Lai Shin-yuan (, born 9 November 1956, in

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Ta ...

, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese politician who served as minister of the

Mainland Affairs Council The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China in Taiwan. The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the cross-strait relations po ...

from 2008 to 2012.

Education

Lai earned an M.A. degree International Relations from the

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

. Lai earned an

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

degree and a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

degree in

Development Studies Development studies is an interdisciplinary branch of social science. Development studies is offered as a specialized master's degree in a number of reputed universities around the world. It has grown in popularity as a subject of study since the e ...

from the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

Academic career

She previously taught at

Shih Hsin University Shih Hsin University (SHU; ) is a private university known for its mass communication departments in Taiwan, founded in Muzha, Taipei in 1956. SHU ranked 22nd overall among top 30 liberal arts Universities in Taiwan in 2020 and secured the top ...

(1997–98) and

Tamkang University Tamkang University (TKU; ) is a private university in Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It was founded in 1950 as a junior college of English literature. Today it is a comprehensive university with 11 colleges that serves nearly 25,00 ...

(1997–2008) as an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the gener ...

Political career

Lai served as a senior adviser on the

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 ...

in the

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whi ...

Administration from 2000 to 2004. From 2005 to 2008, Lai 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 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel ...

, representing the

Taiwan Solidarity Union The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) is a political party in Taiwan which advocates Taiwan independence, and is affiliated with the Taiwanese localization movement. It was officially founded on 12 August 2001 and is considered part of the Pan-Gr ...

ROC Mainland Affairs Council Ministry

Lai was selected to head the Mainland Affairs Council by President

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from 1 ...

. She took office on 20 May 2008, with the

Liu Chao-shiuan Liu Chao-shiuan (; born 10 May 1943) is a Taiwanese educator and politician. He is a former president of the National Tsing Hua University (1987–1993) and Soochow University (2004–2008) and a former Premier of the Republic of China (2008� ...

cabinet. During her term, Lai oversaw the normalization of relations between Taiwan and the special administrative regions of the PRC which are

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. Reciprocal offices were established in the three areas.

Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Macau

On 19 July 2011, Lai officially unveiled the renaming of ROC representative office in

from ''Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in Macau'' to ''Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Macau'', bringing it in line with the rest of ROC representative offices around the world. The office renaming would give the ROC government better opportunities to promote Taiwan in Macau. The official renaming was made on 4 July 2011.

Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong

On 20 July 2011, Lai preceded the ceremony to rename the ROC representative office to Hong Kong from ''Chung Hwa Travel Service'' to ''Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong'', bringing it inline with other ROC representative offices naming around the world. This renaming possibility was considered a milestone in the improved

cross-strait relations Cross-Strait relations (sometimes called Mainland–Taiwan relations, or Taiwan-China relations) are the relations between China (officially the People's Republic of China) and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China). The relationship ...

between Taipei and Beijing. The office is located at Lippo Center building.

Macau Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei

On 13 May 2012, Lai celebrated the opening ceremony of Macau representation office in Taiwan. Lai was accompanied by

Cheong U Cheong U (; born 1957) is the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of Macau. Previously he served as the head of Commission Against Corruption of Macau. Born in China, Cheong went to Hou Kong Secondary School and obtained his bachelor's deg ...

, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macau SAR. Lai added that the office establishment resulted from the principle of goodwill and reciprocity held by both sides and it was considered a milestone in the development for bilateral relation between ROC and Macau. The office is located in

Taipei 101 Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...

building.

Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei

On 15 May 2012, Lai oversaw the opening ceremony of the

Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office The Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office (HKETCO; ) is the representative office of Hong Kong in the Republic of China. Its counterpart body in Hong Kong is the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong. The office is located ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

. The office is located at President International Tower (統一國際大樓) building in Xinyi District. She added that bilateral relations between Taiwan and Hong Kong are close and hoped that the reciprocal office establishment between the two sides can serve as platform for interaction what will expand the promotion of interaction and cooperation. Also present during the opening ceremony was

John Tsang John Tsang Chun-wah, GBM, JP (; born Mui; born 21 April 1951) is a Hong Kong former senior civil servant and government official who was the longest-serving Financial Secretary in the Special Administrative Region period to date. Born in ...

, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong SAR. He said during his opening note that Taiwan and Hong Kong have made substantial progress in the area of economic exchanges, cultural exchanges, financial supervision cooperation, bilateral transportation arrangement and cargo transshipment.

References

External links

Mainland Affairs Council, Minister profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lai, Shin-Yuan Living people 1956 births Taiwan Solidarity Union Members of the Legislative Yuan Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Taichung Women government ministers of Taiwan Members of the 6th Legislative Yuan Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan Tamkang University faculty Shih Hsin University alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of Sussex