Wang Ju-hsuan

Wang Ju-hsuan
王如玄
Minister of Council of Labor Affairs of the Republic of China
In office 20 May 2008 – 28 September 2012
Deputy	Pan Shih-wei
Preceded by	Lu Tien-ling
Succeeded by	Pan Shih-wei
Personal details
Born	2 October 1961 (age 55) Taipei, Taiwan
Nationality	Taiwanese
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Huang Tung-hsun (黃東焄)[1]
Alma mater	National Taiwan University Fu Jen Catholic University Renmin University of China

Wang Ju-hsuan^[2] (Chinese: 王如玄; pinyin: Wáng Rúxuán; born 2 October 1961), also known as Jennifer Wang, is a Taiwanese lawyer and politician.^[3] She was the Minister of the Council of Labor Affairs from 2008 to 2012.^[4] In 2015, Wang was selected as Eric Chu's running mate on the Kuomintang (KMT) ticket for the 2016 Republic of China presidential election.^[5]

Early life

Wang was born on 2 October 1961 in Taipei and grew up in Changhua County. She studied at Taipei First Girls' High School in Taipei.^[6] She obtained her bachelor's and master's degree in law from National Taiwan University in 1984 and from Fu Jen Catholic University in 1988 respectively.^[7] She then obtained her doctoral degree from Renmin University of China in Beijing.^[1][8]

Non-political careers

Wang was the Chairwoman of National Organization for Women in 1994, Chairwoman of the Awakening Foundation in 1998-1999, Executive Director of Taipei Bar Association in 1999-2002, and adviser of Gender/Sexuality Rights Association Taiwan in 2002-2008.^[7]

Political careers

Wang was the adviser for Taipei Mayor Chen Shui-bian in 1996-1998, member of Employment Discrimination Review Committee of Taipei City Government in 1996-2008, member of Commission on Women's Right Promotion of Executive Yuan in 1998-2003, adviser to Taipei City Government in 1999-2008, member of Presidential Human Rights Advisory Council in 2004-2005 and member of Labor Pension Fund Supervisory Committee of Executive Yuan in 2007-2008.^[7]

Council of Labor Affairs Ministry

Wang was appointed as the Minister of Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) on 20 May 2008.^[9] Her term was noted for controversial policies, including the filing of lawsuits against laid-off workers, the implementation of an unpaid leave system, and the so-called "22K policy", which was criticised for decreasing salaries.^[10]

She resigned on 28 September 2012 after her proposal to raise the minimum wage in Taiwan was disputed by Premier Sean Chen.^[11][12] Wang was replaced by CLA Deputy Minister Pan Shih-wei.^[2]

2016 Presidential election

Appointment to the KMT ticket

On 18 November 2015, Wang was officially appointed as the running mate of KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu.^[10][13]

Shortly after Wang's candidature was announced, allegations surfaced that she had improperly profited from property speculation on housing units intended to house military families. Wang responded by suing one her accusers, legislator Tuan Yi-kang, for defamation while stating that her family had bought three units since 2008.^[14] After further allegations, Wang then listed five properties she and her family own or have owned while stressing the legality of her actions.^[15] A few days later Wang revised the list of properties she had invested in to include twelve units, apologised for having "failed to meet the moral standards expected of me", and pledged to donate the profits from their sales to charity.^[16] The case was dropped in January 2016, as prosecutors decided Tuan had done adequate research to bring the allegations forth. However, prosecutors also found that the allegations were false and cleared Wang of any wrongdoing.^[17]

Election result

Wang and Chu finished second after the election result was announced on 16 January 2016.

 Summary of the 16 January 2016 Taiwanese presidential election results

Party		Candidate		Votes	Percentage
		President	Vice president
	Democratic Progressive Party	Tsai Ing-wen	Chen Chien-jen	6,894,744	56.12%
	Kuomintang	Eric Chu	Wang Ju-hsuan	3,813,365	31.04%
	People First Party	James Soong	Hsu Hsin-ying	1,576,861	12.84%
Total				12,284,970	100%

References

1. "Jennifer Wang's Chinese degree stirs speculation". taipeitimes.com.
2. "Labor council head to run new labor ministry - Taipei Times". taipeitimes.com. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
3. http://humanrights.cy.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=9513&ctNode=1879&mp=81
4. "Executive Yuan ─ WANG Ju-hsuan". archives.ey.gov.tw. Retrieved 2014-08-22. horizontal tab character in |title= at position 16 (help)
5. Eric Chu taps former labor head as running mate, Focus Taiwan, retrieved 2015-11-18
6. "Eric Chu taps former labor head as running mate (update)". focustaiwan.tw.
7. "Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (Taiwan)". ey.gov.tw.
8. "KMT head names running mate - Global Times". globaltimes.cn.
9. Liu, Claudia; Wu, Lilian (19 November 2015). "Eric Chu taps former labor head as running mate (update)". Central News Agency. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
10. "Jennifer Wang joins Chu's ticket". taipeitimes.com.
11. "CLA Minister's Resignation Approved, Deputy to Be Successor". China Post. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
12. Chiao, Yuan-Ming (19 November 2015). "Remaining running mates revealed". China Post. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
13. KMT Chairman Announces Running Mate for 2016 Election. YouTube. 19 November 2015.
14. KMT vice presidential candidate sues lawmaker for slander, focustaiwan.tw
15. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2015/11/29/452155/Wang-faces.htm, China Post External link in |title= (help)
16. KMT VP candidate vows to donate profits from property deals, focustaiwan.tw
17. Pan, Jason (30 January 2016). "Prosecutors drop Tuan Yi-kang defamation case". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 January 2016.