Josephine Chu (; born 16 December 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician. She served in the Legislative Yuan from 1996 to 2002. Chu and

Hsu Hsin-liang Hsu Hsin-liang (; born 27 May 1941) is a Taiwanese politician, formerly Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). He was a supporter of the Pan-Blue Coalition from 2000 to 2008 but then supported the DPP in the 2008 presidential elect ...

formed an independent ticket in the 2000 presidential election, finishing fourth.

Early life, education and career

Chu, born in 1950, is of Mainlander descent. She received a Ph.D. in art and archaeology from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1990 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "The Chung Yu (A.D. 151-230) tradition: a pivotal development in Sung calligraphy." She was then a research fellow at the National Palace Museum.

Political career

Chu served two terms in the Legislative Yuan, winning the 1995 and 1998 elections. Throughout her legislative career, she was occasionally covered in local media as a New Party politician, but most often as an independent. Chu and

formed an independent ticket in the 2000 presidential election, won by

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 ...

and

Annette Lu Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as Ta ...

. Chu ran for the

Hsinchu district Hsinchu City is represented 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 t ...

seat in the legislative elections of 2001 with the endorsement of the Gender Sexuality Rights Association, but lost.

Political stances

Chu has worked to expand

LGBT rights in Taiwan Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in Taiwan are regarded as the most progressive of those in Asia. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal, and same-sex marriage was legalized on 24 May 2019, following a Constitution ...

, and has advocated for rights of foreign spouses. Chu backed efforts to maintain an unbiased media, as well as cultural outreach initiatives. To this end, she supported a proposal by the Taiwan Media Watch Foundation to have government workers barred from working in the media, and has criticized political interference in the

Public Television Service Taiwan Public Television Service Foundation (PTS Foundation/Public Television Service Foundation, ), also called Public Television Service (PTS, ), is the first independent public broadcasting institution in Taiwan, which broadcasts the Public Te ...

. In 2001, she expressed support for expanding the National Palace Museum to southern Taiwan, a project that was not completed until 2015. When the United States government announced that it would not ratify the Kyoto Protocol, Chu sought a meeting with the

American Institute in Taiwan The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT; ) is the ''de facto'' Embassy of the United States of America in Taiwan. The AIT institution is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the federal government of the United States in Taiwan with Congressional oversi ...

to argue for the ratification of the treaty. In 2004, she criticized the Chen Shui-bian administration for backing a NT$610.8 billion proposal to acquire American weapons, saying that the results of the Cross-Strait referendum showed that most Taiwanese did not approve of the action.

Later career

After leaving politics, Chu taught at

Taipei National University of the Arts The Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA; ) is a national university in Guandu, Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan. History The preparatory committees to establish the school was formed on 22 October 1980. The National Institute of the A ...

. In 2009, she returned to the National Palace Museum as assistant director of educational outreach, assuming the departmental head position the next year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chu, Josephine 1950 births Living people Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 3rd Legislative Yuan Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan New Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Princeton University alumni 20th-century Taiwanese women politicians Taiwanese LGBT rights activists Academic staff of Taipei National University of the Arts National Palace Museum 21st-century Taiwanese women politicians Taiwanese people of Chinese descent