- Chen Shui-Bian
Chen Shui-bian is a Taiwanese politician who has been the President of the Republic of China since May 20, 2000. He is colloquially referred to as "Ah-Bian" (阿扁; Ābiǎn; Taiwanese: 阿扁仔 A-píⁿkiáⁿ). Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan independence, took office in 2000, ending more than fifty years of Kuomintang (KMT) rule in Taiwan. Though he moderated his stance and took conciliatory gestures, …
- Ma Ying-Jeou
Ma Ying-Jeou (born July 13, 1950 in Kowloon, Hong Kong) is a politician in the Republic of China (Taiwan), a former Justice Minister, former mayor of Taipei, and former chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT). Ma was elected mayor of Taipei in 1998 and re-elected in 2002. He was elected chairman of the Kuomintang by party members on July 16, 2005.
- Chiang Kai-Shek
Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 - April 5, 1975) was the Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. He led the national government of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 to 1975. He commanded the Northern Expedition to unify China against the warlords and emerged victorious in 1928 as the overall leader of the Republic of China. Chiang led China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, …
- Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong (also "Mao Tse-tung" in Wade-Giles;) was a Chinese Marxist military and political leader and philosopher, who led the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mao is also recognized as a poet and calligrapher. Regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history, …
- Lien Chan
Lien Chan (born August 27, 1936, in Xi'an) is a politician in Taiwan. He was Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 2000, and was the Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 2000 to 2005. In August 2005, he left that post after not running for re-election and was succeeded by Ma Ying-jeou. Lien is chairman emeritus of the Kuomintang.
- Sun Yat-Sen
Sun Yat-sen (November 12, 1866 - March 12, 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader often referred to as the "father of modern China." Sun played an instrumental role in the eventual overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. He was the first provisional president when the Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912. He later co-founded the Kuomintang (KMT) where he served as its first leader. Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, …
- Lee Teng-Hui
Lee Teng-hui born January 15, 1923) is a politician of Taiwan. He was the President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. His tenure was marked with major advancement to the democratic reforms initiated by his predecessor Chiang Ching-kuo. Lee promoted the Taiwan localization movement and led an aggressive foreign policy to gain diplomatic allies.
- Chiang Ching-Kuo
Chiang Ching-kuo (April 27<sup>1</sup>, 1910 – January 13, 1988), Kuomintang (KMT) politician and leader, was the son of President Chiang Kai-shek and held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China (ROC). He succeeded his father to power, serving as Premier of the Republic of China from 1972 to 1978, and President of the Republic of China from 1978 until his death in 1988. Under his tenure, the government of the Republic of China, …
- Vincent Siew
Vincent C. Siew (born January 3, 1939) was the first Taiwanese-born Premier of the Republic of China (1997-2000) and former vice-chairman of Kuomintang (2000-2004). Siew is the current vice-presidential candidate in the 2008 elections for the Republic of China, forming the Kuomintang ticket with presidential candidate Ma Ying-Jeou.
- Su Tseng-Chang
Su Tseng-chang is a Taiwanese politician of the Democratic Progressive Party. He is the former Premier of the Republic of China. Su actively campaigned for the Presidential nomination of the DPP, but finished second to Frank Hsieh in the nomination process. Born in Pingtung, Su was a practicing lawyer (1973-1983) educated in the National Taiwan University. He was a defense lawyer in the Kaohsiung Incident trials.
- Chen Yi
Chen Yi (courtesy names Gongxia (公俠) and later Gongqia (公洽), sobriquet Tuisu (退素); 1883 - June 18, 1950) was the Chief Executive and Garrison Commander (警備總司令) of Taiwan after it was surrendered by Japan to the Republic of China, which acted on behalf of the Allied Powers, in 1945. His infamous mishandling of the tension between Taiwanese locals and Mainlanders precipitated the February 28 Incident, …
- Chiang Pin-Kung
Chiang Pin-kung (born December 16, 1932) is a politician in the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. He is currently the acting chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) and an at-large member of the Legislative Yuan. Chiang received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1971. He was Asssistant Commercial Attaché at the ROC Embassy in Japan from 1967 to 1974, Commercial Attaché at the ROC Consulate General in Johannesburg from 1974 to 1979, …
- Wu Po-Hsiung
Wu Po-hsiung (born June 19, 1939), a politician in the Republic of China, is currently chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT). He previously served as Taipei City mayor (1988-1990), interior minister of the Republic of China, and presidential secretary general (1991-1996). Wu was born to a Hakka family in Taoyuan County, Taiwan. Wu was formerly the first vice-chairman of the main opposition Kuomintang party. After Chairman Ma Ying-jeou resigned, he became the acting chairman.
