had threatened to run a rival presidential ticket in the March 1990 election. Hau's appointment sparked protests by those who believed it marked retrogression toward military rule, while President Lee defended his decision by saying he valued Hau's tough stance on crime. As premier he held high approval ratings (even higher than Lee's) - he was tough on crime and promoted a multibillion-dollar economic development plan to industrialize Taiwan. Hau submitted his resignation in January 1993 after the KMT's poor showing in the 1992 Legislative Yuan election.

Appointed as one of four vice-chairmen of the KMT in the 14th Party Congress (immediately following the defection of the New Kuomintang Alliance) in another effort by Lee to pacify the mainlander faction, Hau served from 1993 to 1995.

In the 1996 elections, he ran for vice-president as an independent on the ticket of Lin Yang-kang and had his KMT membership "cancelled" (just short of being "expelled"). His party membership was restored in 2005.

1996 Republic of China Presidential Election Result
President Candidate	Vice President Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Lee Teng-hui	Lien Chan	Kuomintang	5,813,699	54.0
Peng Ming-min	Frank Hsieh	Democratic Progressive Party	2,274,586	21.1
Lin Yang-kang	Hau Pei-tsun	Independent	1,603,790	14.9
Chen Li-an	Wang Ching-feng	Independent	1,074,044	9.9
Invalid/blank votes			117,160
Total			10,883,279	100

Personal life

He married Kuo Wan-hua and has two sons and three daughters. One of his sons is politician Hau Lung-pin, the former chairman of the New Party, and former Mayor of Taipei.

References

• Who's Who in Taiwan 2003
• Denny Roy, Taiwan: A Political History (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2003)