Lien Chan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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連戰 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3rd Chairman of the Kuomintang | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office June 2000 – 19 August 2005 |
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Deputy |
Vincent Siew Wang Jin-pyng Chiang Chung-ling Wu Po-hsiung Lin Cheng-zi Chiang Pin-kung Ma Ying-jeou |
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Vice President of the Republic of China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 20 May 1996 – 20 May 2000 |
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President | Lee Teng-hui | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14th Premier of the Republic of China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 27 February 1993 – 31 August 1997 |
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President | Lee Teng-hui | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy | Hsu Li-teh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
27 August 1936 (age 80) Xi'an, Shensi, Republic of China |
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Nationality | Republic of China | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Kuomintang | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse(s) | Fang Yu (m. 1965) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relations |
Sean Lien (son) Lien Hui-hsin (daughter) |
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Alma mater |
Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University National Taiwan University University of Chicago |
Lien Chan (Chinese: 連戰; pinyin: Lián Zhàn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Liân Chiàn; born August 27, 1936, in Xi'an, China) is a politician in Taiwan. He was Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 2000, and was the Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 2000 to 2005, apart from various ministerial posts he had also held. Upon his retirement as KMT Chairman in August 2005, he was given the title Honorary Chairman of the Kuomintang. He is highly credited after holding a groundbreaking visit to Mainland China in his capacity as the Chairman of Kuomintang to meet with the Secretary-General of the Communist Party of China on 29 April 2005, the first meeting between the two party leaders after the end of Chinese Civil War in 1949, in which subsequently helped thaw the long-stalled cross-strait relations.
Lien Chan was born in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China as the only child of Lien Chen-tung (連震東) and Chao Lan-k'un (趙蘭坤). His paternal grandfather, Lien Heng, was the writer of The General History of Taiwan (台灣通史), a book that is often cited for the quote, "Taiwan's sorrow is that it has no history." Lien earned a Bachelor's degree in political science from the National Taiwan University in 1957 and a Master of Arts in International Law and Diplomacy in 1961. He received a PhD in political science in 1965 from the University of Chicago and married former Miss Republic of China Fang Yu the same year. Lien is also currently a Trustee Emeritus on the Board of Trustees to the University of Chicago.