Chuang Kuo-jung

Chuang Kuo-jung
Secretary-General of the Ministry of Education
President Chen Shui-bian
Minister Tu Cheng-sheng
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung
Personal details
Born 1960 (1960) (age 58)
Tainan, Taiwan
Alma mater National Taiwan University
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Chuang Kuo-jung (traditional Chinese: 莊國榮; simplified Chinese: 庄国荣; pinyin: Zhuāng Guóróng; Wade–Giles: Chuāng Kuó-júng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chong Kok-êng; born 1960) is a former Secretary-General of the Ministry of Education in Taiwan. He served under Minister Tu Cheng-sheng.

Early life

Chuang earned his bachelor's and master's degree from the National Taiwan University and holds a Ph.D from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.[1] He joined the Kuomintang (KMT) in 1978, but grew disillusioned and subsequently leaned towards the Democratic Progressive Party, even though he is not a party member.[2]

Political career

Chuang was responsible for renaming the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall in 2007. He directed the Ministry of Education to take down the inscription on the "Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness" (Chinese: 大中至正) to "Liberty Square" (Chinese: 自由廣場). The process was met with controversy, as it was seen by the Kuomintang as part of the move by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to remove every trace of Chiang from Taiwan.[3][4]

Resignation and aftermath

Chuang resigned from his post after experiencing fallout from the public and media when he made provocative comments at a rally in Taichung on 16 March 2008, about the KMT's then-presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou and accusations that Ma's father Ma Ho-ling had had affairs with various women.[1][3] This drew the wrath of the Taiwanese public. With the 2008 presidential elections days away, Democratic Progressive Party officials, including presidential candidate Frank Hsieh and Minister Tu Cheng-sheng, publicly apologized for Chuang's remarks to limit the damage.

Chuang e-mailed an apology, and resigned from his post as secretary of the Ministry of Education under intense public pressure.[5][6] Minister Tu accepted the resignation after reservations. Although KMT legislators alleged that the apology was written on behalf of Chuang, Ma accepted the apology.[7]

Rehabilitation

After the flood in August 2009, many Taiwanese were really angry about President Ma's attitude. More Taiwanese think that what Chuang Kuo-jung said was correct. Many Taiwanese called him a prophet.[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 An educational official's uneducational behavior, The China Post, 21 March 2008
  2. ↑ 名人報報／嗆郝哭找媽～　莊媽媽要莊國榮「少講點話」 Archived 2008-03-24 at the Wayback Machine., ETtoday, 7 December 2007
  3. 1 2 Chuang 'sorry' for Ma remarks, David Young, The China Post, 18 March 2008
  4. ↑ Hall's reopening draws crowds, Jenny W. Hsu and Flora Wang, Taipei Times, 11 December 2007
  5. ↑ KMT lawmaker claims ghost writer wrote Chuang's apology, The China Post, March 19, 2008.
  6. ↑ 国民党方面质疑道歉有假 呼吁庄国荣公开向马英九致歉, 刘亚姝, China Central Television, 19 March 2008
  7. ↑ KMT lawmaker claims ghost writer wrote Chuang's apology, The China Post, 19 March 2008
  8. ↑ 莊國榮粗話一刀未剪未消音版(See the text comments)；陳怡靜 (2009-08-23). "錯怪他「罵馬小孬孬」 網友封莊國榮「先知」". 自由時報. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
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