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Brief Biography of Liu Chao-shiuan Premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
In his senior year as a student in the chemistry department of National Taiwan University, Liu became acquainted with his future “other half,” Chien Ming-sai. Because she decided to go to Canada for graduate study, he opted to follow her there, where he received master’s and doctorate degrees in chemistry from the Université de Sherbrooke (1968) and the University of Toronto (1971), respectively. From “bell-bottom professor” to university president In 1971, Liu returned to Taiwan, where he accepted a position as associate professor at National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu. There, he came to be known by some as the “bell-bottom professor” because, in those days, he was the only professor who wore bell-bottom pants. Professor Liu’s fields of expertise include fluorosilicate compounds, organometallic compounds, and membrane chemistry. He has published more than 70 academic articles and has won several honors, including Tsing Hua University’s Outstanding Research Award and awards of academic excellence bestowed by the ROC Ministry of Education, the Taiwan-based Chinese Chemistry Society, and the University of Toronto. During the early stages of his career, in addition to his teaching and research work, Professor Liu demonstrated talent as an administrator. At the age of 36, he was appointed director of the Division of Planning and Evaluation at the National Science Council (NSC). Thereafter, he became dean of the College of Science at National Tsing Hua University (1982-1984) and deputy minister of the NSC (1984-1987), in both of which posts he made important contributions. These include, for example, pushing for the establishment of Regional Instruments Centers under the NSC; founding of the purely merit-based Outstanding Achievement Awards in Science and Technology; promoting interdisciplinary, mission-driven research planning; and pressing for major increases in central government funding for the development of science and technology. In 1987, Professor Liu became President of National Tsing Hua University. Under his leadership over the ensuing six years, Tsing Hua boosted both its scientific research capabilities and its education in the humanities, establishing the nation’s first College of Life Sciences while expanding departments in the university’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The school was thus transformed from an institute focused on science and technology into a well-rounded university rated by observers in Taiwan and abroad as the nation’s leader in several fields. Bringing order to transportation and communications When Lien Chan was appointed Premier in 1993, he named Liu Chao-shiuan as head of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC). This was a “dark age” of transportation, when transportation-related state-run enterprises were experiencing many problems and aviation safety was a major concern. Rising to the challenge, he launched major programs to revamp and improve transportation systems while injecting a fresh, dynamic spirit into the ministry’s operations. Though unfamiliar with transportation matters, with his spirit of scientific researcher, he quickly gained a thorough grasp of key issues and tackled problems in a creative and decisive manner. Under Minister Liu’s direction, the MOTC resolved numerous problems. Among other things, agreements were signed to ensure that flights between Taiwan and Hong Kong and between Taiwan and Macau would not be discontinued following the handovers of the two former colonies to mainland Chinese rule; and breakthroughs in direct shipping between Taiwan and mainland China were achieved, with “offshore” transshipment centers—free trade zones—being established. Further, during Liu’s tenure as Minister of Transportation and Communications, regulations concerning the management of taxi cooperatives were emplaced, putting an end to chronic disputes between independent operators and taxi companies that monopolized the set quota of available licenses. Build-operate-transfer procedures were also formulated, enabling the private sector to play a bigger role in the development of transportation infrastructure. Liu’s stint as MOTC Minister is remembered by many for his contributions to improvement of freeway traffic conditions and smooth progress in deregulation of the telecommunications sector. At his first interpellation session before the Legislative Yuan, when an opposition legislator recounted how he had spent 15 hours and 30 minutes traveling on the freeway from Kaohsiung to Taipei—a distance of less than 400 kilometers—he made a firm commitment to reduce traffic congestion and pushed forward with implementation of a ramp-metering control system, which eventually solved the problem. Minister Liu’s outstanding leadership and coordination skills were even more prominent in the process of deregulation and privatization of telecommunications. Previously, Taiwan had one of the world’s highest rates for long-distance calls but one of the lowest rates for local calls. Before setting in motion privatization of the Bureau of Telecommunications and transforming it into today’s Chunghwa Telecom, Minister Liu enabled the public to enjoy cheaper long-distance rates and use of mobile phones. During the three years of his tenure, until 1996, the ministry instituted measures to ensure a smooth privatization process that would accommodate the concerns of both bureau employees and the public. Promoting development of science and technology In 1996, Liu was reassigned to the post of Minister of the National Science Council. Under his direction over the next two years, the NSC
