Chang Chun-hsiung (; born 23 March 1938) is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer who had served as the prime minister of Taiwan (officially Premier of the Executive Yuan) from 2000 to 2002 and 2007 to 2008, both under

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian ( zh, t=陳水扁; born 12 October 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician and lawyer who served as the fifth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progres ...

's presidency. His appointment by then-President Chen in 2000 marked the first time a

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

(DPP) member occupied the premiership. As a founding member of the DPP, he served on its Central Committee and Central Standing Committee from 1986 to 2000.

Early life and education

Chang was born in 1938 in the city of Kagi (present-day

Chiayi Chiayi (,), officially known as Chiayi City, is a Provincial city (Taiwan), city located in Chianan Plain in Regions of Taiwan, southwestern Taiwan, surrounded by Chiayi County with a population of 263,188 inhabitants as of January 2023. The H ...

) when Taiwan (then Formosa) was still a colony of Japan. He earned his LL.B. at the

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

in 1960. Chang joined the Kuomintang in 1970, but was expelled three years later for mounting a campaign for the Taipei City Council. As a lawyer, he defended the victims of the

Kaohsiung Incident The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident, or the ''Formosa Magazine'' incident,tang was a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 10 December 1979 during Taiwa ...

in 1980. From 1982 to 1986 he was President of the Kaohsiung Chapter of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

Political career

He was a member of the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan () is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...

from 1983 to 2000. As a legislator, he was Executive Director and General Convener of the DPP Caucus from 1987 to 1988, 1990, and 1998 to 1999. He was Convener of the Judiciary Committee in 1991, of the Home and Border Affairs Committee in 92, and of the Transportation and Communications Committee in 95. In 1994, Chang stood as the Democratic Progressive Party candidate to run for the mayor of

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

, but was defeated by the Kuomintang incumbent Wu Den-yih. In the 2000 presidential election he was General Manager of

's campaign. In the Chen administration, he served as Secretary-General of the Office of the President in 2000, Vice Premier of the ROC in 2000 and

Premier of the Republic of China The premier of the Republic of China, officially the premier of the Executive Yuan ( zh, 行政院院長), is the head of government of Taiwan and leader of the Executive Yuan. The premier is nominally the principal advisor to the President ...

from October 6, 2000 to February 1, 2002. Since 2002, he has been Secretary General of the Democratic Progressive Party and a Senior Adviser in the Office of the President. He ran in the 2004 Legislative Yuan election as fourth on the DPP's nationwide slate and was easily elected but resigned (as he promised to do during the campaign) since the

Pan-Green Coalition The Pan-Green coalition, Pan-Green force or Pan-Green groups is a nationalist political coalition in Taiwan (Republic of China), consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), Social Democratic Party ...

failed to win a majority. He also tendered his resignation as Secretary-General of the Democratic Progressive Party to take responsibility for the defeat. Chang was appointed as the chairman of the

Straits Exchange Foundation The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF; ; often abbreviated as 海基會) is a semiofficial organization set up by the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to handle civil and business matters with the People's Republic of China (PRC). Th ...

in 2005 after the death of the former chairman Koo Chen-fu. With the resignation of

Su Tseng-chang Su Tseng-chang ( zh, t=蘇貞昌, poj=So͘ Cheng-chhiong, p=Sū Zhēnchāng; born 28 July 1948) is a Taiwanese politician who served as premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2019 to 2023. He was the chairma ...

as Premier on May 12, 2007,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

nominated Chang to fill the post of Premier a second time effective May 21, and Hung Chi-chang succeeded Chang as the chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation. Su's resignation and Chang's second appointment as Premier marked the sixth premier that Chen Shui-bian has appointed during his two terms as President.

Family life

Chang maintained a long-term marriage-like relationship with a paramour while remaining legally married to his first wife, Hsu Jui-ying. After his first term as Premier, he and Hsu divorced, and in 2007 he married his paramour (Chu A-ying) as his second wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Chun-Hsiung 1938 births Living people Members of the 1st Legislative Yuan in Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan National Taiwan University alumni Premiers of the Republic of China on Taiwan Taiwan independence activists Taiwanese democracy activists Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Chiayi County Vice premiers of the Republic of China on Taiwan Kaohsiung Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 2nd Legislative Yuan Members of the 3rd Legislative Yuan Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan Senior advisors to President Chen Shui-bian Recipients of the Order of Chiang Chung-Cheng