- Zhu De
Zhu De began to read about Marxism and Leninism in Shanghai. In the mid-1920s, he went to Europe, studying at Göttingen University in Germany from 1922 to 1925 at which point he was expelled from the country by the government for his role in a number of student protests. Around this time, he joined the Communist Party. Zhou Enlai was one of his sponsors. In July 1925, he traveled to the Soviet Union to study military affairs.
- Wang Jingwei
Wang Jingwei (May 4, 1883 - November 10, 1944) was a Chinese politician. He was a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang (KMT) and is most noted for disagreements with Chiang Kai-shek and forming a Japanese supported collaborationist government in Nanjing. He has often been labeled as a "Traitor to the Han Chinese".
- Koo Chen-Fu
Koo Chen-fu (6 January 1917 - 3 January 2005), was a Taiwanese businessman and diplomat. He led the Koos Group of companies from 1940 until his death. As a chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), Koo arranged the first direct talks between Taiwan and China since 1949 and served as Taiwan's negotiator in both the 1993 and 1998 meetings (so-called Wang-Koo talks). Born in northern Taiwan into a wealthy family, …
- Li Dazhao
Li Dazhao (October 29, 1888 - April 28, 1927) was a Chinese intellectual who co-founded the Communist Party of China with Chen Duxiu in 1921. Li was born in Leting (a county of Tangshan), Hebei province to a peasant family. From 1913 to 1917 Li studied political economy at Waseda University in Japan before returning to China in 1918. As head librarian at the Peking University Library, …
- Chen Cheng
Chen Cheng (January 4, 1897 - March 5, 1965), Chinese political and military leader, was one of the main Kuomintang (KMT) commanders during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. After moving to Taiwan at the end of the Civil War, he served the Governor of Taiwan, Vice President and Premier of the Republic of China. Under Chiang Kai-shek, he helped initiated a land reform program, giving him a good reputation even after death.
- Ye Jianying
Ye Jianying (April 28, 1897-October 22, 1986) was a Chinese Communist general and the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1978 to 1983. Born Ye Yiwei (葉宜偉) into a wealthy merchant family in Meixian County, Guangdong Province, his courtesy name was Cangbai (滄白). He belonged to the Hakka minority. After graduation from the Yunnan Military Academy in 1919, he joined Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang (KMT).
- T. V. Soong
Tse-ven Soong, or Soong Tzu-wen, a prominent businessman and politician in the early 20th century Republic of China, had Charlie Soong as a father and the Soong sisters as siblings. His Christian name was Paul. Born in Shanghai, T. V. Soong received his education at Harvard University and returned to China to engage in private business.
- Khun Sa
in 1934. When his mother married a Shan prince, he adopted the name "Khun Sa", meaning "Prince Prosperous". In his youth he served with Kuomintang but left to form his own army of a few hundred men. In 1963 he reformed it into a Ka Kwe Ye, local militia loyal to Burmese government. Ka Kwe Ye received money, uniforms and weapons in return to fighting the Shan rebels. When Khun Sa had expanded his army to 800 men, he stopped cooperating with the Burmese government, …
- Hsu Hsin-Liang
Hsu Hsin-liang (born May 27, 1941) is a Taiwanese politician, formerly Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party, but now a supporter of the Pan-Blue Coalition. Born in Taoyuan County, Taiwan Hsu attended now the Hsinchu Senior High School and received his bachelor's degree in Political Science from the National Chengchi University in 1967 and his master's degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1969.
- Hau Pei-Tsun
Hau Pei-tsun (born July 13, 1919) was Premier of the Republic of China from May 30, 1990 to February 10, 1993 and a 4-star general in the ROC Army. Born to a well-to-do family in Yancheng county, Jiangsu province, Hau received a military education from the Chinese Military Academy, Chinese Army University, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the War College, Armed Forces University. Hau was appointed an artillery officer in 1938, …
- Soong Ching-Ling
Soong Ch'ing-ling (January 27, 1893 - May 29, 1981) was one of the Soong sisters-three sisters whose husbands were amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. Also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, she was described as the "one who loved China". Her Christian name was Rosamond. She was born to the wealthy businessman and missionary Charlie Soong in Nanshi (a part of nowaday Huangpu District), Shanghai, …
- Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien (born April 8, 1947) is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.
- Li Ao
Li Ao (李敖 pinyin Lǐ Áo) (born April 25, 1935), is a writer, social commentator, historian, and independent politician in the Republic of China. He is considered by many to be one of the most important modern Chinese essayists today, although critics have termed him an intellectual narcissist. His political inclinations are more controversial; he is a very vocal critic of both the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party and their many politicians, …
- Li Zongren
Li Tsung-jen (13 August 1890 - 13 January 1969), courtesy name Delin (德鄰), was prominent Guangxi warlord and Kuomintang (KMT) military commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War. He served as vice-president and acting president of the Republic of China under the 1947 Chinese Constitution.
