George Chang or Chang Tsan-hung (; born 1 March 1936) is a

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

politician and

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

activist. He was the mayor of

Tainan City Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" for its over 200 years of his ...

from 1997 to 2001.

Early years

After graduating from the

National Tainan First Senior High School The National Tainan First Senior High School () is a public senior high school in East District, Tainan, Taiwan. It was established in 1922 and is considered one of the most prestigious high schools in Taiwan, usually only accepting students who ...

, Chang attended 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 ...

to study

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

. In 1961, Chang arrived at the United States to study at the

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

, where he got his

doctorate degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

. He taught

as a professor at Cooper Union. During his stay in the US, Chang started taking part in the

Taiwan independence movement The Taiwan independence movement is a political movement which advocates the formal declaration of an Independence, independent and Sovereign state, sovereign Taiwanese state, as opposed to Chinese unification or the status quo in Cross-Str ...

. He was the first vice chairperson of the

World United Formosans for Independence The World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI) is an organization promoting Taiwan independence. It was established in 1970 by like-minded organizations in Canada, the U.S., Japan, Europe, and Taiwan. Its aim is to establish a Republic of ...

(WUFI), and became its chairperson in 1973. During the occurrence 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 ...

, Chang also advocated many

Taiwanese American Taiwanese Americans () are Americans who carry full or partial ancestry from Taiwan. This includes American-born citizens who descend from migrants from Taiwan. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, 49% of Taiwanese Americans lived in the state of Califo ...

s to support the democratic movement going on in

Taiwan 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 nort ...

. In 1991, Chang returned to Taiwan. In the same year, he was indicted for "leading a rebellion" (首謀內亂罪). However, because of the amendment of "Crime Law Article 100" (刑法第100條), he was pleaded not guilty in October 1992. He later joined the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and was nominated by the party to run for legislator. However, he was not elected as he only got thirty thousand votes. In 1997, he was nominated by the DPP to run for the mayor of Tainan and was elected with over one hundred thousand. He became the first mayor of Tainan to be a member of the DPP.

Mayoralty

Chang served as mayor of Tainan from 1997 through 2001.

Achievements

Chang is known for his impetus to improve the conditions of the Anping Port, the Tainan Confucian Temple, and the Tainan Canal (台南運河). He also opened many historic sites to night-time visits. He had a goal to spur the cultural and tourist industries by preserving historic sites. Under his term, he proposed and carried out many plans to improve the city. These plans include "Flat Road Proposal" (路平專案), "Fixing the Malfunctioning Streetlights Before Sunset, After Reporting" (路燈查報、當天天黑前修復), "Park Adoption" (公園認養), "No Trash on the Ground" (垃圾不落地), and "Recycling" (資源回收), which improved the living quality of the residents. The

public security Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensur ...

of the city also improved a lot since Chang's term as Tainan ranked second place out of the five provincial city of Taiwan, the first being Keelung. Chang also started the first Voluntary Firefighting Communication Team of the nation, which secured the lives and properties of the residents.

Scandals

During Chang's mayoral term, he was involved with several scandals. In August 2000, he was indicted by the Tainan District Court (台南地檢署) for his involvement with the Tainan Canal Renovating Construction Scandal (台南運河整治工程弊案). In November, he was indicted again for the Hsinchi Industrial District Scandal (新吉工業區弊案). In 2001, he was indicted for a land requisition scam (土地徵收貪污弊案). His cases were appealed to the Supreme Court, which found Chang guilty and sentenced him to three years in prison. Chang served two years of his sentence in Tainan Prison, when he was given medical parole in March 2016 and released.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, George 1936 births California Institute of Technology alumni Mayors of Tainan National Taiwan University alumni Rice University alumni Taiwan independence activists Taiwanese chemical engineers Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Democratic Progressive Party (Taiwan) politicians Living people 20th-century Taiwanese politicians 21st-century Taiwanese politicians Cooper Union faculty

Early years

Mayoralty

Achievements

Scandals

See also

References