Wu Po-hsiung (; born 19 June 1939) is a

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan (Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, r ...

politician who is a former chairman of 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 Ta ...

(KMT). He has been the Interior Minister (1984-1988),

Mayor of Taipei The Mayor of Taipei is the head of the Taipei City Government and is elected to a four-year term. Until the election of Tsai Ing-wen, the office was seen as a stepping stone to the presidency: presidents Lee Teng-hui, Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-j ...

(1988–1990), Secretary-General to the President (1991–1996), and Chairman of the KMT (2007-2009). Wu was nominated as Honorary Chairman of the Kuomintang when he was succeeded by

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 fro ...

as the Chairman of the Kuomintang.

Early life

Born to a

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

family in Zhongli, Taoyuan in 1939, Wu received a bachelor's degree in

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

from National Cheng Kung University in 1962.

Early political life

He entered politics when he was elected into the Taiwan Provincial Council in the Taoyuan County electoral district from 1968 to 1972.

Taoyuan County Magistrate

Wu become the Magistrate of Taoyuan County from 1973 to 1976. His father

Wu Hong-ling Wu may refer to: States and regions on modern China's territory *Wu (state) (; och, *, italic=yes, links=no), a kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period 771–476 BCE ** Suzhou or Wu (), its eponymous capital ** Wu County (), a former county ...

had served in the same position from 1960 to 1964.

ROC Interior Ministry

Wu become the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

twice in 1984-1988 and 1991-1994.

ROC citizens permitted to visit China

On 15 October 1987, Wu announced the lifting of prohibition of ROC citizens to travel to the Mainland Area. Citizens were allowed to do so for family visits.

KMT Vice Chairmanship

Wu was the first vice-chairman of the main opposition

party after

lost in the

2000 ROC Presidential Election Presidential elections were held on 18 March 2000 to elect the president and vice president of Taiwan. With a voter turnout of 82.69%, Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were elected president and vice presi ...

to 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 majorit ...

KMT Chairmanship

After Chairman

resigned on 13 February 2007, he became the acting chairman. Wu, however, subsequently resigned his post as acting chairman and member of the Central Standing Committee on 14 March 2007 in order to compete in the KMT chairman election scheduled for 7 April 2007. Ma announced his support for Wu for chairmanship. Wu eventually won the party chairmanship election and become KMT Chairman on 11 April 2007. He garnered about 90% of votes cast, defeated KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu. Of all eligible voters, about 53% voted.

Cross-strait relations

2005 China visit

In April 2005, Wu joined

Lien Chan Lien Chan (; born 27 August 1936) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government from 1990 to 1993, Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 20 ...

and other

Pan-Blue 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 ...

officials to visit China.

2009 China visit

In May 2009, Wu left for China for an 8-day visit. He was accompanied by three KMT Vice Chairmen,

Lin Fong-cheng Lin Fong-cheng (; born 20 March 1940) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Vice Chairman of the Kuomintang from April 2007 to April 2014. Kuomintang Secretary-General 2005 Mainland China visit In April 2005, Lin joined Lien Chan and other Pa ...

Wu Den-yih Wu may refer to: States and regions on modern China's territory *Wu (state) (; och, *, italic=yes, links=no), a kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period 771–476 BCE ** Suzhou or Wu (), its eponymous capital ** Wu County (), a former county i ...

(which doubles as KMT Secretary-General) and John Chiang. Wang Yi, Director of

Taiwan Affairs Office The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council is an administrative agency under the State Council of Mainland China. It is responsible for setting and implementing guidelines and policies related to the Republic of China (Taiwan), as stipul ...

welcomed the delegations upon arrival in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

. Prior to departure, Wu said that we would not mention the "Republic of China" if the Beijing government did not mention the "People's Republic of China" as well. If Beijing was to refrain from mentioning the

One China principle The term One China may refer to one of the following: * The One China principle is the position held by the People's Republic of China (PRC) that there is only one sovereign state under the name China, with the PRC serving as the sole legit ...

, then he also would not talk about the

1992 consensus The 1992 Consensus is a political term referring to the alleged outcome of a meeting in 1992 between the semiofficial representatives of the People's Republic of China (PRC) of mainland China and the Republic of China (ROC) of Taiwan. They are of ...

. The delegations visited several cities. In

, they visited the Guangdong-Guangxi House, where

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

was elected as Chairman of

in 1912. In

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also Chinese postal romanization, romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the prov ...

, they visited the Manao Temple, where a museum of

Lian Heng Lien Heng (; 1878–1936) was a Taiwanese historian, politician, poet, merchant, editor of a Tainan's local newspaper. His most representative work was the '. Some have claimed that he contributed to the creation and spread of a unified and s ...

is located. In

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

, they visited

Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum () is situated at the foot of the second peak of Purple Mountain (Nanjing), Purple Mountain in Nanjing, China. Construction of the tomb started in January 1926, and was finished in spring of 1929. The architect was L ...

. And in

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Co ...

, they attended the Taiwan Week celebration organized by Taiwanese businessmen doing business in China.

2012 Beijing visit

Wu lead a delegation from Taiwan to visit

in March 2012 to meet

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, and ...

