Henry Kao or Kao Yu-shu (; 3 September 1913 – 15 June 2005) was a Taiwanese politician. He served as

Mayor of Taipei The Mayor of Taipei is the head of the Taipei City Government and is elected to a four-year term. Until the election of Tsai Ing-wen, the office was seen as a stepping stone to the presidency: presidents Lee Teng-hui, Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-j ...

from 1954 to 1957 and again between 1964 and 1972, when he was named Minister of Transportation and Communications. Kao remained a public servant for the rest of his life, as minister without portfolio until 1989, then presidential adviser until his death.

Education

Kao studied engineering at

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

in Japan. In 1999, he was the 55th person and first Taiwanese to receive an honorary doctorate from Waseda University.

Political career

Kao won his first term as mayor of Taipei in 1954, with the support of the

China Democratic Socialist Party The China Democratic Socialist Party (CDSP; ) was a Chinese political party founded in Shanghai on 14 August 1946. It was formed through the merger of the former Chinese National Socialist Party (; their preferred shorthand name was "Socialists ...

. He ran again in 1957 and lost due to suspected voter fraud. Kao ended his 1960 bid for the Taipei mayoralty when the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

barred him from asking citizens to watch the polling areas in an attempt to combat electoral fraud. In 1963, the government agreed to hold fairer elections and allowed Kao to run. Though KMT candidate Chou Pai-lien was expected to win, Kao repeatedly challenged Chou to debates that Chou continually ignored. Due to the disagreement about debate attendance, Kao managed to win an upset victory. Because the Kuomintang also lost the mayoralties of Tainan and Keelung in 1963, Chiang Kai-shek made Taipei a special municipality in 1967. As a result,

Taipei City Government The Taipei City Government (TCG) is the municipal government of Taipei. History The Taihoku City Government was founded on 10 October 1920 in Taihoku Prefecture during Japanese colonial rule. The original city hall was located at the site o ...

officials were appointed by, and reported directly to, the Executive Yuan. Chiang kept Kao in his post as mayor until 1972 to avoid the ire of Taiwanese citizens. Kao later agreed to join the

and was appointed Minister of Transportation and Communications. He was named minister without portfolio in 1976 and presidential adviser in 1989. Upon ending his independent candidacy for president in January 1996, Kao returned to an advisory role and served until his death in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kao, Henry 1913 births 2005 deaths Mayors of Taipei Taiwanese Ministers of Transportation and Communications Taiwanese mechanical engineers Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Waseda University alumni Senior Advisors to President Lee Teng-hui Senior Advisors to President Chen Shui-bian 20th-century Taiwanese politicians China Democratic Socialist Party politicians Taiwanese expatriates in Japan Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan