Kao Chin Su-mei (born September 21, 1965), also known as Chin Su-mei, May Chin and Ciwas Ali, is a Taiwanese politician and retired actress and singer. She is of Manchu and Atayal descent, Ciwas Ali being her Atayal name. In the 1980s and 1990s, she starred in many popular TV series and films including

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. During his filmmaking career, he has received international critical and popula ...

's ''

The Wedding Banquet ''The Wedding Banquet'' is a 1993 romantic comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Ang Lee. The story concerns a gay Taiwanese immigrant man (played by Winston Chao, in his film debut) who marries a mainland Chinese woman ( May Chin) t ...

'' (1993). She also released several

Mandopop Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; with later influences coming from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkie ...

albums. She retired from showbiz in 1999 following her diagnosis of liver cancer which she recovered from. Chin was elected into the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in December 2001, and re-elected in 2004,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, all in the Highland Aborigines electoral district. Representing the

Non-Partisan Solidarity Union The Non-Partisan Solidarity Union is a political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was established on 16 June 2004, led by founding Chairwoman Chang Po-ya and emerged a major player in the national political scene during the 2004 Le ...

, she is currently the only party member in the Legislative Yuan, and a strong advocate of aboriginal rights. She is also associated with the

Pan-Blue Coalition The pan-Blue coalition, pan-Blue force or pan-Blue groups is a political coalition in the Republic of China (Taiwan) consisting of the Kuomintang (KMT), People First Party (PFP), New Party (CNP), Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU), and You ...

Early life

Chin Su-mei was born in Heping Township,

Taichung County Taichung County was a county in central Taiwan between 1945 and 2010. The county seat was in Yuanlin Township before 1950 and Fongyuan City after 1950. History Taichung County was established on 26 November 1945 on the territory of Taichū ...

(present day part of

Taichung City Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Tai ...

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 ...

. Her father was an ethnic Manchu from

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

. In the mid-1980s, she stood for election to be a representative of Taiwanese Aborigines within the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan), during which she took on the Chinese surname of her Taiwanese Aborigine mother, hence becoming Kao Chin Su-mei. Her Ayatal name is Ciwas Ali and May Chin remains her stage name. Chin also published at least 8

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

s and showed up in various local

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

s. Besides acting, in mid-1990s May Chin ran a

wedding photography Wedding photography is a specialty in photography that is primarily focused on the photography of events and activities relating to weddings. It may include other types of portrait photography of the couple before the official wedding day, suc ...

service shop in

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 ...

. However this shop burned down in 1996 and the fire claimed six lives.

Political career

Since entering the Legislative Yuan after elected in the

2001 Republic of China legislative election The 2001 Taiwanese legislative election was held on 1 December 2001. All 225 seats of the Legislative Yuan were up for election: 168 elected by popular vote, 41 elected on the basis of the proportional representation based of the nationwide vot ...

, Chin has been noted for her outspoken views, traditional Atayal costume and face paint in the shape of traditional Atayal tattoo work reserved for married women. On 19 August 2009, Chin met with the

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader ...

, Hu Jintao. At the meeting, General Secretary Hu expressed his deep sorrow and condolences for the typhoon victims in Taiwan to an actor-turned-politician Kao who led a delegation of her fellow ethnic minorities in Taiwan to visit the mainland. Hu added that "People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are of one family and Chinese people have a long tradition of lending a hand to those in danger and difficulties."

Personal life

Chin was never married. She was once in a relationship with

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

actor

Kenny Ho Kenny Ho Kar-king (born 29 December 1959) is a Hong Kong actor and Cantopop/Mandopop singer. He was best known for his role as Zhan Zhao in the Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese television series '' Justice Bao'' from 1993 to 2012, and is also known ...

whom she first met on the set of the Taiwanese drama ''Endless Love'' in 1989. They later separated in 1993, and still remain good friends. Chin and Ho agreed that if they are still single by the age of 60, they would spend the rest of their lives together. In 2006, it was reported by the Taiwanese media Next Magazine that she had a long and lasting

extramarital affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of ...

with the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Lee Hong-yuan Lee Hong-yuan (; born 21 June 1956) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) of the Executive Yuan from 2012 to 2014. Early life Lee Hong-yuan was born in Taishan, Taipei County to a farmer family. ...

between mid-2000s and early 2010s. In 2011 she entered into a relationship with a renowned Taiwanese journalist and writer Xu Zhiyuan. They later broke up in 2013 but still remain good friends.

Filmography

Films

Television

Electoral history

References

External links

*
Personal Blog (in Traditional Chinese)Washing away vanity
Taiwan's Aborigines {{DEFAULTSORT:Kao Chin, Su-mei 1965 births Living people Aisin Gioro Aboriginal Members of the Legislative Yuan Anti-Japanese sentiment in Taiwan Atayal people Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan Members of the 6th Legislative Yuan Members of the 7th Legislative Yuan Members of the 8th Legislative Yuan Members of the 9th Legislative Yuan Minzu University of China alumni Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Members of the Legislative Yuan Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Taichung Taiwanese actor-politicians Taiwanese women singers Taiwanese film actresses Taiwanese people of Manchu descent 21st-century Taiwanese women politicians Actresses from Taichung Musicians from Taichung Members of the 10th Legislative Yuan Manchu actresses Manchu singers