John Chiang (Taiwan) - Biography

Biography

He and his 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 of Hsiao shared by all children of Chiang Ching-kuo.

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. Chou Chin-hua (周錦華), the boys' maternal grandmother, and the 7-year-old brothers moved to Taiwan amid the Chinese Civil War. The Chang Brothers went to Soochow University at the same time. John also obtained a M.S. from Georgetown University.

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 seleced 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 from 1999 to 2000. 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 briefly remove himself from the political scene. Since 2002, he has been a member of the Legislative Yuan. He represented the constituency of Taipei City South from 2002 to 2005 and has represented Taipei City North since 2005. He is the Chairman of Interior Affairs Committee in the legislature.

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.

In 2006, Chiang ran for the KMT nomination for the Taipei Mayorship election, but withdrew from the race.

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. 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 Republic of China legislative election, 2008, John Chiang won re-election in his district in Taipei City. All of the DPP candidates failed to secure a seat in Taipei City's 8 legislative election districts. In April 2011, Chiang lost the Kuomintang legislative candidacy to Lo Shu-lei, a fellow Kuomintang legislator, in his electroral district in Taipei by a margin of 0.578 percent.

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