Katharine Chang (; born 12 February 1953) is a Taiwanese diplomat.

Early life

Chang obtained her bachelor's degree from the Department of Diplomacy of

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei. The university is also considered as the earliest public service training facility of the Republic of China. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subs ...

. She then obtained her master's degree in international relations from

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Career

Chang began her diplomatic career in 1976. In January 1995, she was named leader of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Seattle, and became the first woman to serve as a representative of Taiwan. In 1997, Chang was appointed Taiwan's first woman ambassador when she accepted a post to St Kitts and Nevis and Dominica. Upon succeeding Henry Chen as director-general of the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, Chang became the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

first spokeswoman. She was the ROC representative to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

from 2007 to 2011 and to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

from 2011 to 2014. The next year, she was appointed to lead the

Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States () represents the interests of Taiwan in the United States in the absence of formal diplomatic relations, functioning as a ''de facto'' embassy. Its counterpart in Taiwa ...

. In 2016, Chang was named the minister of the

Mainland Affairs Council The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China in Taiwan. The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the cross-strait relations po ...

. She left the Mainland Affairs Council in February 2018, and succeeded

Tien Hung-mao Tien Hung-mao (; born 7 November 1938) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 20 May 2000 until 1 February 2002. Career Tien received a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1969, where he wrote his ...

as leader 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 ...

that March. Chang was replaced at the SEF by David Lee on 5 June 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Katherine 1953 births Living people National Chengchi University alumni Long Island University alumni Taiwanese Ministers of Foreign Affairs Women government ministers of Taiwan Government ministers of Taiwan Taiwanese women ambassadors Ambassadors of the Republic of China to Saint Kitts and Nevis Representatives of Taiwan to Australia Representatives of Taiwan to the Netherlands Representatives of Taiwan to the United Kingdom