Wang Ju-hsuan (; born 2 October 1961), also known as Jennifer Wang, is a Taiwanese lawyer and politician. She was the Minister of the Council of Labor Affairs from 2008 to 2012. In 2015, Wang was selected as

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 ...

's running mate on 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 ...

(KMT) ticket for the 2016 Republic of China presidential election, which they eventually lost.

Early life and education

Wang was born on 2 October 1961 in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

and grew up in

Changhua County Changhua (Wade-Giles: ''Chang¹-hua⁴'') is a Taiwanese County (Taiwan), county that is the smallest on the Geography of Taiwan, main island of Taiwan by area, and the fourth smallest in the country. With a total population of 1.24 million, Chan ...

. She studied at Taipei First Girls' High School in Taipei. She earned her

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(LL.B.) and

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

(LL.M.) 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 ...

in 1984 and from

Fu Jen Catholic University Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU, FJCU or Fu Jen; or ) is a private education, private Catholic university in Xinzhuang District, Xinzhuang, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1925 in Beijing at the request of Pope Pius XI and ...

in 1988, respectively. She then earned a Ph.D. from

Renmin University of China The Renmin University of China (RUC) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. The ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China.

Non-political career

Wang was Chairwoman of the National Organization for Women in 1994, Chairwoman of the Awakening Foundation in 1998–1999, executive director of Taipei Bar Association in 1999–2002, and adviser to the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association of Taiwan in 2002–2008.

Political career

Wang served as adviser to Taipei Mayor

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian ( zh, t=陳水扁; born 12 October 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician and lawyer who served as the fifth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progres ...

in 1996–1998, member of the Employment Discrimination Review Committee of the

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 ...

in 1996–2008, member of Commission on Women's Right Promotion of

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 ...

in 1998–2003, adviser to the Taipei City Government in 1999–2008, member of the Presidential Human Rights Advisory Council in 2004-2005 and member of the Labor Pension Fund Supervisory Committee of the Executive Yuan in 2007–2008.

Council of Labor Affairs Ministry

Wang was appointed Minister of the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) on 20 May 2008. Her term was noted for controversial policies, including the filing of lawsuits against laid-off workers, the implementation of an unpaid leave system, and the so-called "22K policy", which was criticised for decreasing salaries. She resigned on 28 September 2012 after her proposal to raise the minimum wage in Taiwan was disputed by

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Sean Chen. Wang was replaced by CLA Deputy Minister Pan Shih-wei.

2016 Presidential election

Appointment to the KMT ticket

On 18 November 2015, Wang was officially appointed as the running mate of KMT presidential candidate

. Shortly after Wang's candidature was announced, allegations surfaced that she had improperly profited from property speculation on housing units intended to house military families. Wang responded by suing one of her accusers, legislator

Tuan Yi-kang Tuan Yi-kang (; born 14 November 1963) is a Taiwanese politician. A former leader of the Democratic Progressive Party's now-abolished New Tide faction, he has served on the party's Central Standing Committee, the Taipei City Council and the Leg ...

, for defamation while stating that her family had bought three units since 2008. After further allegations surfaced, Wang then listed five properties she and her family owned or had owned while stressing the legality of her actions. A few days later Wang revised the list of properties she had invested in to include twelve units, apologised for having "failed to meet the moral standards expected of me", and pledged to donate the profits from their sales to charity. The case was dropped in January 2016, as prosecutors decided Tuan had done adequate research to bring the allegations forth. However, prosecutors also found that the allegations were false and cleared Wang of any wrongdoing.

Election result

Wang and Chu finished second in the election on 16 January 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Ju-hsuan Ministers of labor of Taiwan Living people 1961 births National Taiwan University alumni Fu Jen Catholic University alumni Renmin University of China alumni Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Taipei Women government ministers of Taiwan