Su Tseng-chang | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
蘇貞昌 | |||||||||||
 Official portrait, 2024 | |||||||||||
| Senior Advisor to the President | |||||||||||
| Assumed office 1 August 2024 | |||||||||||
| President | Lai Ching-te | ||||||||||
| 17th & 27th Premier of the Republic of China | |||||||||||
| In office 14 January 2019 – 31 January 2023 | |||||||||||
| President | Tsai Ing-wen | ||||||||||
| Vice Premier | Chen Chi-mai Shen Jong-chin | ||||||||||
| Preceded by | Lai Ching-te | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Chen Chien-jen | ||||||||||
| In office 25 January 2006 – 21 May 2007 | |||||||||||
| President | Chen Shui-bian | ||||||||||
| Vice Premier | Tsai Ing-wen | ||||||||||
| Preceded by | Frank Hsieh | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Chang Chun-hsiung | ||||||||||
| 10th & 14th Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party | |||||||||||
| In office 30 May 2012 – 28 May 2014 | |||||||||||
| Deputy | Lin Hsi-yao | ||||||||||
| Preceded by | Chen Chu(acting) | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Tsai Ing-wen | ||||||||||
| In office 15 February 2005 – 3 December 2005 | |||||||||||
| Deputy | Chang Chun-hsiung Lee I-yang | ||||||||||
| Preceded by | Ker Chien-ming(acting) | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Annette Lu(acting) | ||||||||||
| 23rdSecretary-General to the President | |||||||||||
| In office 20 May 2004 – 1 January 2005 | |||||||||||
| President | Chen Shui-bian | ||||||||||
| Preceded by | Chiou I-jen | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Yu Shyi-kun | ||||||||||
| 11thMagistrate of Taipei County | |||||||||||
| In office 20 December 1997 – 20 May 2004 | |||||||||||
| Preceded by | You Ching | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Lin Hsi-yao(acting) | ||||||||||
| Member of the Legislative Yuan | |||||||||||
| In office 1 February 1996 – 20 December 1997 | |||||||||||
| Constituency | Taipei County | ||||||||||
| 5th Secretary-General of the Democratic Progressive Party | |||||||||||
| In office 22 November 1993 – 3 July 1995 | |||||||||||
| Chairman | Hsu Hsin-liang Shih Ming-te | ||||||||||
| Preceded by | Chiang Peng-chien | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Chiou I-jen | ||||||||||
| 8thMagistrate of Pingtung | |||||||||||
| In office 20 December 1989 – 20 December 1993 | |||||||||||
| Preceded by | Shih Meng-hsiung | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Wu Tse-yuan | ||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||
| Born | (1947-07-28)28 July 1947 (age 78) | ||||||||||
| Political party | Democratic Progressive Party | ||||||||||
| Spouse | Chan Hsiu-ling | ||||||||||
| Children | 3, includingChiao-hui | ||||||||||
| Education | National Taiwan University (LLB) | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 蘇貞昌 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 苏贞昌 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Su Tseng-chang (Chinese:蘇貞昌;pinyin:Sū Zhēnchāng;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:So͘ Cheng-chhiong; born 28 July 1947) is aTaiwanese politician who served aspremier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2019 to 2023. He was the chairman of theDemocratic Progressive Party in 2005 and from 2012 to 2014.[1] Su served as Chief of Staff toPresidentChen Shui-bian in 2004.[2] He is currently the longest-serving Democratic Progressive premier in history.
