Hau Pei-tsun

Template:Short description Template:Family name hatnote Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox officeholder Hau Pei-tsun (Template:Lang-zh, 8 August 1919 – 30 March 2020) was a Chinese general and politician who served as the premier of the Republic of China from 1990 to 1993. He was previously the chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China Armed Forces from 1981 to 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He died in March 2020 at age 100.

Early life and education

Hau was born to an upper-class family in Yancheng, Jiangsu, on August 24, 1919.<ref>Profile of Hau Pei-tsun</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He completed his elementary and high school education in Yancheng. After witnessing the 1931 Mukden incident, Hau decided to enroll in the Republic of China Military Academy, where he graduated in 1938. He then completed advanced studies at the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1953.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

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 handling 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.<ref>Template:Cite journalTemplate:In lang</ref>

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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and was named Lin Yang-kang's running mate in the 1996 presidential election. Hau rejoined the KMT in 2005.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

1996 Republic of China Presidential Election Result
President Candidate	Vice President Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Lee Teng-hui	Lien Chan	File:Emblem of the Kuomintang.svg 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

Template:Stack 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.<ref>国民党大佬郝柏村夫人病逝 子郝龙斌望低调办后事 Template:In lang</ref> Hau was baptized as a Christian on 31 December 2017.<ref>每天讀聖經　郝柏村99歲受洗歸入主名下 Template:Webarchive Template:In lang</ref>

Hau Pei-tsun died of multiple organ failure at Tri-Service General Hospital on 30 March 2020, aged 100.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was posthumously awarded a presidential citation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

References

Sources

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