Tien Hung-mao (; born 7 November 1938) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 20 May 2000 until 1 February 2002.

Career

Tien received a Ph.D. from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

in 1969, where he wrote his dissertation on political development in China from 1927 to 1937. Thereafter he was a university professor for more than twenty years, and naturalised as a U.S. citizen. After he moved back to

Taiwan 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 nort ...

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 ...

had asked him twice in the 1990s to serve in the

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its leader is the Premier, who is appointed by the President of the Republic of China, and requires confirmation by the Legislative Yuan. ...

Council, but each time he refused; reportedly, the requirement that he renounce U.S. citizenship was a major barrier. He eventually accepted

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 offer to become Minister of Foreign Affairs, and renounced his U.S. citizenship on 11 May, eight days before taking office. He later stated in an interview that he did not regret this step at all, because he "loved Taiwan". After his term ended, he took up a new post as the head of

Taipei Representative Office in the U.K. The Taipei Representative Office in the UK (TRO; ) is the diplomatic mission of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the United Kingdom (UK). It is not a fully-fledged embassy owing to the ongoing Taiwan dispute and One-China policy. However, it i ...

He resigned the position in 2004, and later led the Institute of National Policy Research. In 2016,

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...

named Tien the chair 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 ...

. He left the position in March 2018.

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tien, Hung-mao 1938 births Living people Taiwanese Ministers of Foreign Affairs Tunghai University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Former United States citizens Taiwanese emigrants to the United States Representatives of Taiwan to the United Kingdom