Lee Teng-hui

Lee Teng-hui (Chinese: 李登輝; Taiwanese Romanization: Lí Teng-hui; pinyin: Lǐ Dēnghuī; born January 15, 1923) is a politician in the Republic of China on Taiwan. He was the President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. His tenure was marked with major extensions to the democratic reforms initiated by Chiang Ching-kuo that ceded power to the Taiwanese electorate. He also promoted the Taiwan localization movement and led an aggressive foreign policy to gain diplomatic allies. His critics accused him of black gold politics and being a secret supporter of Taiwan independence who was trying to undermine the party he headed. After leaving office, Lee has confirmed some of these accusations by emerging as a radical Taiwan independence activist, and currently serves as the "spiritual leader" of the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union.

Early life

A Hakka, Lee Teng-hui was born in Sanchih, near Taipei, Taiwan when the island was under Japanese colonial occupation. Growing up under Japanese colonial rule, he developed an affinity for Japan and his family collaborated closely with Japanese colonial authority. Lee—one of only four Taiwanese students in his high school class—graduated with honors and was given a scholarship to Japan's prestigious Kyoto Imperial University.

Related Topics:
Hakka - Sanchih - Taipei - Taiwan - Japan - Kyoto Imperial University

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After World War II, with Taiwan now under KMT control, Lee enrolled in the National Taiwan University, where in 1948, he earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural science. A devout Marxist in his teens, Lee joined the Communist Party of China in September 1946, but quit two years later. He participated in the 228 Incident during this time.http://www.siliconinvestor.com/stocktalk/msg.gsp?msgid=19780611 Based on the fact that the Communists who associated with Lee were all executed by the government while Lee survived, Li Ao, who is a pro-reunification politician and a writer, asserted that Lee must have sold out his comrades before joining Kuomintang later. Meanwhile, Li also criticized Lee for corruption. According to Wu Ketai, who inducted Lee into the Communist Party, the KMT was aware that Lee had been a Communist, but must have destroyed the records when Lee was promoted to the vice-presidency. Lee himself admitted that he was a communist in a 2002 interview, but declined to comment whether he was a traitor. Lee stated that he joined out of hatred of the KMT.http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/archives/2002/11/08/0000178746

Related Topics:
World War II - National Taiwan University - 1948 - Bachelor's degree - Marxist - Communist Party of China - 228 Incident - Li Ao

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In 1953, Lee received a master's degree in agricultural economics from the Iowa State University in the United States. Lee subsequently returned to Taiwan as an economist with the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction (JCRR), an institution sponsored by the U.S. and aimed at modernizing Taiwan's agricultural system and at land reform.

Related Topics:
1953 - Iowa State University - United States

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In the mid-1960s Lee returned to the United States, and earned a Ph.D in agricultural economics from Cornell University in 1968.

Related Topics:
1960s - Cornell University - 1968

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He speaks Taiwanese, Japanese, Mandarin, and English.

Related Topics:
Taiwanese - Japanese - Mandarin - English

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