Su actively campaigned for the DPP presidential nomination in 2008, but finished second toFrank Hsieh. Su eventually teamed with Hsieh as the vice presidential nominee; the DPP lost to theKuomintang ticket ofMa Ying-jeou andVincent Siew. Su ran for Taipei City Mayor in November 2010, but lost to the incumbentHau Lung-pin by a 12-point margin. Su campaigned for the 2012 presidential candidacy of the DPP in 2011, but lost toTsai Ing-wen by a very narrow margin.[3] Following the loss of Tsai to Ma Ying-jeou, Su was elected to succeed Tsai as DPP chairman in 2012.[4]
During the Chen administration, Su, along with politiciansAnnette Lu, Frank Hsieh andYu Shyi-kun, are collectively known as the "Big Four of the Democratic Progressive Party".[5] Su is nicknamed the "Lightbulb" or "E Ball" (電火球) and "Go Go Go" (衝衝衝) by the Taiwanese media and DPP voters, a nickname he earned in the 1980s for his charismatic approach to campaigning during election season, in addition to being an affectionate reference to the balding Su.[6][7]
Su was born at Ministry of Health and Welfare Pingtung Hospital inPingtung,Taiwan, on 28 July 1948. He studied at theNational Taiwan University, where he earned hisBachelor of Laws. He was a practicinglawyer from 1973 to 1983 and became a defense lawyer in theKaohsiung Incidenttrials.[8][9] In September 1986, Su and seventeen others founded theDemocratic Progressive Party.[10][11]
He was previously the magistrate ofPingtung County (1989–1993) and magistrate ofTaipei County (1997–2004).[10] His first election as the Taipei magistrate was aided by a split between theNew Party, theKuomintang, and independent candidateLin Chih-chia. He won the election in dramatic fashion partly due to the appearance of the terminally illLu Hsiu-yi, who kneeled on stage in support of Su on the eve of the election.[12] Su's subsequent reelection occurred by a wide margin despite the ability of thePan-Blue Coalition to present a united candidate,Wang Chien-shien.[13][14] He was Secretary-General (Chief of Staff) to the Office of thePresident of the Republic of China under PresidentChen Shui-bian (2004–2005). After President Chen resigned as DPP chairman following the2004 legislative elections, he was elected the 10th-term DPP chairman.[10] Following DPP losses in the 2005 municipal elections on December 3, Su announced that he would, pursuant to a pre-election promise, resign from the chairmanship.[15]
Su was announced as the new premier on January 19, 2006, and took his oath of office, along with his cabinet, on January 25, 2006. Soon after, Su promised to step down if the people's welfare (referring to crime and other civil problems) did not improve within six months.[16] Su faced calls for his resignation after theRebar Chinese Bank run, but refused to leave his post at the time.[17][18]
Su was a contender for the DPP nomination in the2008 presidential election.[19][20] He formally announced his candidacy on Feb. 25. In the DPP primary vote on May 6, 2007, Su received 46,994 votes, coming in second to former PremierFrank Hsieh. Conceding defeat in the primary, Su announced that he had withdrawn from the race.[21]
On May 12, 2007, Su submitted his letter of resignation to President Chen Shui-bian, ending his tenure on May 21.[22] With the resignation of Su and with ten months left in Chen's presidency, that would mean Chen's eight years as president will have seen at least six Premiers (with Chang Chun-Hsiung serving two separate tenures).[23] Su also stated that he previously submitted resignations numerous times over his sixteen-month tenure, but all were rejected by President Chen.[24]
| Office | Name | Term |
|---|---|---|
| Premier | Su Tseng-chang | 2006–2007 |
| Vice Premier | Tsai Ing-wen | 2006–2007 |
| Minister of the Interior | Lee I-yang | 2006–2008 |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | James C. F. Huang | 2006–2008 |
| Minister of National Defense | Lee Jye | 2006–2007 |
| Minister of Finance | Joseph Lyu | 2006–2006 |
| Ho Chih-chin | 2006–2008 | |
| Minister of Justice | Shih Mao-lin | 2005–2008 |
| Minister of Economic Affairs | Morgan Huang | 2006–2006 |
| Steve Chen | 2006–2008 | |
| Minister of Transportation and Communications | Kuo Yao-chi | 2006–2006 |
| Tsai Duei | 2006–2008 | |
| Minister of Education | Tu Cheng-sheng | 2006–2008 |
Su ran for vice president alongsideFrank Hsieh, who was the DPP nominee. Together, Su and Hsieh ran againstMa andSiew. On March 22, they lost in a landslide to Ma and Siew's 7,659,014 (58.45%) votes with their 5,444,949 (41.55%) votes.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | Vice president | ||||
| Kuomintang | Ma Ying-Jeou | Vincent Siew | 7,659,014 | 58.45% | |
| Democratic Progressive Party | Frank Hsieh | Su Tseng-chang | 5,444,949 | 41.55%[25] | |
| Total | 13,103,963 | 100.00% | |||
Although Su had been considered a strong candidate to helm the newly createdNew Taipei City, because he had previously served the area as Taipei County Magistrate, he instead ran for the mayoralty of Taipei City.[26][27] Su vowed that should he win, he would serve out the entire term (through 2014) effectively ending any talks of a presidential run in 2012.[28] Su eventually lost the race to the incumbent mayorHau Lung-pin.
