Chang Chun-hsiung (), (born 23 March 1938) is a Taiwanese politician. He is a former

Premier of the Republic of China The Premier of the Republic of China, officially the President of the Executive Yuan (Chinese language, Chinese: 行政院院長), is the head of the government of the Republic of China of Taiwan and leader of the Executive Yuan. The premier ...

. Chang was appointed to two separate terms as Premier, both under

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...

. His appointment by then-President Chen in 2000 marked the first time a

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...

member occupied the premiership. As a founding member of the

(DPP), he was a member of its Central Committee and Executive Member of its Central Standing Committee from 1986 to 2000.

Early life

Chang was born in 1938 in the city of Kagi (present-day

Chiayi Chiayi (, Taigi POJ: ''Ka-gī''; ), officially known as Chiayi City, is a city located in the plains of southwestern Taiwan. Formerly called ''Kagee'' during the late Qing dynasty and ''Kagi'' during the Japanese era (), its historical name i ...

) when Taiwan (then Formosa) was still a colony of Japan. He earned his

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

at the

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...

in 1960. Chang joined the Kuomintang in 1970, but was expelled three year later for mounting a campaign for the Taipei City Council. As a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, he defended the victims of the

Kaohsiung Incident The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident, or the ''Formosa Magazine'' incident,tang was a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 10 December 1979 during Taiwan's ...

in 1980. From 1982 to 1986 he was President of the Kaohsiung Chapter of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

Political career

He was a member of the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...

from 1983 to 2000. As a legislator, he was Executive Director and General Convener of the DPP Caucus from 1987 to 1988, 1990, and 1998 to 1999. He was Convener of the Judiciary Committee in 1991, of the Home and Border Affairs Committee in 92, and of the Transportation and Communications Committee in 95. In 1994, Chang stood as the Democratic Progressive Party candidate to run for the mayor of

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

, but was defeated by the Kuomintang incumbent

Wu Den-yih Wu may refer to: States and regions on modern China's territory *Wu (state) (; och, *, italic=yes, links=no), a kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period 771–476 BCE ** Suzhou or Wu (), its eponymous capital ** Wu County (), a former county i ...

. In the 2000 presidential election he was General Manager of

's campaign. In the Chen administration, he served as Secretary-General of the

Office of the President Office of the President can refer to: * Office of the President of Brazil * Office of the President of the People's Republic of China (entity in the Office of the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party) * Office of the President (Republi ...

in 2000, Vice Premier of the ROC in 2000 and

from October 6, 2000 to February 1, 2002. Since 2002, he has been Secretary General of the Democratic Progressive Party and a Senior Adviser in the Office of the President. He ran in the 2004 Legislative Yuan election as fourth on the DPP's nationwide slate and was easily elected but resigned (as he promised to do during the campaign) since the

Pan-Green Coalition The pan-Green coalition, pan-Green force or pan-Green groups is a nationalist political coalition in Taiwan (Republic of China), consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), Taiwan Solidarity Union ...

failed to win a majority. He also tendered his resignation as Secretary-General of the Democratic Progressive Party to take responsibility for the defeat. Chang was appointed as the chairman of the

Straits Exchange Foundation The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF; ; often abbreviated as 海基會) is a semiofficial organization set up by the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to handle technical and/or business matters with the People's Republic of China (P ...

in 2005 after the death of the former chairman

Koo Chen-fu Koo Chen-fu (, 6 January 1917 – 3 January 2005), also known as C.F. Koo, was a Taiwanese businessman and diplomat. He led the Koos Group of companies from 1940 until his death. As a chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), Koo arrange ...

. With the resignation of

Su Tseng-chang Hope Su Tseng-chang (; born 28 July 1947) is a Taiwanese politician serving as premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2019, and previously from 2006 to 2007. He was the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in 2005 and from 2012 ...

as Premier on May 12, 2007,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

nominated Chang to fill the post of Premier a second time effective May 21, and

Hung Chi-chang Hung Chi-chang (; born 23 August 1951) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) from 12 July 2007 to 19 May 2008. Political career In September 1986, Hung and seventeen others founded the Democrati ...

succeeded Chang as the chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation. Su's resignation and Chang's second appointment as Premier marked the sixth premier that Chen Shui-bian has appointed during his two terms as President.

Family life

Chang maintained a long-term marriage-like relationship with a paramour while remaining legally married to his first wife, Hsu Jui-ying. After his first term as Premier, he and Hsu divorced, and in 2007 he married his paramour (Chu A-ying) as his second wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Chun-Hsiung 1938 births Living people Members of the 1st Legislative Yuan in Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan National Taiwan University alumni Premiers of the Republic of China on Taiwan Taiwan independence activists Taiwanese democracy activists Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Chiayi County Kaohsiung Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 2nd Legislative Yuan Members of the 3rd Legislative Yuan Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan Senior Advisors to President Chen Shui-bian Recipients of the Order of Chiang Chung-Cheng