These measures laid the foundation for a minimum 10-percent annual increase in the council’s budget for national science development programs up until the present day. Serving as Premier’s right-hand man In December 1997, Liu was recruited as Vice Premier by then-Premier Vincent Siew. In that position, until 2000, he exerted himself to assist the Premier in carrying forward a wide range of government programs. Among other things, he chaired the cross-ministerial Commission for Promoting Education Reform, the Commission on Women’s Rights Promotion, and the Cultural Heritage Commission. He was instrumental in drawing up and pushing through budgets totaling NT$157 billion for the promotion of education reform, gender-equality reform, and preservation of important cultural assets. In addition, Vice Premier Liu was convener of national conferences on energy, water resources, and social welfare, which culminated in the drafting and Cabinet approval of “Taiwan Agenda 21: Guiding Principles and Strategies for National Sustainable Development.” Regardless of the mission, he strove to ensure that it produced a beneficial result. In the wake of the September 21, 1999 earthquake that devastated much of central Taiwan, Vice Premier Liu was entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing relief efforts. Assuming personal command on the front line of the disaster area, he rapidly integrated the resources of the central and local governments as well as the military. Bottlenecks were removed, the pace was quickened, and remote areas were swiftly reached. High efficiency was demonstrated in all phases of rescue and aid-dispensing operations. Within three months, more than 300,000 earthquake victims were relocated, further demonstrating his executive effectiveness. For this outstanding performance, President Lee Teng-hui awarded Vice Premier Liu the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon. Commitment to civic involvement and national development With the transfer of power between parties in 2000 and the Kuomintang’s (KMT) transformation into an opposition party, KMT Chairman Lien Chan founded and became the chairman of the National Policy Foundation, inviting Liu to serve as vice chairman, with the mission of developing it into a KMT policy-research think tank capable of making penetrating analyses of social issues, providing criticism of government policies, and advocating policy directions. Having also been appointed by Chairman Lien as executive director of the Kuomintang Reform Committee, he gave much thought to ways of helping the party revitalize itself and put forward numerous recommendations for party reform. These included relocation of the KMT’s central headquarters from its original luxurious office building to simpler premises; selecting the party chairman through direct voting by rank-and-file party members; and adding a “black gold exclusion clause” to the KMT Charter to deal with corrupt party members. The party’s positive response to these and other reform strategies proposed by Liu has been a significant factor in boosting its vitality and effectiveness. After departing from government service with the change of ruling parties, Liu remained concerned as ever about Taiwan’s development, making special efforts to promote science and technology as well as education. He brought together state-of-the-art high-tech enterprises and academic elites to establish the Taiwan chapter of the Monte Jade Science and Technology Association as a platform to develop a global knowledge-economy community of ethnic Chinese peoples. Currently, the association has 15 chapters globally. In line with the “technology in service of the nation” ideal shared by the late Sun Yun-suan and late Li Kwoh-ting, renowned ROC technocrats and economics ministers, Liu believes that only by cultivating high-caliber professionals can Taiwan enjoy sustainable development. Therefore, he has given much attention to the development of the talented people Taiwan needs in the knowledge-economy era. In this connection, Liu has also stressed the importance of a well-rounded education, which, as he sees it, is fivefold in nature, including specialized knowledge, common sense, experience, courage, and sense of appreciation. Returning to