Tsao Chi-hung (; born 1 March 1948) is a Taiwanese politician. A member of 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 ...

, he was a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

from 1992 to 1994 and has served two terms each 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 ...

and as Pingtung County Magistrate. Between 2016 and 2017, Tsao was minister of agriculture.

Life before politics

Born in Linbian Township, Pingtung County, Tsao received his bachelor's degree from

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 ...

and his master's degree in education from

National Kaohsiung Normal University The National Kaohsiung Normal University (NKNU; Kaohsiung Normal University),The name of the university is translated using Chinese word order. By English grammar rules, it is National Normal University of Kaohsiung. founded in 1967, is a public ...

. He worked as the Director of Academic Affairs at Linbian Junior High School from 1978 to 1994.

Political career

Tsao was first elected to political office in 1992 as a member of the

. In 1994 he was elected as a councillor in the

Taiwan Provincial Council The Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council (TPCC) was the council of the streamlined Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. In July 2018, all duties of the Taiwan Provincial Government and TPCC were transferred to the National Development Co ...

, at which point he left his career in education to become a full-time politician. In 1998 Tsao won a seat in the Legislative Yuan representing the

; he was reelected in 2001. In 2004 the Pingtung County magistrate

Su Jia-chyuan Su Jia-chyuan (or Su Chia-chyuan; ; born 22 October 1956) is a Taiwanese politician of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). As the first non-Kuomintang President of the Legislative Yuan, Su is an at-large legislator and previously Commissi ...

was appointed Minister of the Interior, leaving the way clear for Tsao to run for county magistrate in 2005. After winning the election in 2005 Tsao was reelected in 2009. He did not stand for reelection in 2014. After the DPP's landslide win in the 2016 9-in-1 elections, President

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 ...

appointed Tsao

Agriculture Minister An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

in her first cabinet. Tsao stepped down from the position in February 2017.

References

Magistrates of Pingtung County Living people 1948 births Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan Pingtung County Members of the Legislative Yuan Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Taiwanese Ministers of Agriculture Chinese Culture University alumni National Kaohsiung Normal University alumni {{Taiwan-DPP-politician-stub