Winston Wong

Winston Wen-Yang Wong (Chinese: 王文洋; pinyin: Wáng Wényáng; born April 2, 1951 in Taipei County (now New Taipei City), Taiwan) is the eldest son of Wang Yung-ching, chair of the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG), by his second wife. Wong is now a widower with a son and a daughter after his wife succumbed to stomach cancer in 2007. Wong holds degrees in physics, applied optics, and chemical engineering from Imperial College London. His English name was chosen during his study in the United Kingdom.

Career

Wong was executive vice president of Nan Ya Plastics, an FPG subsidiary, until a widely publicized affair (and the resulting 14% drop in FPG stocks) led to his dismissal in December 1995. His father then “banished” Wong to the United States, where he spent one year teaching at the business school of the University of California, Berkeley. While in the United States, Wong met Jiang Mianheng, son of Jiang Zemin, the president of the PRC at that time.

In 2000, Wong and Jiang Mianheng co-founded the US$1.63 billion Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. joint venture in Shanghai, China. Though Wong serves as president and CEO of that company, Wong himself is not a stockholder, due to cross-strait investment restrictions imposed by the Republic of China (ROC). Wong also serves as chair of the Hung Jen Group (宏仁集團) and chair of the Grace THW Group (宏仁企业集团), which are heavily invested in mainland China’s petrochemical and electronics industries, respectively.

The Winston Wong Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology was created at Imperial College London in 2009.

Support for Trade Agreements Between Taiwan-NAFTA/United States

As an entrepreneur, Wong has long been a vocal supporter for increased levels of trade cooperation between Taiwan and the West, and free trade agreements in general. On February 26th, 2012, Forbes featured an OP/ED written by Wong in which he discussed, “A Free Trade Agenda For the U.S. and Taiwan”. The premise of the article being that despite global exports totaling $274 billion in 2010, Taiwan has had difficulty establishing a footprint in substantial global trade agreements. Because of Taiwan’s complex diplomatic relations, it has had trouble entering substantial trade pacts with the economic powerhouses of the United States and North American Free Trade Agreement.

Even so, Wong argues that free-trade agreements with several Central American nations, as well as with Singapore have proven Taiwan worthy of inclusion. Wong has pointed to the increased quality of life from “survivor” to “consumer” and entrance into the middle class for millions of people in China, India, and Brazil in advocacy for increased trade cooperation with Taiwan.

Scandals involving women

In 1995, Wong was “banished” to the United States by his father following months of media attention concerning his affair with Annie Lu (呂安妮), a 27-year-old doctoral student at National Taiwan University, who is also his advisee. Lu publicly announced her love for the married man and, it was reported that she wrote a long letter to patriarch Wang Yung-ching requesting to join the family as his son’s concubine. Wang refused. The scandal died down after Wong left for California in December 1995. Lu is currently working in Hung Jen Group as Wong's personal assistant and have given birth to a son.

In 1998, Wong paid NT$3.2 million to Jo Jo Lin (林爰君), a woman who had approached Wong in 1996 on the pretext of wanting to invest in his Hung Jen Group. Wong, who was married at this time, paid that sum in an attempt to keep silent her claims that he had fathered a child by her and then abandoned them. When she went public anyway, Wong successfully sued her for blackmail and for damaging his reputation. Lin was found guilty of both charges, sentenced to 17 months in jail, and ordered to pay Wong NT$5.2 million in damages. Neither penalty was served, however, as Lin has been in hiding since March 2001. Wong also won a slander suit against Power News, for the unsubstantiated reports it published during this scandal.

Scandals involving foreign politicians

In 1996 and 1997, the United States Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Government Reform investigated a 21 June 1995 White House coffee reception at which Wong met then-president Bill Clinton. According to a ledger entry made by Clinton’s assistant, Harold Ickes, Wong pledged at that time to donate US$100,000 to the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Records show that the money was not received. However, Charlie Trie, the man who had obtained the invitation for Wong, delivered a $50,000 donation to the DNC the following day and testified before the House Committee that he was reimbursed by Wong’s associates. Trie has since pled guilty to transferring corporate contributions to the DNC in violation of campaign finance laws. This has raised suspicion that Wong may have sought a quid pro quo in the form of waived environmental regulations for FPG interests in the U.S. The matter was investigated but Wong did not face prosecution.

In November 2000, People First Party Legislator Chin Huei-chu accused Wong of coordinating a PRC bribe worth US$4.5 million for the benefit of President Chen Shui-bian. Investigations by the ROC National Security Bureau found no evidence to confirm her charges, and Wong sued the legislator for libel.

In August 2002 Neil Bush, the brother of President George W. Bush, signed a 5-year consulting contract with Grace Semiconductor, reportedly at Wong’s request. This contract, worth a total of $2 million in company stock, came despite Bush’s admission that he possesses “absolutely no educational background in semiconductors.” No wrongdoing has been alleged but some have questioned the propriety of this deal, especially in light of Wong’s investments in the educational software firm that Bush co-founded.

Moon Regan TransAntarctic Expedition Sponsorship

In June 2010, Winston Wong agreed to be the main sponsor of the Moon-Regan Trans-Antarctic expedition led by Andrew Regan and Andrew Moon. The Expedition will travel 3,600 miles across Antarctica, from Patriot Hills on the west coast to the South Pole, heading north from there through the Trans-Antarctic Mountain Range, down the Leverett Glacier and across the Ross Ice Shelf to the coast at McMurdo.

The Expedition has partnered with Imperial College London to carry out a wide range of scientific objectives. The team is travelling in three vehicles across Antarctica, including two mobile laboratories and the Winston Wong Bio-Inspired Ice Vehicle (WWBIV). The WWBIV will be the first bio-fuelled vehicle on Antarctica to endeavour to reach the Geographic South Pole.


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