Lee Shying-jow or Lee Hsiang-chou ( zh, c=李翔宙, p=Li Xiángzhòu; born 2 August 1952) is a Taiwanese general and diplomat. He is the incumbent Representative to Denmark, and was formerly the 4th Commanding General of the

Republic of China Army The Republic of China Army ( Chinese, 中華民國陸軍) also known as the ROC Army (ROCA); colloquially the Taiwanese Army ( Chinese, 台湾陆军) by western or mainland Chinese media, or commonly referred as the National Military Army ( Chi ...

(ROCA), 8th Deputy Minister of

National Defense National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived ...

(MND), the 15th Director-General of the National Security Bureau (NSB) and the 2nd Minister of the

Veterans Affairs Council The Veterans Affairs Council (VAC; ) is a branch of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) with "responsibilities to assist in education assistance, employment assistance, medical care, home care and other general services" for retir ...

(VAC).

Early life

Lee Hsiang-chou was born in a

military dependents' village Military dependents' villages () are communities in Taiwan built in the late 1940s and the 1950s whose original purpose was to serve as provisional housing for soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines of the Republic of China Armed Forces, along ...

Republic of China Air Force The Republic of China Air Force ( Chinese, 中華民國空軍), or the ROCAF; known colloquially as the Taiwanese Air Force ( Chinese, 臺灣空軍) by Western or mainland Chinese media, or commonly referred as the National Military Air Force ...

veterans called "the Republican New Village (共和新村)" at Donggang, Pingtung. His family's ancestral home is in

Xinxiang Xinxiang ( zh, s= , t= , p=Xīnxiāng ; Postal romanization, postal: Sinsiang) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan provinces of China, province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to its southwest, Kaifeng to its sou ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

. Lee later entered the

Preparatory School right after his completion of

junior high school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes ...

at age 15. He then later graduated from the Republic of China Military Academy in 1974 as a

Missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...

Officer, and earned master's degrees from

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 ...

National Chung Hsing University National Chung Hsing University (NCHU; ; lit. National Resurgence University) is a comprehensive research university in South District, Taichung, Taiwan. Currently, NCHU is among the four universities of the Taiwan Comprehensive University Sys ...

, and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in the United States.

Military career

Early military position

Lee served as the Commander of

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

(ROCMP) from 1 June 2009 to 16 May 2011. He was promoted to General of the ROC Army on 16 May 2011 and appointed as the Vice Chief of the General Staff under Admiral Lin Chen-yi, the then Chief of the General Staff.

Army Commanding General

General Lee was appointed to success General Yang Tien-hsiao as the Commanding General of the ROC Army on 16 August 2011. On 16 July and 8 August 2013, General Lee tendered his resignation from his chief position and from the

Ministry of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divide ...

due to the poor handling of the minister on the death scandal of Corporal Hung Chung-chiu, but was rejected by Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu and

Yen Ming Yen Ming (; born 14 November 1949) was the Minister of Ministry of National Defense (Republic of China), National Defense of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 8 August 2013 to 30 January 2015. Education Yen graduated from the Republic of Chi ...

. Both Kao and Yen asked him to stay in his post.

Deputy Minister of National Defense

In early April 2014, speaking to the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee 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 ...

, Lee said that if the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

(PLA) were to invade Taiwan, they need at least four months for assault preparation, thus translated to the amount of advance warning Taiwan needs in such scenario. In the event of cross-strait war, the command has to come from

Zhongnanhai Zhongnanhai () is a compound that houses the offices of and serves as a residence for the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the State Council of the People's Republic of China, State Council. It was a former imperial gard ...

, the headquarter of the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

, by the task force formation at the

Central Military Commission Central Military Commission may refer to: *Central Military Commission (China), the highest national defense organization in the People's Republic of China. *Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the highest body in Vietnam ...

. The next step would be recalling all of the Chinese envoys in Taiwan, execute economic preparations and tighten control of Taiwanese business people in

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

. He added that Taiwan has already prepared relevant measures with other countries and military reserve would be called in such attack scenario. Military confidence building measure can only be built between ROC Armed Forces and PLA only if the

government of China The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's congresses. ...

renounces the use of force to achieve

Chinese unification Chinese unification, also known as Cross-Strait unification or Chinese reunification, is the potential unification of territories currently controlled, or claimed, by the People's Republic of China ("China" or "Mainland China") and the Repub ...

. The ROC Ministry of National Defense however would always remain neutral in any cross-strait issues, he added.

Political career

Veterans minister for the Tsai Administration

On 28 April 2016, Lee Hsiang-chou was designated to be the new Minister of the

. He then took office on 20 May 2016. Prior to assuming the position, Lee registered as a political independent, ending his affiliation with 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 ...

, which he had joined in 1969. In December 2016, on his way to visit

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

from Taiwan, Lee was denied stopover entry into

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

for the purpose of visiting veterans of the

Republic of China Armed Forces The Republic of China Armed Forces ( zh, t=中華民國國軍) are the national military forces of the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC), which is now based primarily in the Taiwan Area but Republic of China (1912–1949), formerly governed Mai ...

residing in the small island nation.

Ambassador to Denmark

Lee left the Veterans Affairs Council in February 2018, and was appointed Taiwan's representative to Denmark that October.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Shying-jow 1952 births Living people National Defense University (Republic of China) alumni Representatives of Taiwan to Denmark Republic of China Army generals Ministers of the Veterans Affairs Council of Taiwan