academia, promoting teaching excellence Many were surprised when Liu accepted the position of President of private Soochow University in August 2004. With his spirit of constant innovation, however, he remarked that “it is a challenge for me to lead an instruction-oriented (practical skills-oriented) university after having led a research-oriented university.” In his inauguration ceremony, he described his mission as hoping to “transform Soochow University into the nation’s premier private instruction-oriented university within a few years.” This definition of the university’s focus at first aroused resentment among some of the faculty and students. All were delighted, however, when, in the following year, Soochow University was awarded NT$100 million in the University Teaching Excellence Reward Program sponsored by the Ministry of Education, aimed at encouraging universities to draw up and implement plans to improve the quality of their instruction. Soochow University’s award-winning plan was to found a Resource Center for Teaching and Learning to boost innovation in curriculum planning and teaching methods and strategies, as well as ways of evaluating them. Following the center’s establishment, many other universities instituted similar centers. President Liu inaugurated a course on the subject of general knowledge, and he worked to identify and develop distinctive areas of specialty of the university’s colleges and departments with a view to creating a Soochow University “brand” of academic excellence. Situated beside a mountain stream, Soochow University is blessed with a natural setting that evokes visions of beauty in the souls of its teachers and students. But because the campus is confined to a narrow strip of land, and students were formerly obliged to crowd into corrogated iron-roofed structures for some of their classes, President Liu launched a construction project to erect two high-rise buildings to solve this long-standing predicament, enabling the university, “like a once dust-enshrouded pearl, to suddenly gleam in all directions,” as famous writer Chang Man-chuan put it. Taking over as the nation’s “CEO” Ma Ying-jeou received 7.65 million votes, or 58.45 percent of ballots cast, in the presidential election in March 2008, setting a record for direct elections of the ROC president. This was not only a victory of the Kuomintang, but a manifestation of the people’s aspiration for better government. On May 20, Liu Chao-shiuan was appointed by newly elected President Ma Ying-jeou as the nation’s Premier. Upon assuming office, he vowed to devote his whole energy and thought to fulfilling the electorate’s expectations of improved governance. President Ma expressed the hope that the Cabinet would be one that gives equal importance to all concerns. Having taken on this weighty responsibility, Premier Liu and his new Executive Yuan team have vowed to uphold integrity, competence, professionalism, sustainable development, and equitable distribution of wealth as its concepts of governance; to take as their principle of governance “putting Taiwan first for the benefit of the people”; to respond positively to the ardent expectations of the people and the international community; and to use their experience, wisdom, and creativity to take on the historic mission of creating a new climate for the nation. As the consequence of many years of confrontation between the “pan
blue” (the Kuomintang and its offshoots) and “pan green” (Democratic
Progressive Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union) political coalitions, myriad
problems await resolution. Having shouldered this heavy responsibility at this
critical point in the nation’s development, Premier Liu is determined to
help lead Taiwan in meeting the challenges of globalization, coalescing forces
to reform long-standing corrupt practices, creating a vigorous economy, and
opening up a new era of relations with mainland China by transforming
President Ma’s political views into concrete, feasible policies that can
succeed in erecting a new milestone in the nation’s development.\ |
With ancestral roots in Hunan Province, Liu Chao-shiuan was born in mainland
China on May 10, 1943, to an air force officer and a woman devoted to the task
of raising him and his five brothers. The challenges of recovering from the
ravages of war and his father’s military background instilled in him a deep
sense of patriotic fervor. As a child, Liu had a lively intellect and broad
interests. Though growing up in a time of material adversity, he was fortunate
to have been taught by many dedicated, outstanding teachers. During his high
school years, he was very fond of martial arts novels. Under the shared pen name
Shang Guan Ding, he and two of his brothers wrote more than ten novels,
including popular works like Chen Sha Gu. Also fond of drawing and
interested in science, he was inspired by Nobel Prize laureates Yang Chen-ning
and Lee Tsung-dao to focus on studies in basic science.
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