John Chiang (Taiwan)

John Chiang Chiang Hsiao-yen 蔣孝嚴
Vice Chairman of Kuomintang
In office 22 November 2008 – 30 April 2014[1]
Chairman	Wu Po-hsiung Ma Ying-jeou
Vice Premier of the Republic of China
In office 1 September 1997 – 11 December 1997
Premier	Vincent Siew
Preceded by	Hsu Li-teh
Succeeded by	Liu Chao-shiuan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China
In office 10 June 1996 – 20 October 1997
Preceded by	Fredrick Chien
Succeeded by	Jason Hu
Personal details
Born	1 March 1942 (age 74) Guilin, Kwangsi
Political party	Kuomintang
Spouse(s)	Helen Huang
Children	Chiang Hui-lan, Chiang Hui-yun, Chiang Wan-an
Alma mater	Soochow University Georgetown University

John Chiang
Traditional Chinese	蔣孝嚴
Simplified Chinese	蒋孝严
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jiǎng Xiaòyán Wade–Giles Chiǎng Hsiaòyén
Original Name
Traditional Chinese	章孝嚴
Simplified Chinese	章孝严
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhāng Xiaòyán Wade–Giles Chāng Hsiaòyén

John Chiang or Chiang Hsiao-yen (Chinese: 蔣孝嚴; pinyin: Jiǎng Xiàoyán; born March 1, 1942^[2]), formerly surnamed Chang (章; Zhāng), is a Kuomintang politician in Taiwan. He is the grandson of Chiang Kai-shek, former leader of the Republic of China.

Biography

He and his identical twin brother, Winston Chang, both illegitimate, were born the sons of Chiang Ching-kuo and his mistress Chang Ya-juo in Guilin amid the Sino-Japanese War. Since they were born out of wedlock, the twins took their mother's surname, Chang, though they were given the Chiang generation name (孝; Xiào; Hsiaò) shared by all the grandchildren of Chiang Kai-shek, including Chiang Ching-kuo's legitimate children.

Chang Ya-juo died when the brothers were one year old in August 1942, and they were raised by Chang Ya-juo's younger brother, Chang Hau-juo (章浩若) and his wife Chi Chen (紀琛). Their uncle and aunt were listed as their natural parents on official documents until December 2002, when the true parents were listed.^[3] Chou Chin-hua (周錦華), the boys' maternal grandmother, and the 7-year-old brothers moved to Taiwan amid the Chinese Civil War.^[4] They were not informed that Chiang Ching-kuo was their father until they were in high school.^[4][5][6]The Chang brothers went to Soochow University at the same time. John later obtained an M.S. from Georgetown University.

With Helen H. Huang (黃美倫), he has two daughters, Hui-lan (惠蘭) and Hui-yun (惠筠), and a son, Wan-an (萬安). In March 2005, he officially changed his surname to "Chiang", saying, "The change represents a respect for history, a return to the facts, and a realization of my parents' wishes." He also announced that his children would follow suit.^[7]

Political career

Chiang began his career in the foreign service, serving in the ROC embassy in Washington, DC from 1974 to 1977. In the 1980s, he held various administrative posts in the ROC Foreign Ministry specializing in North American Affairs. He was Administrative Vice Minister from 1986 to 1990, Director General, of the Overseas Affairs Department in 1990, and Political Vice Minister from 1990 to 1993. In 1993 he was appointed to the cabinet-level post of Chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission and served as a member of the KMT Central Standing Committee. He was selected a member of the National Assembly in 1996.

He was Foreign Minister from 1996 to 1997, vice premier in 1997, and Secretary-General of the presidential office in 1999. He was speculated as a potential running mate for Lien Chan on the KMT ticket in the 2000 presidential elections until a sex scandal involving a mistress caused him to resign on 22 December 1999.^[4] His alleged mistress strenuously denied the allegations, filing suit against the newspaper which had named her.^[8]

Chang announced his candidacy for the December 2001 legislative elections in March 2001.^[9] One of his opponents in the December 2001 elections was his alleged 1999 mistress, but she received only a fraction of his eventual winning vote count.^[10] From 2002 through 2012, he was a member of the Legislative Yuan, first representing the constituency of Taipei City South from 2002 to 2005 and then representing Taipei City North from 2005 through 2012. He served as the Chairman of Interior Affairs Committee while in the legislature.

