Koo Kwang-ming (; born on 15 October 1926) 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, ...

statesman, businessman and independence activist.

Family background

Koo was born into a life of privilege. He was the eighth son of

Koo Hsien-jung Koo Hsien-jung (; Romaji The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as . Japanese is normally written in a combination of logograp ...

, a prominent

Lukang Lukang, formerly romanized as Lugang and also known by other names, is an urban township in northwestern Changhua County, Taiwan. The township is on the west coast of Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait. Lukang was an important sea port in the 18t ...

businessman who had relocated to

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

at the time of the

Treaty of Shimonoseki The , also known as the Treaty of Maguan () in China and in the period before and during World War II in Japan, was a treaty signed at the , Shimonoseki, Japan on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and Qing China, ending the Firs ...

, when Taiwan was ceded by the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

to the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

. He swiftly made common cause with the Japanese colonial authorities in Taiwan and grew extremely wealthy during the period of Japanese rule. The family proved adept at bending with the political winds, and Koo's older brother

Koo Chen-fu Koo Chen-fu (, 6 January 1917 – 3 January 2005), also known as C.F. Koo, was a Taiwanese businessman and diplomat. He led the Koos Group of companies from 1940 until his death. As a chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), Koo arrange ...

became a confidant of

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

. Koo Kwang-ming, however, went into exile in Japan after the 228 massacre, where he lived for decades as an advocate for Taiwanese independence. His son born in Kobe,

Richard Koo Richard C. Koo ( ja, リチャード・クー, ; ; born 1954) is a Taiwanese-American economist living in Japan specializing in balance sheet recessions. He is Chief Economist at the Nomura Research Institute. Early life and education Koo was bo ...

, is a prominent economist in Japan.

Political career

Koo enrolled at what became National Taiwan University in 1941 to study political science. He became chair of the school's student association, and was actively opposed to 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 ...

. He left Taiwan for Hong Kong soon after the 228 incident, and later settled in Japan. In 1972, Koo traveled in secret from Japan via Thailand to Taiwan. He met Chiang Ching-kuo, son of ruler

to argue for the lifting of martial law. As a consequence he was expelled from the Japanese chapter of

WUFI 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 T ...

. The younger Chiang invited Koo to end his exile to "share in the affairs of the country". Koo accepted, but on landing in Taiwan was upset to see his return described as "surrender" in an evening newspaper. He replied that he "had not returned to surrender, but to bring my influence to bear n the situation. Influential independence activist

Su Beng Su Beng (9 November 1918 – 20 September 2019; ), born Lin Chao-hui () and later known as Shih Chao-hui (), was a Taiwanese political activist of Taiwan independence movement. Early years and exile Su Beng was born on 9 November 1918 in Shiri ...

contradicted this assertion, accusing Koo of "surrendering to the Chiang government". Koo joined 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 ...

in 1996, when fellow independence activist Peng Ming-min received its presidential nomination. Koo later served president Chen Shui-bian as an adviser, resigning his post and DPP membership in 2005.

2008 DPP leadership bid

After the DPP's comprehensive defeat in the 2008 presidential elections, a leadership election was held to find the new party chairperson. Koo, then 82 years old, stood as a candidate. The campaign was notable for controversial remarks made by Koo about the suitability of an unmarried woman to lead, widely interpreted as an attack on the eventual winner, Tsai Ing-wen, who became the first elected female head of the party. Koo was appointed adviser to Tsai Ing-wen in November 2016, four months after she had taken office as

President of the Republic of China The president of the Republic of China, now often referred to as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Republic of China (ROC), as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. The position once had aut ...

Philanthropy

In 2014 Koo announced that he would be giving away half of his fortune,

NT$ The New Taiwan dollar (code: TWD; symbol: NT$, also abbreviated as NT) is the official currency of Taiwan. The New Taiwan dollar has been the currency of Taiwan since 1949, when it replaced the Old Taiwan dollar, at a rate of 40,000 old dollars ...

3 billion, through his New Taiwan Peace Foundation. This included prizes such as an award for Taiwanese historical fiction.

Political stances

After Panama ended bilateral relations with Taiwan in June 2017, Koo and Yu Shyi-kun announced that the Tsai Ing-wen administration should renounce the Republic of China and seek international recognition as Taiwan.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koo, Kwang-ming Hokkien businesspeople Taiwanese exiles Taiwan independence activists Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Taiwanese politicians of Japanese descent Living people 1926 births Koo family of Lukang National Taiwan University alumni Senior Advisors to President Chen Shui-bian Senior Advisors to President Tsai Ing-wen