Lee Yuan-tsu

Lee Yuan-tsu
李元簇
Vice President of the Republic of China
In office 20 May 1990 – 19 May 1996
President	Lee Teng-hui
Preceded by	Lee Teng-hui
Succeeded by	Lien Chan
Secretary-General of the Presidential Office of the Republic of China
In office 18 October 1988 – 19 May 1990
President	Lee Teng-hui
Deputy	Cheyne J. Y. Chiu
Preceded by	Shen Chang-huan
Succeeded by	Tsiang Yen-si
Minister of Justice of the Republic of China
In office 30 May 1978 – 1 June 1984
Preceded by	Wang Daoyuan (汪道淵)
Succeeded by	Shih Chi-yang
Minister of Education of the Republic of China
In office 19 April 1974 – 29 May 1978
Preceded by	Chiang Yen-si (蔣彥士)
Succeeded by	Chu Hui-sen (朱匯森)
Personal details
Born	(1923-09-24)24 September 1923 Pingjiang, Yueyang, Hunan, Republican China
Died	8 March 2017(2017-03-08) (aged 93) Toufen, Miaoli, Taiwan
Nationality	Republic of China
Political party	Kuomintang
Spouse(s)	Xu Manyun (c.1948— January 1998)
Alma mater	National Chengchi University University of Bonn

Lee Yuan-tsu (Chinese: 李元簇; pinyin: Lǐ Yuáncù; 24 September 1923 — 8 March 2017), was a Kuomintang politician who served under Lee Teng-hui as the eighth Vice President of the Republic of China.^[1] He was of Hakka ancestry.^[2]

Early life

Lee obtained his bachelor's degree in law and politics from National Chengchi University in Nanking in 1946. He retreated to Taiwan from Mainland China in 1949 after the end of Chinese Civil War with the National Revolutionary Army. He obtained his doctoral degree from University of Bonn in Germany in 1963.^[2]

Political career

Lee entered politics in 1969 when he became a legal consultant for the Ministry of National Defense. He served as Minister of Education from 1974 to 1978, then Minister of Justice until 1984 and Secretary-General to the President between 1988 and 1990.^[2]

He was nominated by Lee Teng-hui to be the Vice President of the Republic of China after the death of President Chiang Ching-kuo in 1988. In 1989, President Lee stated that his vice president must be a Mainland Chinese. Eventually Lee Yuan-tsu was elected as the Vice President by the National Assembly on 21 March 1990, becoming the last Vice President to be elected by the National Assembly before the introduction of direct presidential and vice presidential elections in Taiwan afterwards. He took office on 20 May 1990 serving until 19 May 1996.^[3]

Retirement

After retiring from politics in 1996, Lee resumed his teaching position at National Chengchi University. His wife died in 1998. Eventually, he moved to Toufen in Miaoli County, where he lived a low-profile life.^[4]

Death

In his later life, Lee started to develop kidney problems which he treated with dialysis.^[5] Weeks before his death, Lee had stopped eating and depended on nutritional injection only.^[4] He told his medical team that he wished to die with dignity and rejected resuscitation.^[3] Lee died of kidney failure at 4:15 a.m. on 8 March 2017, aged 93, in his home in Miaoli County.^[6]

References

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