Wang Chien-shien (; born 7 August 1938) is a Taiwanese politician who is the founder of the New Party. He was

finance minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

of the

Republic of China 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 northeast ...

from 1990 to 1992 and is the chairman of the Chinese Management Association (CMA) (since 1990). Wang was the President of the

Control Yuan The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Prior to constitutional reforms in the 1990s, the Control Yuan, along with National Assembly (electoral college) and the Legislative ...

from August 2008 to August 2014.

Early life

Born in Hefei, Anhui, Wang grew up 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 n ...

and received a bachelor's degree from

National Cheng Kung University National Cheng Kung University (NCKU; ) is a public research university located in Tainan, Taiwan. The university is best known for engineering, computer science, medicine, and planning and design. As a top university in Taiwan, NCKU has played ...

and a master's degree from

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei. The university is also considered as the earliest public service training facility of the Republic of China. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subs ...

Political career

Wang was popular in the 1990s for his clean reputation and split with the

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 ...

to help found the New Party. In 1998, Wang joined the election for the Mayor of Taipei under New Party. However, he lost to

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...

of the

. In 2001, the three parties of 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 Young ...

, the

, the People First Party, and the New Party agreed to field only one candidate for

Taipei County New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, be ...

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

in 2001 based on which party could field the most popular candidate in polls. Despite the unified ticket and a poll predicting him winning, Wang lost to

Su Tseng-chang Hope Su Tseng-chang (; born 28 July 1947) is a Taiwanese politician serving as premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2019, and previously from 2006 to 2007. He was the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in 2005 and from 2012 ...

. He also participated in the 1998

Taipei City Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the Capital city, capital and a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Regions of Taiwan, Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of t ...

mayoral race. Wang is married to Su Fa-jau (). In July 2008 Wang was nominated by

President Ma Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as Ministry of Justice (Republic of China), justice minister fro ...

and approved by 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 ...

to become the President of the

References

WANG, Chien-Shien
International Who's Who. accessed September 1, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Chien-shien 1938 births Living people New Party Members of the Legislative Yuan National Cheng Kung University alumni Politicians from Hefei Republic of China politicians from Anhui Taiwanese Ministers of Finance Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan Taiwanese Presidents of the Control Yuan Members of the 2nd Legislative Yuan Taiwanese people from Anhui Taiwanese political party founders Leaders of the New Party (Taiwan)