Andrew Nien-dzu Yang
Yang Nien-dzu, also known by his English name Andrew Nien-dzu Yang, is a Taiwanese international relations professor who served as the 29th Minister of [Ministry of Ministry of National Defense (Republic of China)|National Defense (Republic of China)|National Defense] of the Republic of China in 2013. Before this, he was the Deputy Minister of National Defense from 2009 to 2013.
Early life and education
Yang was born in Taipei and his ancestral home is in Danyang, Jiangsu. He graduated from Fu Jen Catholic University in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and then went to England to complete graduate studies. While in the United Kingdom, he earned a master's degree in industrial sociology from the University of Reading in 1980, a Master of Science in economics from the London School of Economics in 1981, and completed graduate research at the University of Oxford as a research fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, from 1982 to 1984.Yang's studies specialized in the study of United States-Taiwan-China relations and national security. He had devoted much of his time in the research of building a cross-Taiwan Strait military mutual trust, the People's Liberation Army and regional security while teaching at universities and other academic institutions in Taiwan.
Early career
Yang had been a research associate at the Sun Yat-sen Center for Policy Studies of the National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung in 1986–2000. Yang had been the adviser for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998, Mainland Affairs Council and Ministry of National Defense since 2000. He was a lecturer at the National Sun Yat-sen University in 2000–2009.Prior to his appointment as ROC Deputy Minister of National Defense in 2009, Yang was the Secretary-General of the China Council of Advanced Policy Studies, a Taipei-based think tank concentrating on military affairs. He also has traveled frequently to the United States where he maintains a close relationship with top officials from The Pentagon.