Sun Yun-suan
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (March 2021) |
Sun Yun-suan | |
|---|---|
| 孫運璿 | |
 Official portrait, 1978 | |
| Senior Advisor to the President | |
| In office 1 June 1984 – 15 February 2006 | |
| President | Chiang Ching-kuo Lee Teng-hui Chen Shui-bian |
| 10th Premier of Taiwan | |
| In office 1 June 1978 – 24 February 1984 | |
| President | Chiang Ching-kuo |
| Vice Premier | Hsu Ching-chung Chiu Chuang-huan |
| Preceded by | Hsu Ching-chung (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Chiu Chuang-huan (acting) |
| 13th Minister of Economic Affairs | |
| In office 1 October 1969 – 29 May 1978 | |
| Premier | Yen Chia-kan Chiang Ching-kuo Hsu Ching-chung (acting) |
| Preceded by | Tao Shen-yang |
| Succeeded by | Chang Shih-kuang |
| 7th Minister of Transportation and Communications | |
| In office 29 November 1967 – 1 October 1969 | |
| Premier | Yen Chia-kan |
| Preceded by | Yi Shen |
| Succeeded by | Chang Chi-cheng |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 November 1913 Penglai, Shandong, Republic of China |
| Died | 15 February 2006 (aged 92) Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China |
| Resting place | Hsin Hsin Cemetery, Keelung |
| Political party | Kuomintang |
| Spouse | Yu Hui-hsuen |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | Harbin Institute of Technology (BEE) |
Sun Yun-suan (Chinese: 孫運璿; pinyin: Sūn Yùnxuán; 10 November 1913 – 15 February 2006) was a Taiwanese engineer and politician. As minister of economic affairs from 1969 to 1978 and Premier of the Republic of China from 1978 to 1984, he was credited for overseeing the export-driven industrialization of Taiwan.[citation needed]
Early life and engineering career
[edit]
Born in Penglai, Shandong, he earned his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the Harbin Institute of Technology in 1934. From 1937 to 1940 he was an engineer at the National Resources Commission and worked at a government-run power station in Qinghai province, he earned fame and respect throughout China for disassembling and then transporting an electrical/power boiler, into Kuomintang territory in order to prevent the expensive equipment from falling into enemy Japanese hands. During World War II (from 1937 to 1945),[1] he was sent by the National Resources Commission to train in the United States as an engineer at the Tennessee Valley Authority.
In 1946, he was sent to Taiwan (which had just been handed over to the Nationalist Government from Japan following the Allied victory in World War II) to work at the Taiwan Power Company, a public utility. Managing a staff of several hundred, Sun was able to get 80% of the power network in Taiwan (destroyed during the war) restored in five months. At Taiwan Power Company, he was Head Engineer of the Electrical and Mechanical Department from 1946 to 1950, Chief Engineer from 1950 to 1962, and Vice President from 1953 to 1962.
Due to his successes in Taiwan, the World Bank sent him to Nigeria as head of the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria in 1964, which he served as CEO and General Manager until 1967. He increased Nigeria's power supply by 88%.
Government career
[edit]He returned to Taiwan and joined the ROC government as Minister of Communications in 1967. In 1969, he was transferred to become Minister of Economic Affairs and served until 30 May 1978 when he was promoted to Premier of the Republic of China.
He is credited as one of the chief architects of Taiwan's "economic miracle" that led Taiwan to become one of the East Asian Tigers. It was during Sun's premiership the Ten Infrastructure Projects, including the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, the Number 1 Nuclear Power Plant, and the Sun Yat-sen National Expressway, were completed. Sun championed the establishment of high-technology industries that would later become the basis of the Taiwanese economy. He initiated the development of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (that would later give rise to numerous major semiconductor companies such as TSMC) and the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park which would serve as a major electronics and semiconductor manufacturing hub. Sun is also credited for transforming Taiwan's existing export industries, which were developed in the 1960s and centered on textiles, shoes, plastic toys, and agriculture, to the more sustainable fields of petrochemicals, machine tools, and electronics.
Later life
[edit]
Sun was once regarded as heir apparent to Chiang Ching-kuo, but he suffered a stroke during a legislative interpellation session in 1984, ending his political career. Instead, Lee Teng-hui became Chiang's heir apparent and ultimate successor. Sun resigned as premier on 20 May 1984 and was appointed to the largely honorary position of senior advisor to the President of the Republic of China.
After his stroke, Sun became a major advocate of health issues such as the importance of monitoring high blood pressure for elderly people. He also campaigned against smoking.
Another stroke left him needing to use a wheelchair for mobility. Nevertheless, Sun remained politically active in his later years and campaigned on behalf of KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan in the 2004 presidential election.
He died at the age of 92 while hospitalized at the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei as a result of myocardial infarction and sepsis. Sun was accorded the honour of a State funeral due to his tremendous contributions and hard work and determination for Taiwan, which was held on February 25. Then-DPP President Chen Shui-bian also attended his funeral. Sun’s ashes were interred at the Keelung Hsin Hsin Cemetery.
References
[edit]- ^ Sun, Vlasova, Harmsen, Lianggang, Evgenia, Peter. "Shanghai 1937 – Where World War II Began". SHANGHAI 1937: WHERE WORLD WAR II BEGAN. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
When did World War II begin? Shanghai 1937: Where World War II Began answers that question in a way most audiences will find surprising. Americans might say December 7, 1941… The day the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. For Europeans, it was September 1, 1939… When Nazi Germany invaded Poland. But in China, people will tell you a different date. August 13, 1937.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- Taipei Times: Leaders bid farewell to Sun
- Taiwan News: Taiwan bids farewell to economy's mastermind Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
- The Irish Times: Architect of Taiwan's industrial revolution
- China Post: Nation bids farewell to ex-Premier Sun
External links
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| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1913 births
- 2006 deaths
- Deaths from sepsis
- Infectious disease deaths in Taiwan
- Harbin Institute of Technology alumni
- Politicians from Yantai
- Premiers of the Republic of China on Taiwan
- Senior advisors to President Chiang Ching-kuo
- Senior advisors to President Lee Teng-hui
- Republic of China politicians from Shandong
- Ministers of economic affairs of Taiwan
- Ministers of transportation and communications of Taiwan
- Taiwanese people from Shandong
- People from Penglai, Shandong
- Engineers from Shandong
- Expatriates in Nigeria
- Tennessee Valley Authority people
- Taiwan Power Company people