Hau Pei-tsun

Hau Pei-tsun (Chinese: 郝柏村; pinyin: Hǎo Bócūn, 8 August 1919 – 30 March 2020) was a Taiwanese politician who was the Premier of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1 June 1990 to 27 February 1993, and the longest-serving Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China Armed Forces from 1 December 1981 to 4 December 1989. On 6 July 2017, Hau attended an academic meeting in Nanjing about the history of the Second Sino-Japanese War, making him the first former ROC premier to visit Mainland China since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.[1] He turned 100 in August 2019.[2]

Hau Pei-tsun 郝柏村
13th Premier of the Republic of China
In office 1 June 1990 – 27 February 1993
President	Lee Teng-hui
Deputy	Shih Chi-yang
Preceded by	Lee Huan
Succeeded by	Lien Chan
Other offices 17th Minister of National Defense of the Republic of China In office 5 December 1989 – 31 May 1990 President Lee Teng-hui Premier Lee Huan Deputy Kuo Tsung-ching Preceded by Cheng Wei-yuan Succeeded by Chen Li-an 12th Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China Armed Forces In office 1 December 1981 – 4 December 1989 President Chiang Ching-kuo Lee Teng-hui Deputy Wu Yueh (Air Force) Tsou Chien (Navy) Kuo Ju-lin (Air Force) Chiang Chung-ling (Army) Preceded by Soong Chang-chi (Navy) Succeeded by Chen Sheng-lin (Air Force) 16th Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of China Army In office March 1978 – November 1981 President Yen Chia-kan Chiang Ching-kuo Preceded by Ma An-lan Succeeded by Chiang Chung-ling
Personal details
Born	8 August 1919 Yancheng, Jiangsu, Republic of China
Died	30 March 2020 (aged 100) Neihu, Taipei, Taiwan
Resting place	Wuzhi Mountain Military Cemetery
Nationality	Republic of China
Political party	Kuomintang (1938–1995, 2005–2020)
Spouse(s)	Kuo Wan-hua ​ ​ (m. 1950; died 2018)​
Children	2 sons 3 daughters
Military service
Allegiance	Republic of China
Branch/service	Republic of China Army
Years of service	1938–1989
Rank	Senior General
Battles/wars	Second Sino-Japanese War World War II Chinese Civil War Second Taiwan Strait Crisis
Chinese name
Chinese	郝柏村
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hǎo Bócūn Wade–Giles hao3 po2 tsʻun1
courtesy name
Chinese	伯春
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Bóchūn Wade–Giles po2 chʻun1

Biography

Born to a well-to-do family in Yancheng, Jiangsu, on 8 August 1919,[3][4] Hau received a military education from the Republic of China Military Academy, National Defense University, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the War College, Armed Forces University. Hau was appointed an artillery officer in 1938, and served in the Chinese expeditionary forces in India during World War II. In the subsequent Chinese Civil War he was a staff officer.

As commander of the 9th Infantry Division from 1958 to 1961, Hau presided over the 44-day bombardment of Quemoy by the People's Liberation Army. He commanded the 3rd Corps from 1963 to 1965 and served as Chief Aide to Chiang Kai-shek from 1965 to 1970. He continued his army career as Commander of the 1st Field Army from 1970 to 1973, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the ROC Army from 1975 to 1977, Executive Vice Chief of the General Staff in the Ministry of National Defense from 1977 to 1978, Commander-in-Chief of the ROC Army 1978 to 1981, and Chief of the General Staff in the Ministry of National Defense from 1981 to 1989. whereas he received the instruction of President Chiang Ching-kuo to investigate the Lieyu Massacre in May 1987.[5]

He was a member of the Central Standing Committee of the Kuomintang from 1984 to 1993 and served as Minister of National Defense from 1989 until 1990 when he was appointed Premier. He was appointed by President Lee Teng-hui in part to mollify the conservative mainlander faction within the KMT that had threatened to run a rival presidential ticket in the March 1990 election. Hau's appointment sparked protests by those who believed it marked retrogression toward military rule, while President Lee defended his decision by saying he valued Hau's tough stance on crime. As premier he held high approval ratings (even higher than Lee's)—he was tough on crime and promoted a multibillion-dollar economic development plan to industrialize Taiwan. Hau submitted his resignation in January 1993 after the KMT's poor showing in the 1992 Legislative Yuan election.

Appointed as one of four vice-chairmen of the KMT in the 14th Party Congress (immediately following the defection of the New Kuomintang Alliance) in another effort by Lee to pacify the mainlander faction, Hau served from 1993 to 1995.

He was expelled from the Kuomintang for his support of New Party candidates in the 1995 legislative elections,[6] and was named Lin Yang-kang's running mate in the 1996 presidential election. Hau rejoined the KMT in 2005.[7][8]

1996 Republic of China Presidential Election Result
President Candidate	Vice President Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Lee Teng-hui	Lien Chan	Kuomintang	5,813,699	54.0
Peng Ming-min	Frank Hsieh	Democratic Progressive Party	2,274,586	21.1
Lin Yang-kang	Hau Pei-tsun	Independent	1,603,790	14.9
Chen Li-an	Wang Ching-feng	Independent	1,074,044	9.9
Invalid/blank votes			117,160
Total			10,883,279	100

Personal life

He married Kuo Wan-hua and had two sons and three daughters. One of his sons is politician Hau Lung-pin, the former chairman of the New Party, and former Mayor of Taipei. Kuo Wan-hua died on 12 September 2018, aged 96.[9] Hau was baptized as a Christian on 31 December 2017.[10]

Hau Pei-tsun died of multiple organ failure at Tri-Service General Hospital on 30 March 2020, aged 100.[11][12] He was posthumously awarded a presidential citation.[13]

See also

• List of longest-living state leaders

References

Citations

1. Miao, Tzung-han; Chang, S.C. (6 July 2017). "Ex-premier's presence in China alarms Taiwan's current government". Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
2. "郝柏村百歲回憶錄 出將入相的傳奇人生". gvm.com.tw. 2019-08-08. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
3. Profile of Hau Pei-tsun
4. https://m.haiwainet.cn/middle/3543599/2019/0820/content_31613998_1.html
5. Hau Pei-tsun (2000). ""Diary of Eight Years as Chief of the General Staff" (1981-1989)". Commonwealth Publishing Co., Ltd. OL 13062852M.(in Chinese)
6. Sheng, Virginia (30 August 1996). "Lee restates ruling party's unification, diplomacy goals". Taiwan Today. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016 – via Taiwan Info.
7. Hong, Caroline (7 February 2005). "Lien beckons stray sheep to return to the KMT fold". Taipei Times. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
8. "18 ex-KMT heavyweights rejoin opposition party". China Post. 7 February 2005. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
9. 国民党大佬郝柏村夫人病逝 子郝龙斌望低调办后事 (in Chinese)
10. 每天讀聖經　郝柏村99歲受洗歸入主名下 (in Chinese)
11. Yu, Hsiang; Hsu, Elizabeth (30 March 2020). "Former Premier Hau Pei-tsun dies at 100". Central News Agency. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
12. Chung, Lawrence (30 March 2020). "Former Taiwan premier Hau Pei-tsun dies aged 100 after life as soldier and statesman". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
13. Hetherington, William (2 April 2020). "Hau contributed greatly to nation: Tsai". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2020.

Sources

• Denny Roy, Taiwan: A Political History (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2003)

External links

Quotations related to Hau Pei-tsun at Wikiquote