Josephine Chu

Josephine Chu (Chinese: 朱惠良; pinyin: Zhū Huìliáng; born 16 December 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician. She served in the Legislative Yuan from 1996 to 2002. Chu and Hsu Hsin-liang formed an independent ticket in the 2000 presidential election, finishing fourth.

Josephine Chu Chu Hui-liang MLY
朱惠良
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office 1 February 1996 – 31 January 2002
Constituency	Taipei 2
Personal details
Born	16 December 1950
Nationality	Taiwanese
Political party	Independent
Alma mater	Princeton University (Ph.D.)
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Museum director

Early life, education and career

Chu, born in 1950, is of Mainlander descent.[1] She received a Ph.D. in art and archaeology from Princeton University in 1990 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "The Chung Yu (A.D. 151-230) tradition: a pivotal development in Sung calligraphy."[2] She was then a research fellow at the National Palace Museum.[3]

Political career

Chu served two terms in the Legislative Yuan, winning the 1995 and 1998 elections.[3] Throughout her legislative career, she was occasionally covered in local media as a New Party politician,[4] but most often as an independent.[5][6] Chu and Hsu Hsin-liang formed an independent ticket in the 2000 presidential election, won by Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu. Chu ran for the Hsinchu district seat in the legislative elections of 2001 with the endorsement of the Gender Sexuality Rights Association, but lost.[7]

Summary of the 18 March 2000 Taiwan presidential election results

Political affiliation		Candidate		Votes
		President	Vice President	Total votes	Percentage
	Democratic Progressive Party	Chen Shui-bian	Annette Lu	4,977,697	39.30%
	Independent	James Soong	Chang Chau-hsiung	4,664,972	36.84%
	Kuomintang	Lien Chan	Vincent Siew	2,925,513	23.10%
	Independent	Hsu Hsin-liang	Josephine Chu	79,429	0.63%
	New Party	Li Ao	Elmer Fung	16,782	0.13%
Total				12,786,671	82.69% voter turnout
Valid votes				12,664,393
Invalid votes				122,278

Political stances

Chu has worked to expand LGBT rights in Taiwan,[8][9] and has advocated for rights of foreign spouses.[10]

Chu backed efforts to maintain an unbiased media, as well as cultural outreach initiatives. To this end, she supported a proposal by the Taiwan Media Watch Foundation to have government workers barred from working in the media,[11] and has criticized political interference in the Public Television Service.[12] In 2001, she expressed support for expanding the National Palace Museum to southern Taiwan,[13] a project that was not completed until 2015.

When the United States government announced that it would not ratify the Kyoto Protocol, Chu sought a meeting with the American Institute in Taiwan to argue for the ratification of the treaty.[14] In 2004, she criticized the Chen Shui-bian administration for backing a NT$610.8 billion proposal to acquire American weapons, saying that the results of the Cross-Strait referendum showed that most Taiwanese did not approve of the action.[15]

Later career

After leaving politics, Chu taught at Taipei National University of the Arts.[16] In 2009, she returned to the National Palace Museum as assistant director of educational outreach,[17] assuming the departmental head position the next year.[18][19]

References

1. Jacobs, J. Bruce (2012). Democratizing Taiwan. Brill Publishers. p. 143. ISBN 9789004221543.
2. Chu, Hui-liang J. (1990). The Chung Yu (A.D. 151-230) tradition : a pivotal development in Sung calligraphy.
3. Low, Stephanie (21 November 1999). "Hsu chooses New Party running mate". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
4. Chiu, Yu-Tzu (3 October 2000). "Japan's nuclear activists say 'think again'". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
5. Yu, Sen-lun (29 December 1999). "Quake group proposes new legislation to help monitor charitable donations". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
6. Chu, Monique (30 May 2000). "China's protest forces new name for Taiwan art entry". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
7. Chuang, Chi-ting (28 November 2001). "Gay group promotes candidates". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
8. Yu, Sen-lun (15 February 2000). "Hsu's running mate 'ties knot' to support gay rights". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
9. "Homosexual rights association opens doors in Kaohsiung". Taipei Times. 25 June 2000. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
10. Low, Stephanie (3 May 2000). "Foreign wives often denied rights". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
11. Yu, Sen-lun (13 February 2000). "Watchdog group". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
12. Huang, Joyce (22 April 2001). "Future of public TV uncertain". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
13. Lin, Mei-chun (21 March 2001). "Debate rages on breadth of nation's cultural gap". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
14. Chiu, Yu-Tzu (3 May 2001). "US urged to rethink Kyoto pact". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
15. Wang, Hsiao-wen (20 September 2004). "Rally opposing new arms bill to be held". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
16. Hong, Caroline (21 June 2004). "Panel criticizes military spending". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
17. "National Palace Museum unveils 'night feast' tour". Taipei Times. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
18. Lin, Mei-chun (8 December 2010). "National Palace Museum's procurement budget frozen". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
19. Bartholomew, Ian (14 April 2010). "Funny enough for words". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 September 2016.