Tien Hung-mao

Tien Hung-mao is a Taiwanese diplomat and political scientist. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 20 May 2000 until 1 February 2002.

Education

Tien graduated from Tunghai University in 1961 with a bachelor's degree. He then went to the United States to pursue graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned a Master of Arts in 1966 and a Ph.D. in political science in 1969. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "Government and Politics in Kuomintang China, 1927-1937".

Thereafter he was a university professor for more than twenty years, and naturalised as a U.S. citizen. After he moved back to Taiwan, Lee Teng-hui had asked him twice in the 1990s to serve in the Executive Yuan Council, but each time he refused; reportedly, the requirement that he renounce U.S. citizenship was a major barrier. However, Tien did serve as an advisor to Lee. He eventually accepted Chen Shui-bian's offer to become Minister of Foreign Affairs, and renounced his U.S. citizenship on 11 May, eight days before taking office. He later stated in an interview that he did not regret this step at all, because he "loved Taiwan". After his term ended, he took up a new post as the head of Taipei Representative Office in the U.K. He resigned the position in 2004, and later led the Institute of National Policy Research. In 2016, Tsai Ing-wen named Tien the chair of the Straits Exchange Foundation. He left the position in March 2018.