Chiang Chi-chen (; born 2 March 1972), also known by his English name Johnny Chiang, is a Taiwanese politician and

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

who has served as the vice president of the Legislative Yuan since 2024. Chiang served as an associate professor in Soochow University before his political career. He was the penultimate Director-General of the

Government Information Office The Government Information Office, Executive Yuan (GIO; ) was a cabinet-level agency of the Executive Yuan of Taiwan, Taiwan (the Republic of China) in charge of promoting government policies and regulating media in Taiwan, domestic media. Histo ...

from 2010 to 2011, a post he resigned to become 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 ...

in which he has served since 2012. In March 2020, he was elected the

Chairman of the Kuomintang The chairman of the Kuomintang is the leader of the Kuomintang in the Republic of China. The position used to be titled as President (1912–1914), Premier (1919–1925), Chairman of the Central Executive Committee (1925–1938), Director-General ...

and assumed office on 9 March until he was succeeded by

Eric Chu Eric Li-luan Chu (; born on 7 June 1961) is a Taiwanese politician, statistician, and academic who is currently the Chairman of the Kuomintang, chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT). Born into a political family with strong ties to the Kuomintan ...

on 5 October 2021. Chiang took office as vice president of the Legislative Yuan on 1 February 2024.

Early life and education

Chiang was born on 2 March 1972. He attended elementary and junior high school in his hometown of

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: '), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in central Taiwan. Taichung is Taiwan's second-largest city, with more than 2.85 million residents, making it the largest city in Ce ...

before graduating from

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subsequently reestablished in 1954 in Taiwan as the first reestablished "National University". The u ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(B.A.) in diplomacy in 1994. He served in the 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion during his compulsory military service. He was honorably discharged from the Army's special force with the rank of

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

. After completing his military service, Chiang pursued graduate studies in the United States, where he earned a master's degree in

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in 1998, then earned his Ph.D. in the subject from the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

in 2002. His doctoral dissertation, completed under political science professor Donald J. Puchala, was titled "Globalization and The Role of the State in Contemporary Political Economy: Taiwan and India in the 1980s and 1990s".

Academic career

Chiang taught at the Department of

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

of Soochow University as a full-time associate professor, and worked in multiple positions at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.

Political career

He was named the head of the

in 2010. When Chiang was selected as a

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 ...

candidate for the legislature in April 2011, he resigned the GIO position and was replaced by . Chiang was one of five former GIO officials to appear on the ballot. He won election in 2012, and again in 2016. Chiang was chosen as one of five conveners of the Legislative Yuan's constitutional amendment committee in 2015. He shared foreign and national defense committee convener duties with Liu Shih-fang in 2016. Chiang announced his intention to contest the Taichung mayoralty in October 2017, becoming the second Kuomintang politician after Lu Shiow-yen to declare interest in the position. It was reported in February 2018 that Chiang had narrowly finished second to Lu in three different public opinion polls that served as the Kuomintang's Taichung mayoral primary. Chiang declared his candidacy for the 2020 Kuomintang chairmanship election on 25 January 2020, ten days after Wu Den-yih resigned the position. Chiang defeated Hau Lung-pin in the leadership election, held on 7 March 2020. Chiang took office as Kuomintang chairman on 9 March 2020. In March 2021, KMT chairman Johnny Chiang rejected the "

one country, two systems "One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Deng Xiaoping developed the one country, two systems ...

" as a feasible model for Taiwan, citing Beijing's response to protests in Hong Kong as well as the value that Taiwanese place in political freedoms. In September of that year, Chiang lost his bid to retain the chairmanship, finishing third behind

and Chang Ya-chung. Chang won his fourth consecutive legislative term in 2024, and was subsequently elected

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of the

11th Legislative Yuan The 11th Legislative Yuan is the current term of members of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) which began on 1 February 2024. Members were elected in the 2024 Taiwanese legislative election, 2024 legislative election, in ...

Personal life

Chiang is of Hakka descent from

Teochew people The Teochew (), Teo-Swa, or Chaoshanese are an ethnic group historically native to the Chaoshan region in south China who speak the Teochew language. Today, most ethnic Teochew people live throughout Chaoshan and Hong Kong, and also outside ...

. He is married to the daughter of former legislator Liu Shen-liang, with whom he has two children. One of his uncles is , a former

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

secretary-general.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chiang, Johnny 1972 births Living people Kuomintang Members of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan Members of the 8th Legislative Yuan Members of the 9th Legislative Yuan Taichung Members of the Legislative Yuan National Chengchi University alumni University of Pittsburgh alumni University of South Carolina alumni Academic staff of Soochow University (Taiwan) Members of the 10th Legislative Yuan Taiwanese expatriates in the United States Government ministers of Taiwan Chairpersons of the Kuomintang Taiwanese politicians of Hakka descent Members of the 11th Legislative Yuan