Shu Chin-chiang (; born 5 April 1953) is a Taiwanese novelist and politician. His pen name is "Lu Jiang" (履彊). He joined the Taiwan Solidarity Union in 2001 and served as party chairman from 2005 to 2006 before he was expelled in 2014 for renouncing

Taiwanese independence The Taiwan independence movement is a political movement which advocates the formal declaration of an independent and sovereign Taiwanese state, as opposed to Chinese unification or the status quo in Cross-Strait relations. Currently, T ...

Political career

Shu was a military analyst at

Nanhua University Nanhua University (NHU; ) is a university located in Dalin Township, Chiayi County, Taiwan. Founded in 1996 as the Nanhua College of Management, it was elevated to university status in 1999. The university was founded by the Buddhist monk Hsi ...

before being named a spokesman for 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 ...

. He then served as the secretary-general of the National Cultural Association. Upon the founding of 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 ...

in August 2001, Shu was named party spokesperson and secretary-general.

TSU Chairmanship

In December 2004, Shu was reported as a possible candidate for the TSU chairmanship. Later that month, Shu officially declared his candidacy for the party chairmanship. Shu stepped down from his position at the National Cultural Association, where he was replaced by Tchen Yu-chiou, to declare his candidacy for the office. Though an election was planned, the Taiwan Solidarity Union's central executive committee directly appointed Shu to the chairmanship on 10 January 2005.

Yasukuni Shrine visit controversy

In April 2005, Shu visited the controversial

Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 re ...

in Japan, incurring much criticism in Taiwan, as the shrine has posts for World War II war criminals. However, Shu said that his visit was not an endorsement of Japanese

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

, but an attempt to memorialize Taiwanese soldiers who had died while serving the Japanese during the era of occupation. Shu resigned the party chairmanship on 25 December 2006, to take responsibility for the TSU's poor showing in the

municipal elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

Post-chairmanship

2014 visit to Mainland China

In February 2014, Shu and delegates led by

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

Honorary Chairman

Lien Chan Lien Chan (; born 27 August 1936) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government from 1990 to 1993, Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to ...

, visited

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

for three days, where they met with the head of

Taiwan Affairs Office The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council is an administrative agency under the State Council of Mainland China. It is responsible for setting and implementing guidelines and policies related to the Republic of China (Taiwan), as stipulat ...

Zhang Zhijun Zhang Zhijun (; born 1 February 1953) is a Chinese diplomat and politician. From 17 March 2013 to 21 March 2018, he has served as the Minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. He is currently the president of the Association f ...

and

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

General-Secretary

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...

. During the visit, Shu endorsed Lien as a champion for promoting cross-strait dialogue and advised the Democratic Progressive Party to seize this opportunity for change and to drop

as a core value. His actions were viewed as seriously violating the core values of the TSU, and he was expelled from the party for making the trip to China.

References

20th-century Taiwanese writers Taiwanese male novelists 1953 births Living people Taiwan Solidarity Union chairpersons Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Yunlin County National Defense University alumni Republic of China Military Academy alumni {{Taiwan-politician-stub