Pang Chien-kuo ( zh, 龐建國; 19 August 1953 – 11 January 2022) was a Taiwanese politician.

Education

Pang earned a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from

National Chung Hsing University National Chung Hsing University (NCHU; ) is a research-led comprehensive university in South District, Taichung, Republic of China. Currently, NCHU is among the four universities of the Taiwan Comprehensive University System, a research-led un ...

in 1975 and a master's degree in law 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 ...

in 1980. Pang obtained a Ph.D. in sociology from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1988 under the guidance of

Peter B. Evans Peter B. Evans (born 1944) is an American academic. He is a Faculty Fellow in International and Public Affairs at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University and Professor of Sociology emeritus at the University o ...

. His dissertation is titled ''The State and Economic Transformation: The Taiwan Case''.

Career

Before pursuing political office, Pang was an associate researcher within

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...

's Institute of Ethnology. A member of the New Party, the People First Party, and later

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 served in the

Taipei City Council Taipei City Council () is the city council of Taipei, Taiwan. One of the largest local councils in Taiwan, the city council is currently composed of 63 councillors, all elected lately in the 2018 Taiwanese local elections. Composition ...

from 1992 to 2002 and 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 2005. He contested the 2004 legislative election as a PFP candidate, and did not win. In 2004, Pang spoke for the family of

Lien Chan Lien Chan (; born 27 August 1936) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government from 1990 to 1993, Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 20 ...

regarding a decision on legal action against '' Next Magazine''. During that year's presidential election, Pang was spokesman for the Kuomintang and People First Party's fusion ticket. After stepping down from the legislature, Pang served as an adviser to 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 ...

, subsequently accepting a professorship at

Chinese Culture University The Chinese Culture University (CCU; ) is a private Taiwanese university located in Yangmingshan in Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan. CCU was established in 1962 and is one of the largest universities in Taiwan with an enrollment of about 32,000 ...

, within the Graduate Institute of National Development and Mainland China. Pang was later appointed director-general of the Taiwan Competitiveness Forum. He was well known for his efforts for promoting

Chinese unification Chinese unification, also known as the Cross-Strait unification or Chinese reunification, is the potential unification of territories currently controlled, or claimed, by the People's Republic of China ("China" or "Mainland China") and the ...

Personal life and death

Pang was of Cantonese descent, with family origin in

Yangjiang Yangjiang (, ), alternately romanized as Yeungkong, is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Guangdong Province in the People's Republic of China. It borders Maoming to the west, Yunfu to the north, Jiangmen to the east, and looks out to the ...

Guangdong Province Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. His grandfather was a member of

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

's revolutionary society

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China (or T'ung-meng Hui, variously translated as Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance, United Allegiance Society, ) was a secret society and underground resistance movement ...

and participated in the

Yellow Flower Mound Uprising The Second Guangzhou (Canton) Uprising, known in Chinese as the Yellow Flower Mound Uprising or the Guangzhou Xinhai Uprising, was a failed uprising took place in China led by Huang Xing and his fellow revolutionaries against the Qing dynasty i ...

. His father was a graduate of

Whampoa Military Academy The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China ...

and participated in the

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...

and the

Anti-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Thea ...

. Because of his family background, Pang was strongly attached to Sun Yat-sen's philosophy on building a modern China. He married news anchor in 2001. He died from a fall from his home in

Neihu District Neihu District is a district of Taipei City, Taiwan. Neihu means "inner lake." The older name originates from the Ketagalan word ''Tayour'' (transliterated by the Dutch as ''Cattajo''), meaning woman's head ornament. Many mountainous roads and ...

on 11 January 2022 at 7am, at the age of 68. A few hours before his death, Pang left a message three times in his

LINE Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

group and the same message in his

WeChat WeChat () is a Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment app developed by Tencent. First released in 2011, it became the world's largest standalone mobile app in 2018, with over 1 billion monthly active users. WeChat has bee ...

groups, saying "I would rather die than live in this unjust Taiwan!" Republished as: Worried about the hardships of the people and the future of Taiwan, he had been deeply saddened by the huge defeats of the KMT in the

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

a month earlier and in the recall election of

Freddy Lim Freddy Lim Tshiong-tso (; Tâi-lô: ''Lîm Tshióng-tsò''; born 1 February 1976) is a Taiwanese politician, musician, and independence activist. He is the lead vocalist of the Taiwanese heavy-metal band Chthonic. and the lead vocalist of the ...

and legislator by-election two days earlier, and had been distraught by the on-going

de-Sinicization De-Sinicization (''de'' + ''Sinicization'') refers to a process of eliminating or reducing Chinese cultural elements, identity, or consciousness from a society or nation. In modern contexts, it is often used in tandem with decolonization and con ...

pushed forward by the ruling DPP. Prior to his death, Pang had been diagnosed with cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pang, Chien-kuo 1953 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Taiwanese politicians New Party (Taiwan) politicians People First Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan Taipei City Councilors Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Miaoli County National Chung Hsing University alumni National Taiwan University alumni Brown University alumni Deaths from falls Academic staff of the Chinese Culture University People of Cantonese descent