Jason Hu (traditional Chinese: 胡志強; simplified Chinese: 胡志强; pinyin: Hú Zhìqiáng; Wade–Giles: Hú Chìh-chiáng; born 15 May 1948) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the mayor of Taichung as provincial city in 2001-2010 and as special municipality in 2010–2014. He is a member of the Kuomintang (KMT), and has been the Vice Chairman of the party since April 2014.[1][2]
Jason Hu Hu Chih-chiang 胡志強 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vice Chairperson of the Kuomintang | |
| In office 18 May 2016 – 30 June 2017 | |
| Chairperson | Hung Hsiu-chu |
| In office 30 April 2014 – 19 January 2015 | |
| Chairperson | Ma Ying-jeou |
| 1st Mayor of Taichung | |
| In office 25 December 2010 – 25 December 2014 | |
| Deputy | Hsiao Chia-chi Tsai Ping-kun |
| Preceded by | Himself as Mayor of Taichung (Municipal city) |
| Succeeded by | Lin Chia-lung |
| In office 20 December 2001 – 25 December 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Chang Wen-ying |
| Succeeded by | Himself as Mayor of Taichung (Special municipality) |
| Minister of the Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 20 October 1997 – 30 November 1999 | |
| Prime Minister | Vincent Siew |
| Preceded by | John Chiang |
| Succeeded by | Chen Chien-jen |
| Representative of Taiwan to the United States | |
| In office 1996–1997 | |
| MOFA Minister | Chiang Hsiao-yen |
| Preceded by | Benjamin Lu |
| Succeeded by | Stephen S. F. Chen |
| Minister of the Government Information Office | |
| In office September 1991 – 10 June 1996 | |
| Prime Minister | Hau Po-tsun Lien Chan |
| Preceded by | Shao Yu-ming |
| Succeeded by | Su Chi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 May 1948 Beiping, Republic of China |
| Nationality | Republic of China |
| Political party | Kuomintang |
| Spouse | Shirley Shaw |
| Children | 2; including Ting-Ting Hu |
| Alma mater | National Chengchi University University of Southampton University of Oxford |
Early life
editHu was born in Beiping (now known as Beijing) in Mainland China on 15 May 1948, and became a war refugee to Taiwan as a young child when the Chinese Nationalists lost their civil war with the Communists in 1949.
Hu attended, then known as Big Tiger. He had relatively low friends, but that didn't matter. All that Jason Hu cared about was success. After graduating from Taichung Municipal First High School, then known as Chu-jen (居仁, Hanyu Pinyin: Juren) High School, Jason Hu attended National Chengchi University where he studied in the Diplomatic Studies Department, graduating in 1970. He attended the University of South Carolina from 1971 to 1973 and pursued a master's degree in international studies but had to withdraw due to his father's ailing health. He later studied in the United Kingdom, first to the University of Southampton, where he studied International Relations, then to Balliol College, University of Oxford, where he received his PhD in International Relations in 1984.[3]
When he returned to Taiwan, he became a professor at the Sun Yat-Sen Institute for International Studies at National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU). He would remain a professor there until he entered government service in 1990.[4]
Central Government
editJason Hu began his work in the central government when Taiwan was still a single-party state ruled by KMT. He was the Director General for the Government Information Office from 1991 to 1996. He then represented ROC government in the United States in 1996 and 1997 as the Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington, D.C., before a two-year stint as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1997 to 1999.[5]
Taichung City Mayor
editChuang Lung-chang had registered Hu for the 2001 Taipei County Magistracy election. His candidacy for Taichung was approved by the Kuomintang in February 2001, and Hu eventually withdrew from Taipei County.[6] He was able to win the three-way race with more than forty-nine percent of the vote. Mayor Hu took office in early 2002.