, the then-

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 lead ...

(CCP); Wu proposed that cross-strait relations be governed under the framework of " one country, two areas" (一國兩區), in which from the Republic of China's point of view, ROC consists of

Taiwan area The free area of the Republic of China, also known as the "Taiwan Area of the Republic of China", "Tai-Min Area (Taiwan and Fujian)" or simply the "Taiwan Area", is a term used by the government of the Republic of China (ROC) to refer to ...

and the mainland area. Among the delegates are three of

vice chairpersons, which are

, John Chiang and Hung Hsiu-chu.

Taiwanese branch of Bank of China

On 27 June 2012, Wu attended the opening ceremony of the first Taiwanese branch of the

Bank of China The Bank of China (BOC; ) is a Chinese majority state-owned commercial bank headquartered in Beijing and the fourth largest bank in the world. The Bank of China was founded in 1912 by the Republican government as China's central bank, rep ...

. The ceremony was held 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 ...

and Wu was accompanied by

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 ...

Chairman

Chiang Pin-kung Chiang Pin-kung (; 16 December 1932 – 10 December 2018) was a Taiwanese politician. He led the Ministry of Economic Affairs from 1993 to 1996, when he was named Minister of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, where he served u ...

, Bank of China President Li Lihui and the bank's Taiwan branch General Manager Tsai Rong-jun.

2013 Beijing visit

Wu visited

on 12–14 June 2013 to meet with

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...

, General Secretary of the Communist Party for the first time since Xi took office, accompanied by high ranking KMT officials, such as

Chan Chun-po Chan Chun-po (; born 30 October 1941) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Vice Chairperson of the Kuomintang from 12 January 2007 to 30 April 2014. KMT Secretary-General Chan was appointed as Secretary-General of Kuomintang for the second ti ...

, Hung Hsiu-chu,

Huang Min-hui Huang Min-hui (; ) is a Taiwanese politician. She was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1999 to 2005. Her tenure as vice chairperson of the Kuomintang (2008–16) overlapped with two terms as Mayor of Chiayi City (2005–14). Education Huan ...

and Su Chi. Accompanying Xi Jinping was

Wang Huning Wang Huning (; born 6 October 1955) is a Chinese politician and one of the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He has been a leading political theorist and ideologist in the country since the 1990s. He has been a member of the CCP' ...

Li Zhanshu Li Zhanshu (; born August 30, 1950) is a Chinese politician, and the current outgoing chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the Chinese Speaker. He was the third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committe ...

, Yang Jiechi and

Zhang Zhijun Zhang Zhijun (; born 1 February 1953) is a Chinese diplomat and politician. From 17 March 2013 to 21 March 2018, he has served as the Minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. He is currently the president of the Association ...

from the CPC.

2013 Yunnan CCP secretary visit

During a meeting between Wu and visiting

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

CCP committee secretary, Qin Guangrong, to Taiwan in mid September 2013, Wu said that Taiwan and Mainland China should put aside political questions and disagreements aside to facilitate bilateral exchanges. He said that by showing patience, setting aside differences and focusing on economic cooperation and cultural exchanges, more common areas such as lifestyle and values would emerge. During the meeting, Qin encouraged Taiwanese businessmen to invest in Yunnan and make use of the province as the gateway to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

, creating business opportunities. He added that Yunnan welcomes Taiwanese farmers, township wardens, teachers, students, media and religious and business representatives. Qin's delegation, which consisted of more than 200 people, participated in several activities while in Taiwan, such as promoting bilateral exchanges in education, culture, technology, tourism and civil aviation.

2013 Nanjing visit

In October 2013, Wu traveled to

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

to give a speech at the Xianlin Campus of

Nanjing University Nanjing University (NJU; ) is a national public research university in Nanjing, Jiangsu. It is a member of C9 League and a Class A Double First Class University designated by the Chinese central government. NJU has two main campuses: the Xian ...

Personal life

Outside of Taiwanese politics, Wu is a prominent and practicing Buddhist and plays an active role in the

Fo Guang Shan Fo Guang Shan (FGS) () is an international Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhist organization and monastic order based in Taiwan that practices Humanistic Buddhism. The headquarters, Fo Guang Shan Monastery is located in Dashu District, Kaohsiung, and ...

Buddhist Order. Before he ascended to the KMT chairmanship, Wu served as the second worldwide president of the

Buddha's Light International Association The Buddha's Light International Association (), commonly known as BLIA, is a monastic and lay organization. BLIA was established by Hsing Yun in 1992. The organization is associated with Fo Guang Shan, the largest Buddhist organization in Taiwan. ...

.Wu Po-hsiung chaired the panel of moderators, with Lee Jih-Chu, ...

References

External links

Kuomintang Official Website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Po-Hsiung 1939 births Taiwanese politicians of Hakka descent People from Yongding District, Longyan Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University alumni Taiwanese Buddhists Mayors of Taipei Living people Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan National Cheng Kung University alumni Magistrates of Taoyuan County Chairpersons of the Kuomintang Recipients of the Order of Brilliant Star Taiwanese Ministers of the Interior