Henry Kao or Kao Yu-shu (; 3 September 1913 – 15 June 2005) was a Taiwanese politician. He served as

Mayor of Taipei The mayor of Taipei is the head of the Taipei City Government and is elected to a four-year term. Until the election of Tsai Ing-wen, the office was seen as a stepping stone to the President of the Republic of China, presidency: presidents Lee Ten ...

from 1954 to 1957 and again between 1964 and 1972, when he was named Minister of Transportation and Communications. Kao remained a public servant for the rest of his life, as

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

until 1989, then presidential adviser until his death.

Education

Kao studied engineering at

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. In 1999, he was the 55th person and first Taiwanese to receive an honorary doctorate from Waseda University.

Political career

Kao won his first term as mayor of Taipei in 1954, with the support of the China Democratic Socialist Party. He ran again in 1957 and lost due to suspected voter fraud. Kao ended his 1960 bid for the Taipei mayoralty when the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

barred him from asking citizens to watch the polling areas in an attempt to combat electoral fraud. In 1963, the government agreed to hold fairer elections and allowed Kao to run. Though KMT candidate

Chou Pai-lien Chou may refer to: * CHOU (AM), a multicultural radio station (1450 AM) in Montreal, Quebec, in Canada, also known as Middle East Radio * Chou role, the clown role in Chinese opera * Chou, a fighter hero in '' Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' Chinese ...

was expected to win, Kao repeatedly challenged Chou to debates that Chou continually ignored. Due to the disagreement about debate attendance, Kao managed to win an upset victory. Because the Kuomintang also lost the mayoralties of Tainan and Keelung in 1963, Chiang Kai-shek made Taipei a special municipality in 1967. As a result,

Taipei City Government The Taipei City Government is the municipal government of Taipei. History Taipei was known as Taihoku during Japan's rule of Taiwan, which started in 1895. Initially, the city was directly controlled by the Governor-General of Taiwan. In ...

officials were appointed by, and reported directly to, the

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive (government), executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Under the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, amended constitution, the head of the Execut ...

. Chiang kept Kao in his post as mayor until 1972 to avoid the ire of Taiwanese citizens. Kao later agreed to join the

and was appointed Minister of Transportation and Communications. He was named minister without portfolio in 1976 and presidential adviser in 1989. Upon ending his independent candidacy for president in January 1996, Kao returned to an advisory role and served until his death in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kao, Henry 1913 births 2005 deaths Mayors of Taipei Ministers of transportation and communications of Taiwan Taiwanese mechanical engineers Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Waseda University alumni Senior advisors to President Lee Teng-hui Senior advisors to President Chen Shui-bian 20th-century Taiwanese politicians China Democratic Socialist Party politicians Taiwanese expatriates in Japan Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan