Annette Lu

Annette Lu
呂秀蓮
Lu giving a speech at the 228 Memorial Park in 2008.
Vice President of the Republic of China
In office 20 May 2000 – 20 May 2008
President	Chen Shui-bian
Preceded by	Lien Chan
Succeeded by	Vincent Siew
Magistrate of Taoyuan County
In office 28 March 1997 – 20 May 2000
Preceded by	Liu Pang-yu Liau Pen-yang (acting)
Succeeded by	Hsu Ying-shen (acting) Eric Chu
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office 1 February 1993 – 31 January 1996
Constituency	Taoyuan County constituency
Personal details
Born	(1944-06-07) June 7, 1944 (age 72) Tōen Town, Shinchiku Prefecture, Japanese Taiwan (now Taoyuan District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan)
Nationality	Taiwan
Political party	Democratic Progressive Party
Alma mater	National Taiwan University University of Illinois Harvard University
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Lawyer

Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (Chinese: 呂秀蓮; pinyin: Lǚ Xiùlián; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lū Siù-liân; born June 7, 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party and served as the Vice President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008, under President Chen Shui-bian. Lu announced her intentions to run for the presidency on March 6, 2007, but withdrew to support eventual DPP nominee Frank Hsieh. Lu ran again in 2012, but withdrew for a second time, ceding the nomination to DPP chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen.

Lu was born in Tōen Town (now Taoyuan City), in northern Taiwan, during Japanese rule. She has one older brother and three older sisters. After graduating from Taipei First Girls' High School, Lu studied law at the National Taiwan University. Graduating in 1967, she went on to gain a Master of Laws from both the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (in comparative law, 1971) and Harvard University (1978).

During the 1970s, Lu established herself as a prominent feminist advocate in Taiwan, which included writing of New Feminism or Xin Nüxing Zhuyi (新女性主義). She renounced her KMT membership, joined the Tangwai movement, and worked on the staff of Formosa Magazine. Lu then became increasingly active in the tang-wai, the opposition movement calling for democracy and an end to authoritarian rule. In 1979 she delivered a 20-minute speech criticizing the government at an International Human Rights Day rally that later became known as the Kaohsiung Incident. Following this rally, virtually the entire leadership of Taiwan's democracy movement, including Lu, was imprisoned. She was tried, found guilty of violent sedition, and sentenced by a military court to 12 years in prison. She was named by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, and partly due to international pressure was released in 1985, after approximately five-and-a-half years in jail.