| 2010Taipei City Mayoral Election Result[29] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | # | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Independent | 1 | Wu Yen-cheng (吳炎成) | 1,832 | 0.13% | ||
| Kuomintang | 2 | .svg) | 797,865 | 55.65% | ||
| Independent | 3 | Helen Hsiao (蕭淑華) | 2,238 | 0.16% | ||
| Independent | 4 | Francis Wu (吳武明) | 3,672 | 0.26% | ||
| Democratic Progressive Party | 5 | Su Tseng-chang | 628,129 | 43.81% | ||
| Total | 1,433,736 | 100.00% | ||||
| Voter turnout | 70.65% | |||||
Su declared his candidacy for the 2012 presidential candidacy, but lost a DPP party primary held in April 2011 toTsai Ing-wen andHsu Hsin-liang, by a margin of 1.35 percent.[30] He was subsequently elected DPP chairman in May 2012,[11] and was succeeded by Tsai in 2014, after dropping out of the chairmanship election in the wake of theSunflower Student Movement.[31][32]
| No. | Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Su Tseng-chang | Democratic Progressive Party | 873,692 | 42.85% | |
| 2 | Hou You-yi | Kuomintang | 1,165,130 | 57.15% | |
Total voters: 3,264,128; Valid votes: 2,038,822; Voter turnout: 62.46%.
Su was appointed to the premiership on January 14, 2019, by PresidentTsai Ing-wen.[35] He succeededWilliam Lai, who had resigned in response to theDemocratic Progressive Party's poor performance in the2018 Taiwanese local elections. Aged 71, when he returned to the premiership, Su became one of the oldest to hold the office. Soon after Su assumed office, approval ratings for Tsai's presidential administration rose.[36] Su and his second cabinet resigned en masse following the2020 Taiwanese legislative election, as stipulated in theconstitution, but Tsai, who won reelection to the presidency, asked him to remain in his post.[37]
Su visited the crash site of theHualien train derailment.[38]
On November 5, 2021, Su was sanctioned by theTaiwan Affairs Office of the People's Republic of China for "fanning up hostility across the Taiwan Strait and maliciously smearing the mainland".[39]
On January 19, 2023, Su announced his resignation as Premier as part of a reshuffle following the DPP's heavy defeat in the2022 Taiwanese local elections.[40] On January 30, Su and his cabinet resigned en masse again. He was replaced by former Vice-presidentChen Chien-jen the following day, on January 31.[41][42]
| Office | Name | Term |
|---|---|---|
| Premier | Su Tseng-chang | 2019–2023 |
| Vice Premier | Chen Chi-mai | 2019–2020 |
| Shen Jong-chin | 2020–2023 | |
| Secretary-General | Li Meng-yen | 2019–2023 |
| Minister of the Interior | Hsu Kuo-yung | 2019–2022 |
| Hua Ching-chun | 2022–2023 | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Joseph Wu | 2019–2023 |
| Minister of National Defense | Yen Teh-fa | 2019–2021 |
| Chiu Kuo-cheng | 2021–2023 | |
| Minister of Finance | Su Jain-rong | 2019–2022 |
| Chuang Tsui-yun | 2022–2023 | |
| Minister of Education | Pan Wen-chung | 2019–2023 |
| Minister of Justice | Tsai Ching-hsiang | 2019–2023 |
| Minister of Economic Affairs | Shen Jong-chin | 2019–2020 |
| Wang Mei-hua | 2020–2023 | |
| Minister of Transportation and Communications | Lin Chia-lung | 2019–2021 |
| Wang Kwo-tsai | 2021–2023 | |
| Minister of Labor | Hsu Ming-chun | 2019–2023 |
| Minister of Health and Welfare | Chen Shih-chung | 2019–2022 |
| Hsueh Jui-yuan | 2022–2023 | |
| Minister of Culture | Cheng Li-chun | 2019–2020 |
| Lee Yung-te | 2020–2023 | |
| Minister of Science and Technology | Chen Liang-gee | 2019–2020 |
| Wu Tsung-tsong | 2020–2022 | |
| Ministry of Digital Affairs | Audrey Tang | 2022–2023 |
Su is married to Chan Hsiu-ling (詹秀齡) with whom he has three daughters, one of which isSu Chiao-hui.[44] Su goes by the name “Hope” in his LINE profile.[45]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Magistrate of Pingtung County 1989–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Magistrate of Taipei County 1997–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Premier of the Republic of China 2006–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Premier of the Republic of China 2019–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party 2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party 2012–2014 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
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