Saturday, April 23, 2011

Vincent Siew

Vincent C. Siew Wan-chang (traditional Chinese: 蕭萬長; simplified Chinese: 萧万长; pinyin: Xiāo Wàncháng; Wade–Giles: Hsiao Wan-ch'ang; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Siau Bān-tióng) (born 3 January 1939) is the incumbent Vice President of the Republic of China. He was the first Taiwanese-born Premier of the Republic of China and former vice-chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT).
Siew, along with Ma, was sworn in on May 20, 2008 in Taipei.
On September 4, 2008, Siew embarked on his first overseas trip as Vice President, visiting Swaziland for a four days. Siew's trip aimed to cement further the ties between the two countries, and to celebrate King Mswati III's fortieth birthday. Foreign Minister Francisco Ou accompanied Siew on the trip.
Siew had 2 cancerous lung tumors removed on May 20, 2009.
On April 11, 2008, Vincent Siew departed Taiwan to attend the Boao Forum for Asia, held in Boao, Hainan, which is administered by mainland China. Siew is a founding delegate of the forum from 2001, and he attended once again in his capacity as chairman of the Cross-strait Common Market Fund. Siew had met with Chinese president Hu Jintao in Bo'ao in 2001. However, his special status as the vice president-elect in 2008 made his attendance more significant, but also more controversial in Taiwan. His meeting with Hu Jintao was the highest level exchange between Taiwan and mainland China since the 2005 Pan-Blue visits to mainland China. The level of reception for Siew in Hainan was scaled accordingly and was equivalent to that reserved for Lien Chan in 2005.

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