Cablegate: Bios of Newly Elected Mayors and Magistrates -

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 004886

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON
DEPT FOR EAP/TC, INR/EAP

FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL ECON TW
SUBJECT: Bios of Newly Elected Mayors and Magistrates -
Part I (Chiayi, Tainan)CORRECTED COPY

Ref: A) 2005 TAIPEI 3642, B) 2005 TAIPEI 4746 C) 2005
TAIPEI 4684 D) 2005 TAIPEI 4399

1. In the "3 in 1 elections" (REF A), the ruling DPP won
city mayor/county magistrate seats in five cities/counties
in southern Taiwan - Chiayi County, Tainan County (REF C),
Tainan City (REF D), Kaohsiung County, Pingtung County. The
KMT won in Chiayi City (REF B) for the first time in 23
years and kept its magisterial seat in Penghu County.
Taitung County was won by an independent candidate who is
still a KMT member. This report will provide bio
information for the newly elected Chiayi City Mayor, Chiayi
County Magistrate, Tainan City Mayor, and Tainan County
Magistrate.

2. Chiayi City Mayor - Huang Min-hui (F) (KMT)
--------------------------------------------- --
Born in 1959, Huang currently is one of the two incumbent
Chiayi City Legislators. She was elected in 1999, 2001 and
2004.

Huang holds a BA from National Taiwan Normal University.
She trained as a teacher at Taipei's Chungshan Girls' High
School before she was elected as a National Assembly member
in 1996. Her father Huang Yung-chin served as a Provincial
Assembly member for years until his death in 1998. She
inherited her father's constituency and was first elected as
a Legislator in 1999.

Huang is the first KMT member to hold the seat of Chiayi
City Mayor after 20 years of independent rule by the Hsu
family (Hsu-Chia-ben) and 3 years of DPP rule.

3. Chiayi County Magistrate - Chen Ming-wen (DPP)
--------------------------------------------- -----
Born in 1954, Chen is the incumbent Chiayi County Magistrate
elected in 2001.

Chen holds a BA in Philosophy from Tung-hai University. He
was Taiwan Provincial Assembly member from 1985 to 1997, and
was elected as a Legislator in 1998.

Chen is the leader of Chiayi County's Lin faction, one of
two local factions dominating Chiayi County and both
affiliated with the KMT. Chen was a KMT member until 2001.
Before 2001, the Chiayi Magistrate's seat had been under the
control of another faction (Huang faction, KMT) for 12
years. To facilitate his chances of winning the magisterial
seat, Chen joined the DPP and ran for the magistracy with
the support of President Chen Shui-bian and defeated the KMT
candidate in 2001.

4. Tainan City Mayor - Hsu Tain-tsair (DPP)
--------------------------------------------
Born in 1950, Hsu is the incumbent Tainan City Mayor elected
in 2001.

Hsu has a master's degree in Economics from the Chinese
Culture University, Taipei. He studied in the doctoral
program in Business Administration at Rutgers University in
New Jersey. He stayed in the U.S. for about ten years
during the 1980's because he was "blacklisted" by Taiwan
authorities for his pro-Taiwan independence views expressed
when he was a student in the U.S.

Hsu was first elected as a Legislator in 1992 and won re-
election in 1995. He ran unsuccessfully in the 1995 Tainan
mayoral election against DPP candidate George Chang and
later was expelled by the DPP, after which he became an
independent. Five years later, after Chang was widely
criticized for mismanaging the City (and for corruption),
President Chen endorsed Hsu in the 2001 Tainan mayoral
election, pulling the rug out from under the DPP incumbent.
Hsu easily won in that election.

5. Tainan County - Su Huan-chih (DPP)
--------------------------------------
Born in 1955, Su is the incumbent Magistrate elected in
2001.

Su is a graduate of National Taiwan University Law School
and has a master's degree in law from Fujen Catholic
University. He served as a Legislator from 1992 to 2001.
He was President Chen's campaign assistant in the 1989 LY
election and served as the First Lady's (Wu Shu-chen)
assistant when she was a Legislator. Su was devoted to
environmental protection issues when he served as a
Legislator.

In the wake of this election, Su pointed out that the DPP
Administration's first priority after the election is to
promote cross-strait direct links, urging the advocates for
Taiwan independence to put aside their ideological battle
over the issue so that Taiwan's economy can continue to
grow.

THIELE

PAAL

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