Yen Chia-kan (; 23 October 1905 – 24 December 1993), also known as C. K. Yen, was a

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Ta ...

politician. He succeeded

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

President of the Republic of China The president of the Republic of China, now often referred to as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Republic of China (ROC), as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. The position once had ...

on 5 April 1975, being sworn in on 6 April 1975, and served out the remainder of Chiang's term until 20 May 1978.

Early life

He was born in

Mudu Mudu (; Suzhou Wu: Moh doh, ) is a town in Wuzhong District, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. It takes about 1.5 hours to drive from the downtown in Suzhou to Mudu. Mudu is a small town which is famous for its history. During the Qing dynasty, ...

, Wu County,

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

province in 1905. He came of a prestigious

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trad ...

family, the Yan (Yen) Family of Dongshan (). He graduated from

Saint John's University St John's University may refer to: *St. John's University (New York City) **St. John's University School of Law **St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus *College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and Col ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

with a degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...

in 1926.

Political career

In 1931, Yen began serving as a manager of the Shanghai railway administration. Yen started to work as director of the finance department of Fujian Provincial Government in 1938. During his term, he initiated a policy of

land tax A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land without regard to buildings, personal property and other improvements. It is also known as a location value tax, a point valuation tax, a site valuation tax, split rate tax, or a site-value r ...

payment for farmers with their agricultural produce. This policy was then adopted nationwide across

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and contributed significantly for the nation food supply during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. When he arrived in Taiwan in October 1945, Yen was appointed transportation director for the Taiwan Provincial Government. He was later named provincial finance director. From the provincial government, Yen was subsequently elevated to chairman of the Bank of Taiwan. In this position, Yen became known as "father of the

New Taiwan dollar The New Taiwan dollar (code: TWD; symbol: NT$, also abbreviated as NT) is the official currency of Taiwan. The New Taiwan dollar has been the currency of Taiwan since 1949, when it replaced the Old Taiwan dollar, at a rate of 40,000 old dol ...

," as the currency was introduced in June 1949, during his tenure at the bank. Yen then served as Minister of Economic Affairs,

minister of finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

, and Governor of

Taiwan Province Taiwan Province (; PFS: ''Thòi-vàn-sén'' or ''Thòi-vân-sén'') is a nominal administrative division of the Republic of China (ROC). Its definition has remained part of the Constitution of the Republic of China, but the province is no lo ...

. He became

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

on 16 December 1963. In 1966 the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

elected Yen as Vice President and re-elected him in 1972. As vice president, Yen served as the most senior government official of the Republic of China to travel aboard, as

had stated that he would not leave Taiwan until the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

was resolved by unification of the Republic of China. In May 1967, Yen toured the United States, during which he met US President Lyndon B. Johnson. On the afternoon of January 5, 1973, Yen visited Washington, D.C. and met with US President Richard Nixon. In December 1974, Yen traveled throughout Central America and the Caribbean, during which he attended the inauguration of

Anastasio Somoza Debayle Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle (; 5 December 1925 – 17 September 1980) was the President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was ''de facto'' ruler of t ...

, who was starting his second stint as President of Nicaragua. Yen became the

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ea ...

President following the death of Chiang Kai-shek. During his presidency, the Kuomintang worked on the "Chang'an Project" (), which was to design, manufacture, and test defensive missiles. On 9 July 1977, he visited

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

, becoming the first Republic of China president to visit another country after the government moved to Taiwan. On 20 May 1978, Yen resigned and was succeeded by Chiang's son, KMT Chairman and Premier

Chiang Ching-kuo Chiang Ching-kuo (27 April 1910 – 13 January 1988) was a politician of the Republic of China after its retreat to Taiwan. The eldest and only biological son of former president Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government ...

. Yen served as chairman of the Council on Chinese Cultural Renaissance during his presidency. Though he wished to resign after leaving the presidency, the organization's bylaws were amended so that Yen could retain the post. He was also chairman of the board of the

National Palace Museum The National Palace Museum (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kwet-li̍p kù-kiung pok-vu̍t-yèn), is a museum in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). It has a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts and artworks, many of which w ...

until 1991.

Death

Yen had been bedridden since a brain hemorrhage in 1986. He suffered a second brain hemorrhage in 1992 and died at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital on 24 December 1993 the age of 88. He was buried at the

Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery The Wuzhi Mountain Military Cemetery (, sometimes romanized as ''Wuchih'') is Taiwan's most prominent military cemetery. The cemetery is located on Wuzhi Mountain () at an elevation of in Xizhi, New Taipei City and borders Taipei City's Neihu ...

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yen, Chia-Kan 1905 births 1993 deaths Politicians from Suzhou Premiers of the Republic of China on Taiwan Presidents of the Republic of China on Taiwan Vice presidents of the Republic of China on Taiwan Taiwanese Ministers of Finance Republic of China politicians from Jiangsu Taiwanese Ministers of Economic Affairs Taiwanese Ministers of the Veterans Affairs Council Chairpersons of the Taiwan Provincial Government St. John's University, Shanghai alumni Chinese Civil War refugees Taiwanese people from Jiangsu

Early life

Political career

Death

See also

References