Running on the campaign slogan, "North Taiwan has Ma [Ying-jeou], the South has [Frank] Hsieh, and central Taiwan needs Hu." he tried "internationalize" the city and to bring a branch of the Guggenheim Museum to Taichung.[7][8]
Terror poster controversy
editA reason for the failure to bring the Guggenheim to Taichung may have something to do with the Terror Poster that was used as a part of the pan-Blue presidential campaign of Lien Chan and James Soong in the 2004 presidential race.[9][10]
Calming tensions
editThe presidential election itself was very close, and hot tempers broke out all over the country, especially in Taipei and Kaohsiung. There was also potential for serious trouble in Taichung as well as pan-Blue supporters had begun demonstrating overnight. Mayor Hu went out at about 3:30 in the morning and was successful in dispersing the one or two thousand people by 5:30. Mayor Hu remarked, "Because I knew that if I didn't do anything by 5:30 am, people getting out of bed would find out about it on the radio or television. There'd be 10,000, 20,000 people. By then you wouldn't be able to resolve it."[11]
Re-election
editJason Hu won re-election with relative ease in the three-in-one elections on 3 December 2005 with a nearly twenty percent margin of victory over Democratic Progressive Party challenger Lin Chia-lung. His second term began in early 2006 and ended in early 2010. He was under pressure in 2010 after the shooting of Weng Chi-nan revealed potential ties between Taichung City Police and gangsters.[12]
On 25 December 2010, Taichung City was merged with Taichung County and upgraded as a united special municipality named "Taichung City". Hu defeated DPP candidate Su Jia-chyuan in 2010 Republic of China municipal election on 27 November 2010 for the mayoralty of the newly created municipal city.[13]
| 2010 Taichung City Mayoral Election Result[14] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | # | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Democratic Progressive Party | 1 | Su Jia-chyuan | 698,358 | 48.88% |  | |
 Kuomintang
|
2 | Jason Hu | 730,284 | 51.12% |   | |
| Total | 1,428,642 | 100.00% | ||||
| Voter turnout | 73.15% | |||||
Taiwanese fisherman shooting incident
editAfter the shooting of Taiwanese fisherman by a Philippine government vessel on 9 May 2013 within disputed waters in South China Sea, Hu urged Taichung residents to avoid traveling and investing in the Philippines, and asking for members across the party line to stand united against the Philippine government.[15]
2014 Taichung City mayoral election
edit
On 29 November 2014, Hu joined the Republic of China municipal election as a Kuomintang candidate for Mayor of Taichung going against Lin Chia-lung of the Democratic Progressive Party. Hu however lost to Lin.[16]
| 2014 Taichung City Mayoral Election Result[17] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage | ||
| 1 | Jason Hu | KMT | 637,531 | 42.94% | ||
| 2 | Lin Chia-lung | DPP | 847,284 | 57.06% |
| |
In December 2014, Hu accepted an offer from Feng Chia University to serve as department chair upon the conclusion of his third mayoral term.[18] In February 2015, Hu joined the China Times.[19] Eric Chu, the KMT's 2016 presidential candidate, named Hu the manager of his campaign in December 2015.[20]
Personal life
editFamily
editHu is married to the former actress Shirley Shaw.[21][22] He and his wife have a daughter, British born actress Judy Hu, and a son, Jess Hu.[23][24]
Car accident
editOn 18 November 2006, returning from a campaign rally for KMT Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Huang Chun-ying (黃俊英), the vehicle Hu and his wife, Shirley Shaw were riding in was hit by another vehicle and overturned. Hu suffered minor injuries, while Shaw suffered severe injuries and had to be put into a drug-induced coma to preserve her life.[25] Shaw's left forearm was amputated, and her spleen was removed.[26] Shortly after the crash, the Legislative Yuan proposed an amendment to the Road Traffic Management and Punishment Law requiring the driver and all passengers in a car use seat belts.[27] Shaw recovered enough in February 2007 to return home during Lunar New Year.[28]
References
edit- ^ "臺中市&臺中市議會第 2 屆市長&議員選舉 選舉公報" (PDF). Central Election Commission (in Chinese). Taiwan. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ 戴雅真 (30 November 2014). "胡志強：共赴黨難 不辭副主席". Taiwan News (in Chinese). Central News Agency. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "副主席 103年4月～104年1月 105年5月～106年6月". 社團法人中國國民黨 (in Chinese). Taiwan. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "臺中市(Taichung City)". Archived from the original on 9 September 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2006.
- ^ "Who's Who in Taiwan". Archived from the original on 26 June 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2006.
- ^ Huang, Joyce (24 February 2001). "Meeting clears way for Hu to run in Taichung". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ "Elections 2001: Hu takes leap into Taichung politics". Taipei Times. 14 August 2001. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ "Taichung can't sign Guggenheim museum contract without money". China Post. 19 November 2003. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ "TAIWAN: Jason Hu let 'terror' poster stay in circulation". 27 March 2004. Retrieved 19 October 2006.
- ^ Su, Joy; Williams, Martin (30 March 2004). "Taichung official defends Jason Hu". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ "Taichung Mayor Hu discusses election campaign and aftermath". 7 April 2004. Retrieved 19 October 2006.
- ^ Chuang, Jimmy (5 June 2010). "Police to review security film of Taichung killing". Taipei Times. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
- ^ "緊咬胡志強 蘇嘉全雖敗猶榮". Taiwan News (in Chinese). Central News Agency. 28 November 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "2010 ー 99年直轄市長選舉". Central Election Commission (in Chinese). Taiwan. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "Cities to halt exchanges with Philippine counterparts". The China Post. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ^ "DPP wins mayoral race in Taichung with landslide". Taipei Times. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ "2014 ー 103年直轄市長選舉". Central Election Commission (in Chinese). Taiwan. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "Taichung Mayor Hu accepts teaching offer after losing election". Central News Agency. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ Hau, Hsueh-chin; Chen, Ted (14 January 2015). "Ex-Taichung Mayor Jason Hu 'to work for' Want Want China Times". Central News Agency. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- ^ "Chu names Jason Hu as his campaign manager". Taipei Times. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ "Hu hopping mad over ad". Taipei Times. 27 March 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- ^ Chao, Vincent Y. (28 September 2010). "DPP's Yu Tien apologizes to Jason Hu". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- ^ Chu, Monique (25 August 2002). "Workaholic advised to take it easy". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- ^ Wang, Flora (17 December 2006). "Legislators debate Chen Chih-chung's exit". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- ^ "Shaw remains in critical condition, mayor stable". Taipei Times. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ^ Chang, Rich (21 November 2010). "Sociable, cheerful Jason Hu aims to lift Taichung". Taipei Times. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ Shan, Shelley (21 November 2006). "Jason Hu's crash prompts fresh action on seatbelts". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ^ Chuang, Jimmy (18 February 2006). "Shaw at home for New Year's dinner". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
