Chiang Pin-kung (; 16 December 1932 – 10 December 2018) was a Taiwanese economist and 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 until 2000. Chiang was subsequently elected to consecutive terms on 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 four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...

from 2002 to 2008. During his first term as a legislator, Chiang was Vice President of the Legislative Yuan. He was Chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation from 2008 to 2012.

Early life and education

Chiang was born in

Nantou County Nantou is the second largest County (Taiwan), county of Taiwan by area, located in the central part of the country. It is also the only non-coastal county in Taiwan. Its name derives from the Hoanya people, Hoanya Taiwanese aborigines, Taiwanese ...

on 16 December 1932 during the Japanese rule of Taiwan. After graduating from

National Taipei University National Taipei University (NTPU; ), founded in 1949, is a national university in Taiwan. Before 2000, the university was named the College of Law and Business, National Chung Hsing University (). The university's main campus is in Sanxia Distr ...

with a bachelor's degree in agriculture in 1959, he completed military service in the

Republic of China Armed Forces The Republic of China Armed Forces ( zh, t=中華民國國軍) are the national military forces of the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC), which is now based primarily in the Taiwan Area but Republic of China (1912–1949), formerly governed Mai ...

and won the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

(KMT)'s Sun Yat-sen Scholarship to complete doctoral studies in Japan. In 1971, Chiang earned his Ph.D. in

agricultural economics Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specif ...

from the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

Economic career

He was Assistant Commercial Attaché at the ROC Embassy in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

from 1967 to 1974, Commercial Attaché at the ROC Consulate General in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

from 1974 to 1979, Economic Counsellor at the ROC Embassy in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

from 1979 to 1981, Deputy Director-General of the Board of Foreign Trade (BOFT) from 1982 to 1983, Secretary-General of the China External Trade Development Council from 1983 to 1988, and Director-General of the BOFT from 1988 to 1989. At the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Chiang served as Administrative Vice Minister from 1989 to 1990, Political Vice Minister from 1990 to 1993, and Minister from 1993 to 1996. From 1996 to 2000 he was Chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development. In this capacity, he was the special envoy of

Lee Teng-hui Lee Teng-hui (; pinyin: ''Lǐ Dēnghuī''; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese politician and agricultural scientist who served as the fourth president of the Republic of China, president of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan) unde ...

at the 1998 and 1999 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leader's summits (Lee was, because of pressure from the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, not permitted to attend). From 1998 to 2000 he was a

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

Family

Chiang was born in Nantō District, Taichū Prefecture, Japanese Taiwan. He is married to Mei-Fuey Chen with two sons and one daughter.

Political career

Chiang was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 2001 and was selected vice president of the legislature, a post he held until the Fifth Legislative Yuan adjourned in 2005. Chiang was re-elected to the Legislative Yuan in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

but did not take on the vice president post, which went to the KMT's alliance People First Party. There were ongoing negotiations for Chiang to join the cabinet of Premier Frank Hsieh as vice premier, but talks fell apart between the KMT and the administration over Chiang's specific responsibilities for the post. In March 2005, Chiang led the KMT's first official delegation to

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

since the end of major hostilities in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

in 1949. The delegation paid homage to the 72 martyrs of the Tenth Revolution in Huanghuagang before travelling to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

and to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. During the trip, Chiang promoted opening the three links and economic development. On 14 March 2007, Chiang became acting chairman of the KMT after Wu Po-hsiung, who had been acting chairman since

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, t=馬英九; pinyin: ''Mǎ Yīngjiǔ''; ; born 13 July 1950) is a Taiwanese politician, lawyer, and legal scholar who served as the sixth president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Kuomintang (KMT ...

's resignation earlier in the year, resigned the acting chairmanship so that he could run for chairman in the upcoming party election.

Straits Exchange Foundation

Following the

's landslide win in the presidential election in 2008, Chiang was designated as chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, the semi-official body responsible for negotiation on non-political matters with the

. This made him responsible for the front line negotiations with the PRC government. He stepped down from this position in 2012.

Death

Chiang collapsed at a restaurant on 8 December 2018, and was subsequently sent to hospital. He died of multiple organ failure at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei on 10 December 2018.

Honours

Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd Class, Gold and Silver Star (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiang, Pin-Kung 1932 births 2018 deaths Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Nantou County University of Tokyo alumni Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan Ministers of economic affairs of Taiwan Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Kuomintang Members of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan Members of the 6th Legislative Yuan Commercial attachés Deaths from multiple organ failure