Julian Kuo (; born 24 June 1961) is a Taiwanese political scientist and politician who first served in 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 2002 to 2008 and was reappointed to the office in 2016.
Academic career
Upon graduation from
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 ...
, Kuo was named an Eisenhower Fellow and furthered his education in the United States, where he earned a Ph.D in political science from
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
.
He returned to Taiwan, and began teaching political science at
Soochow University in 1993.
Political career
Kuo was a member of the
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 ...
's Formosa faction and later switched affiliations to the
New Tide faction.
By 1998, Kuo became the executive director of the party's Policy Research and Coordinating Committee. After he had stepped down, Kuo and
Lin Cho-shui
Lin Cho-shui (; born 25 March 1947) is a Taiwanese writer, newspaper editor and politician who served in the Legislative Yuan from 1993 to 2006. He was a longtime member of the Democratic Progressive Party's New Tide faction.
Education
Lin earne ...
proposed that the DPP amend its charter to recognize the Republic of China as Taiwan. The initiative failed, and no revisions were made.
Shortly after
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 election to the presidency in 2000, Kuo pushed for cross-party alliances and a coalition government to be formed. However, in 2001, Kuo stated that he was opposed to proposals that the Democratic Progressive Party form a coalition government, instead favoring a scenario in which the DPP disbanded and rewrote its party charter to attract a wider base before reregistering as a political party. Kuo was first elected to 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 ...
later that year as a member of the DPP, due to the efforts the party had made to ensure a competitive vote distribution in northern Taiwan by asking supporters to vote for candidates based on the last number in voters' identification cards. In his first term Kuo backed a proposal to ban active politicians from owning media outlets and hosting programs. Kuo was tapped to defend the
cross-strait relations referendum in March 2004, and faced
Jaw Shaw-kong
Jaw Shaw-kong (; born 6 May 1950) is a Taiwanese media personality and politician. Jaw served a single term on the Taipei City Council before being elected to the Legislative Yuan from 1987 to 1991 and 1993 to 1994. Between Legislative Yuan stin ...
. In his successful December reelection bid, Kuo received NT$26.35 million in political donations, the third highest total of that electoral cycle. In 2006, Kuo skipped a party debate on China policy in protest, as the Chen administration had announced changes without reaching out to the Legislative Yuan. Kuo switched districts for the 2008 legislative elections, choosing to run in
Taipei 3 against
John Chiang, and lost.
When Taiwan signed the
Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement
The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) is a free trade agreement (FTA) between the governments of the People's Republic of China (mainland China, PRC, commonly "China") and the Republic of China (ROC, commonly "Taiwan"), that aims ...
with China in 2010, Kuo was named the spokesman of a DPP-convened committee against the agreement. Kuo participated in a primary for
Taipei 2 in 2011, but was not selected as DPP candidate for the constituency. He was invited to speak at a political forum held in Hong Kong in August 2016, but authorities there denied him a visa. Kuo returned to the legislature in September, filling
Wellington Koo
Koo Vi Kyuin (; January 29, 1888 – November 14, 1985), better known as V. K. Wellington Koo, was a statesman of the Republic of China. He was one of Republic of China's representatives at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.
Wellington Koo ...
's seat after Koo had resigned to lead the
Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee
The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee (CIPAS; ) is an independent government agency of the Republic of China established in 2016. It is responsible for the investigation and returning of ill-gotten assets of political parties and their ...
.
Political stances
Kuo has stated "I'm culturally Chinese but politically not," described
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 China policy as "fitful" and "reactive", reiterated support for continued dialogue between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait,
and has repeatedly advocated for the Democratic Progressive Party to suspend
Taiwan independence
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 ...
as a core value. These actions have led to characterization of his political beliefs as supportive of China, a description he regards as inaccurate.
Kuo has sharply criticized the
Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement
The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) is a free trade agreement (FTA) between the governments of the People's Republic of China (mainland China, PRC, commonly "China") and the Republic of China (ROC, commonly "Taiwan"), that aims ...
signed in 2010, calling it "a travesty of an agreement" that would leave Taiwan too economically dependent on China if the mainland forced other nations to back away from free trade agreements with Taiwan.
Kuo is an occasional contributor to the ''Taipei Times''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuo, Julian
1961 births
Living people
Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan
Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan
Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan
Members of the 6th Legislative Yuan
Members of the 9th Legislative Yuan
Yale University alumni
National Taiwan University alumni
Soochow University (Taiwan) faculty
Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Kaohsiung
Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan
Taiwanese political scientists