In January 2006, Chiang declared his candidacy as a KMT candidate for the Taipei Mayor,^[11] but withdrew from the race in April, stating he did so for party solidarity.^[12]

At the end of March 2007, Chiang staged a rally at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in support of his grandfather, late President Chiang Kai-shek.^[13] The Memorial hall was later renamed, in a hotly controversial move, by the Executive Yuan, to the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, striking out the name of Chiang Kai-Shek temporarily; the Memorial's name was restored on August 21, 2008.

In the 2008 Republic of China legislative election, John Chiang won re-election in his district of Taipei City North.

No.	Candidate	Party	Votes	Ratio	Elected
1	John Chiang	Kuomintang	99,959	60.25%	Yes
2	Li Lin Yao (李林耀)	Taiwan Constitution Association	128	0.08%
3	Sie Fu Mi (謝馥米)	Taiwan Solidarity Union	1,854	1.12%
4	Jian Ruei Kuan (簡瑞寬)	Taiwan Constitution Association	176	0.11%
5	Guo Jheng Liang (郭正亮)	Democratic Progressive Party	63,773	38.44%

In April 2011, Chiang lost a poll for the Kuomintang legislative candidacy to Lo Shu-lei, a fellow Kuomintang legislator, in the Taipei Zhongshan-Songshan electoral district by a margin of 0.58 percent.^[14] The poll was made binding for the KMT nomination^[15] and Lo Shu-lei was later elected to the Legislative Yuan.^[16]

In March 2015, Chiang's son Wan-an announced his candidacy for the Legislative Yuan in the KMT primary for Taipei's Zhongshan-Songshan district, which put him against Lo Shu-lei and Wang Hung-wei for the KMT nomination.^[17] Chiang Wan-an subsequently won the KMT primary in May 2015,^[18] quickly gaining name recognition thanks in part to his chats with prospective voters as they waited for garbage trucks.^[19] John Chiang's participation in his son's campaign was limited to moral support and babysitting his son's grandchildren.^[19]

John Chiang has said that the Diaoyu islands, which are disputed between the Republic of China and Japan, belong "to all Chinese people".^[20]

References

1. Hsu, Stacy (1 May 2014). "President designates trio to replace KMT vice chairmen". Taipei Times. CNA. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
2. 蔣孝嚴; Chiang, John (2006). 蒋家门外的孩子 [The Chiang family's outside children] (in Chinese). Taipei: 天下遠見出版股份有限公司. ISBN 9789864176816. OCLC 70663153. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
3. Hsu, Crystal (14 December 2002). "John Chang gets new identity". Taipei Times. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
4. Hsu, Crystal (14 July 2002). "John Chang fights for a name". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
5. Demick, Barbara (20 June 2003). "A Scion's Story Full of Twists". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
6. Bradsher, Keith (11 January 2003). "Taiwan Lawmaker's Skill May Be Hereditary". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
7. "Chang has become Chiang". Taipei Times. CNA. 8 March 2005. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
8. "Chang's alleged mistress begins newspaper lawsuit". Taipei Times. 28 January 2000. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
9. Hsu, Crystal (28 March 2001). "John Chang returns to KMT politics". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
10. Huang, Sandy (2 December 2001). "Celebrities are among election victors". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
11. Mo, Yan-chih (14 January 2006). "Legislator seeks to extend Chiang dynasty". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
12. Shih, Hsiu-chuan (27 April 2006). "Dictator's grandson drops out of Taipei mayoral race". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
13. Mo, Yan-chih (31 March 2007). "KMT ready to rally against anti-Chiang moves". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
14. Mo, Yan-chih (25 April 2011). "KMT to investigate lawmaker tussle". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
15. "KMT reprimands Lo Shu-lei for conduct in primary". Taipei Times. CNA. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
16. Mo, Yan-chih (27 April 2013). "KMT addresses party loyalty after complaints". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
17. Tsai, Ya-hua; Wang, Wen-hsuan; Chen, Wei-han (31 March 2015). "John Chiang's son to run in KMT legislative primary". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
18. Hsiao, Alison (21 May 2015). "Chiang Wan-an wins KMT primary". Taipei Times. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
19. "Chiang Wan-an rises in KMT race". Taipei Times. CNA. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
20. Waldron, Arthur (22 October 2010). "Letter from Taiwan: Taipei and the New, Assertive China". China Brief Volume: 10 Issue: 21. Retrieved 2010-06-28.