Frank Hsieh - Premiership and Aftermath

Premiership and Aftermath

In February 2005, Hsieh was appointed premier, forcing him to leave his post as mayor of Kaohsiung, where Chen Chi-mai, a leading member of then President Chen's faction, succeeded him as acting mayor.

Hsieh was forced to resign as premier in the aftermath of the 2005 "Three-in-One" elections in which the KMT defeated the DPP in a landslide.

As the DPP candidate for the 2006 Taipei Mayoral election, Hsieh lost the race to KMT candidate Hau Lung-pin by 166,216 votes (12.92%). Hsieh earned significant goodwill from within the DPP in this campaign because Taipei City was considered an almost unbreakable KMT stronghold and most major DPP politicians passed on the offer to run, so Hsieh's candidacy amounted to "take one for the team".

In February 2007, he led the Taiwanese delegation to the 55th annual United States National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC, hosted by US Congressional Committee with dignitaries including President George W. Bush.