Bios of Newly Elected Mayors and Magistrates -

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 004886 SIPDIS DEPT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON DEPT FOR EAP/TC, INR/EAP FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL ECON TW SUBJECT: Bios of Newly Elected Mayors and Magistrates - Part I (Chiayi, Tainan)CORRECTED COPY Ref: A) 2005 TAIPEI 3642, B) 2005 TAIPEI 4746 C) 2005 TAIPEI 4684 D) 2005 TAIPEI 4399 ¶1. In the "3 in 1 elections" (REF A),the ruling DPP won city mayor/county magistrate seats in five cities/counties in southern Taiwan - Chiayi County, Tainan County (REF C), Tainan City (REF D),Kaohsiung County, Pingtung County. The KMT won in Chiayi City (REF B) for the first time in 23 years and kept its magisterial seat in Penghu County. Taitung County was won by an independent candidate who is still a KMT member. This report will provide bio information for the newly elected Chiayi City Mayor, Chiayi County Magistrate, Tainan City Mayor, and Tainan County Magistrate. ¶2. Chiayi City Mayor - Huang Min-hui (F) (KMT) -------------- -- Born in 1959, Huang currently is one of the two incumbent Chiayi City Legislators. She was elected in 1999, 2001 and ¶2004. Huang holds a BA from National Taiwan Normal University. She trained as a teacher at Taipei's Chungshan Girls' High School before she was elected as a National Assembly member in 1996. Her father Huang Yung-chin served as a Provincial Assembly member for years until his death in 1998. She inherited her father's constituency and was first elected as a Legislator in 1999. Huang is the first KMT member to hold the seat of Chiayi City Mayor after 20 years of independent rule by the Hsu family (Hsu-Chia-ben) and 3 years of DPP rule. ¶3. Chiayi County Magistrate - Chen Ming-wen (DPP) -------------- -------------- Born in 1954, Chen is the incumbent Chiayi County Magistrate elected in 2001. Chen holds a BA in Philosophy from Tung-hai University. He was Taiwan Provincial Assembly member from 1985 to 1997, and was elected as a Legislator in 1998. Chen is the leader of Chiayi County's Lin faction, one of two local factions dominating Chiayi County and both affiliated with the KMT. Chen was a KMT member until 2001. Before 2001, the Chiayi Magistrate's seat had been under the control of another faction (Huang faction, KMT) for 12 years. To facilitate his chances of winning the magisterial seat, Chen joined the DPP and ran for the magistracy with the support of President Chen Shui-bian and defeated the KMT candidate in 2001. ¶4. Tainan City Mayor - Hsu Tain-tsair (DPP) -------------- Born in 1950, Hsu is the incumbent Tainan City Mayor elected in 2001. Hsu has a master's degree in Economics from the Chinese Culture University, Taipei. He studied in the doctoral program in Business Administration at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He stayed in the U.S. for about ten years during the 1980's because he was "blacklisted" by Taiwan authorities for his pro-Taiwan independence views expressed when he was a student in the U.S. Hsu was first elected as a Legislator in 1992 and won re- election in 1995. He ran unsuccessfully in the 1995 Tainan mayoral election against DPP candidate George Chang and later was expelled by the DPP, after which he became an independent. Five years later, after Chang was widely criticized for mismanaging the City (and for corruption), President Chen endorsed Hsu in the 2001 Tainan mayoral election, pulling the rug out from under the DPP incumbent. Hsu easily won in that election. ¶5. Tainan County - Su Huan-chih (DPP) -------------- Born in 1955, Su is the incumbent Magistrate elected in ¶2001. Su is a graduate of National Taiwan University Law School and has a master's degree in law from Fujen Catholic University. He served as a Legislator from 1992 to 2001. He was President Chen's campaign assistant in the 1989 LY election and served as the First Lady's (Wu Shu-chen) assistant when she was a Legislator. Su was devoted to environmental protection issues when he served as a Legislator. In the wake of this election, Su pointed out that the DPP Administration's first priority after the election is to promote cross-strait direct links, urging the advocates for Taiwan independence to put aside their ideological battle over the issue so that Taiwan's economy can continue to grow. THIELE PAAL