Eugene You-hsin Chien (; born 4 February 1946) is a Taiwanese politician and diplomat. He served as Foreign Minister of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

from 2002 to 2004.

Career

Eugene Chien, born in Taiwan in 1946, received his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering at

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 ...

and Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. After receiving his Ph.D. at the age of 27, Chien taught in

Tamkang University Tamkang University (TKU; ) is a private university in Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It was founded in 1950 as a junior college of English literature. Today it is a comprehensive university with 11 colleges that serves nearly 25,000 ...

in Taiwan. In the following eleven years, he became a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Aeronautical Engineering and was subsequently promoted to be the Dean of College of Engineering in Tamkang University in 1978. Chien was presented with the “Outstanding Young Engineer of the Republic of China Award”, the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the Republic of China Award” in the 1970s and in 1985 he was recognized as the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World ” by both Osaka Jaycees, Japan and Jaycees International. In 1982, he hosted a national broadcasting TV program ''High Technology'', in which he introduced various advanced technologies across the world to increase the public's interests in this subject. The program was well received amongst the public reaching over 30% of all viewers and subsequently obtained the

Golden Bell Awards The Golden Bell Awards () is an annual Taiwanese television and radio production award presented in October or November each year by the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, a division of Taiwan's Ministry of Culture. It is th ...

in Taiwan. In 1983, Chien was elected as a legislator (Member of Parliament) in

Taipei City Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the Capital city, capital and a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Regions of Taiwan, Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of t ...

with the highest number of votes. He was re-elected again in 1986. Throughout his political career, Chien served three different presidents from two different major political parties in Taiwan. Chien was appointed as the first Minister of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) under

Chiang Ching-kuo Chiang Ching-kuo (27 April 1910 – 13 January 1988) was a politician of the Republic of China after its retreat to Taiwan. The eldest and only biological son of former president Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government ...

's presidency. In 1991, during

Lee Teng-hui Lee Teng-hui (; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese statesman and economist who served as President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the fir ...

's presidency, he was appointed as the Minister of Transportation and Communications and Representative of Taipei Representative Office in the United Kingdom (Ambassador), and Senior Advisor of National Security Council. In 1998 he was conferred an Honorary Fellowship by

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

Wales, UK. In 2000, during President

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 ...

's presidency, Chien was appointed as the Deputy Secretary General of the Office of the President and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 2007, Chien founded Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE). He has led a variety of activities both at home and abroad in order to raise public awareness on climate change and sustainable energy. As part of his efforts, he has started to host a weekend national radio show on Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC), called ''When the Earth Comes Down with a Fever'', in which he frequently discusses issues relating to climate change. In 2010, Chien was presented the "Global Views Environmental Heroes Awards" by

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and ''Global Views Monthly''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chien, Eugene 1946 births Living people Members of the 1st Legislative Yuan in Taiwan National Taiwan University alumni Taiwanese Ministers of Environment Taiwanese Ministers of Foreign Affairs Taiwanese Ministers of Transportation and Communications Kuomintang Members of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Taoyuan City Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan Academic staff of Tamkang University Category21st-century Taiwanese politicians