Biographies
Vincent C. Siew 蕭萬長 Vice President
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Vincent C. Siew was born on January 3, 1939, in Chiayi City, Taiwan. He graduated from the Department of Diplomacy at National Chengchi University in 1961, earned a master’s degree in international law and diplomacy from the school in 1965, and was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship for short-term study in the United States in 1985.
Siew joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1962, but after the ROC withdrew from the United Nations in 1971, he shifted his focus to economic affairs, convinced that the nation would need to use its economic strength if it were to hold its own in the international community.
As Director-General of the Bureau of Foreign Trade (1982-1988), Minister of Economic Affairs (1990-1993) and Chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (1993-1994), Siew negotiated most-favored-nation treatment with the United States, and pushed through several public projects that boosted economic development, such as the Southern Taiwan Science Park.
In 1993 and 1994, Siew represented President Lee Teng-hui at APEC summit meetings in Seattle and Jakarta before being appointed in December 1994 as Chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council. In that capacity, he proposed a series of measures to encourage the development of cross-strait relations.
After becoming a legislator in 1995, Siew organized a cross-party caucus on legislation to facilitate Taiwan’s bid to join the World Trade Organization. Upon being appointed Premier in August 1997, Siew was dubbed the “Commoner Premier” by the media because he comes from a farming family. In 2000, he was chosen as running mate to Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Lien Chan, but the ticket lost due to social changes and a split in the KMT.
Siew’s tenure as Premier was marked by the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis and a devastating earthquake in central Taiwan in 1999, but under his steady leadership, Taiwan weathered the financial crisis far better than its neighbors, while suffering from the earthquake was kept to a minimum.
After leaving the civil service, Siew lectured in universities and devoted himself to public causes. Inspired by the European Union, he founded the Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation (CSCMF) in 2001 to promote normalization and systemization of trade between Taiwan and mainland China. In 2003, President Chen Shui-bian recruited Siew to chair the Presidential Economic Advisory Panel, where he helped stabilize the economy after the SARS outbreak.
In June 2007, Ma Ying-jeou announced Siew as his running mate. During the presidential campaign, Siew helped Ma draw up economic policies in line with the spirit of “putting Taiwan first for the benefit of the people.” On March 22, 2008, Ma and Siew were elected by a landslide.
In April 2008, Siew attended the Boao Forum for Asia in mainland China’s Hainan Province in his capacity as CSCMF Chairman. There, he shared with Chinese Communist Party leader Hu Jintao his views on the future of cross-strait relations. This “ice-breaking” trip, as it was described in media coverage, helped ease tensions and paved the way for further cross-strait interaction under the new administration.
Upon taking office in May 2008, Vice President Siew headed task forces which recommended nominations of presidents and members of the Control Yuan, the Examination Yuan and the Judicial Yuan. By October of 2008, the nominations were finalized. Upon confirmation by the Legislative Yuan, the Control Yuan (the nation’s highest watchdog body) was up and running after a stalemate had kept the organization mothballed for over three years.
The global economic crisis deepened over the course of 2008, and President Ma responded in September 2008 by establishing a financial and economic advisory task force headed by Vice President Siew. As the task force reaches points of consensus, these are sent to the Executive Yuan for reference in its economic and financial policy decisions.
To revive Taiwan’s cultural and creative industries, which have been battered by the financial tsunami, Vice President Siew convened six roundtable conferences from January to May 2009 to communicate directly with those in the industries. Hopefully such government support will boost the output of our cultural and creative industries to more than NT$1 trillion (about US$30.5 billion). Also, Vice President Siew was named by the President to chair the preparatory commission for activities commemorating the centenary of late President Chiang Ching-kuo, which fell on April 13, 2009. Under his leadership, a number of exhibitions, seminars and concerts were held, and commemorative stamps were issued in honor of the late President who led the nation toward democratization and prosperity.
President Ma and the nation count themselves lucky that an experienced civil servant of Siew’s caliber stands by the President’s side to help him guide Taiwan through some of the most treacherous economic conditions to be witnessed in several decades.