Su Huan-chih
Su Huan-chih (Chinese: 蘇煥智; pinyin: Sū Huànzhì; Wade–Giles: Su1 Huan4-chih4; born July 20, 1956) was the magistrate of Tainan County from 2001 to 2010, until Tainan County's merger into Tainan City. Born in a rural township in southern Taiwan, Su graduated from National Taiwan University. He passed the bar examination in 1986 and started his career as a lawyer.[1]
Su Huan-chih | |
---|---|
10th Magistrate of Tainan County | |
In office 20 December 2001 – 25 December 2010 | |
Preceded by | Mark Chen |
Succeeded by | William Lai as Mayor of Tainan |
Member of the Legislative Yuan | |
In office 1 February 1993 – 20 December 2001 | |
Constituency | Tainan County |
Personal details | |
Born | Cigu Township, Tainan County, Taiwan | 20 July 1956
Nationality | Taiwan |
Political party | Taiwan Renewal Party (since 2019) |
Other political affiliations | Independent (2018–19) Democratic Progressive Party (1991–2018) |
Alma mater | National Taiwan University Fu Jen Catholic University |
Occupation | Politician |
Profession | Lawyer |
Su made his entry into politics in the 1990s. He was elected legislator three times in a row serving from 1992 to 2001. As an experienced legislator, Su launched a magisterial campaign in 2001 and was elected with over 51% of the votes, becoming the second member of the Democratic Progressive Party to ever hold the position.[2]
Early life and career
Su Huan-chih was born on 20 July 1956 in Cigu, Tainan County. He grew up in the agriculture-based township during his childhood years.[1]
Su began studying at the prestigious National Taiwan University majoring in physics. He decided to drop out and switched his major to laws in 1977.[1] After passing the bar examination, Su started his career as a practicing lawyer. With his academic experience in physics, he was hired by IBM Taiwan to serve as its patent attorney.[1]
Su gave up his job at IBM and went back to his hometown to run for legislator. He was elected a member of the Legislative Yuan in 1992. He promoted the senior welfare and environmental protection. Having been elected three times in a row, Su worked to decrease the difference in resource distribution between northern and southern Taiwan.[1]
Tainan magistracy
Su was elected the magistrate of Tainan County and took office on December 20, 2001.[3] He focused on preserving the environment of the region. For example, he worked with international ecologists and planned to build a research center near the habitat of black-faced spoonbills with a goal to preserve these endangered birds.[4]
The Su administration also improved the technological economy of the region. The net worth of the Tainan Science Park grew from NT$50.1 billion in 2001 to NT$451.6 billion in 2006. Apart from the growth in profit, many new industrial parks were established. As a result, Tainan County transformed from an agrarian county to a technological county.[1]
Despite the technological innovations, Su also promoted agriculture of southern Taiwan. The Taiwan Orchid Plantation (Chinese: 台灣蘭花科技園區) was founded during his term. The plantation has held three international exhibitions since its establishment. The exhibitions attracted more than 600 thousand visitors gaining NT$400 million from export orders.[1]
Later political career
In March 2018, Su began his independent campaign for the Taipei mayoralty.[5][6] He ended his Taipei mayoral bid in July, choosing to contest the same office in Tainan.[7]
2018 Tainan City mayoral results[8] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage | |
1 | Huang Wei-cher | Democratic Progressive Party | 367,518 | 38.02% | |
2 | Kao Su-po | Kuomintang | 312,874 | 32.37% | |
3 | Lin Yi-feng (林義豐) | Independent | 84,153 | 8.71% | |
4 | Hsu Chun-hsin (許忠信) | Independent | 45,168 | 4.67% | |
5 | Chen Yong-he (陳永和) | Independent | 117,179 | 12.12% | |
6 | Su Huan-chih | Independent | 39,778 | 4.11% | |
Total voters | 1,546,862 | ||||
Valid votes | 966,670 | ||||
Invalid votes | |||||
Voter turnout | 62.49% |
On 24 August 2019, Su founded the Taiwan Renewal Party and was elected its convenor.[9]
References
- "縣長 蘇煥智簡介". Tainan County government. Retrieved April 8, 2008.
- "臺南縣歷屆縣長選舉當選人名單". Central Election Commission. Archived from the original on October 25, 2008. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
- Tsai Ting-I. "Local government chiefs take up positions". The Taipei Times. Retrieved April 9, 2008.
- Chiu, Yu-tzu. "Southern Taiwan embraces nature". Taipei Times. Retrieved April 9, 2008.
- Lee, I-chia (March 4, 2018). "Ex-Tainan county commissioner to run for Taipei job". Taipei Times. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
- Chen, Wei-han (March 7, 2018). "Su blasts 'failures' of DPP government". Taipei Times. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
- Wan, Yu-chen; Hetherington, William (July 3, 2018). "Ex-county head to run for Tainan mayor as independent". Taipei Times. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
- https://www.cec.gov.tw/pc/en/TC/nm67000000000000000.html
- Lim, Emerson (August 24, 2019). "Another political party formed in Taiwan ahead of 2020 elections". Central News. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Su Huan-chih. |
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Mark Chen |
Magistrate of Tainan County 2001–2010 |
Succeeded by County merged into Tainan City; William Lai as the mayor of Tainan |