- John Chiang
John Hsiao-yen Chiang (born May 2, 1941), formerly surnamed Chang, is a Kuomintang politician in Taiwan. He and his twin brother, Winston Chang, both illegitimate, were born the sons of Chiang Ching-kuo and his mistress Chang Ya-juo in Guilin amid the Sino-Japanese War. Since they were born out of wedlock, the twins took their mother's surname, Chang, …
- Liu Bocheng
Liu Bocheng (December 4, 1892 - October 7, 1986) was a Chinese Communist military commander and Marshal of the People's Liberation Army. Liu Bocheng is known as one of the Three and A Half Strategists of China in modern history. (The other two are Lin Biao, commander of the CPC, and Kuomintang commander Bai Chongxi, and the half refers to CPC commander Su Yu.) Officially, Liu was recognised as a revolutionist, militarist and military theoretician, …
- H. H. Kung
K'ung Hsiang-hsi (1881 - 1967), often known as H. H. Kung, was a wealthy Chinese banker and politician in the early 20th Century. Born in Shanxi Province, he was educated at Oberlin College and Yale University. Kung was an early supporter of Sun Yat-sen and later of Chiang Kai-shek. He long served in the Republic of China government as minister of industry and commerce (1928–1931), minister of finance (1933–1944), …
- Yen Hsi-Shan
Yen Hsi-shan, (8 October, 1883 – 22 July, 1960) was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. Yen received his formal military training first in China and later at Imperial Japanese Army Academy. In Japan he became a member of Sun Yat-sen's Revolutionary Alliance (Tongmenghui) and following the 1911 Xinhai Revolution he seized power in the province of Shanxi. Though a member of the Beiyang Army and affiliated with Duan Qirui, …
- Huang Fu
Huang Fu (黃郛) (1883-1936) was a general and politician in early republican China. He was born in Hangzhou. Huang came in contact with the Revolutionary Alliance while studying in a military academy in the Empire of Japan. During the Xinhai Revolution, he and Chen Qimei declared Shanghai independent and became a sworn brother of Chiang Kaishek.
- Chou Hsi-Wei
Chou Hsi-wei is the current Taipei County magistrate in Taiwan. He was formerly a member of the People's First Party, but switched allegiance to the Kuomintang shortly before the county chief elections. He previously served as a legislator in the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China.
- Qu Qiubai
Qu Qiubai (January 29, 1899 - June 18, 1935) was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China. He was a leader of the Communist Party of China in the late 1920s and important Chinese Marxist writer and thinker. Qu spent much of his early life in Moscow and was heavily influenced by Stalin. He became acting Chairman of Politburo in 1927 after the fall of Chen Duxiu, thus becoming the "de facto" leader of the party.
- Lin Sen
Lin Sen, courtesy name Zichao (子超), sobriquet Changren (長仁), was Chairman of the National Government of the Republic of China from 1932 until his death. Born in Shangan Township (尚幹鄉), Minhou County (閩侯縣), Fujian, Lin worked in the Telegram Bureau of Taipei in 1884. After the First Sino-Japanese War, he engaged in guerilla activities against the Japanese occupiers. He returned to the mainland and worked in the Shanghai customs office in 1902.
- Song Jiaoren
Song Jiaoren (5 April 1882–22 March 1913) was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader. :Given name at birth: Lian (鍊 Liàn) :Courtesy name: Dunchu (鈍初 Dùnchū) In 1905, together with Sun Yat-sen, Song helped found and was a leading activist in the Tongmenghui, which was an organization dedicated to the overthrow of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the formation of a republic. After the declaration of the Republic of China, …
- Zhang Guotao
Zhang Guotao (1897 - December 3, 1979) was a founding member and leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) during the late 1920s and 1930s. He wrote several memoirs on the CPC that provide valuable information on its early history.
- He Yingqin
He Yingqin (April 2, 1890 - October 21, 1987), also spelled Ho Ying-chin, was one of the senior generals of Kuomintang during Republican China, and a close ally of Chiang Kai-shek.
- Zhang Wentian
Zhang Wentian (1900-July 1, 1976), also known as Luo Fu, was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) from 1935 to March 20, 1943. A native of Pudong Shanghai, Zhang joined the CPC in 1925 and was sent to study at Moscow Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, which was set up under Kuomintang's founder Sun Yat-sen's policy of alliance between the Soviet Union and CPC to train Chinese revolutionaries and named after him.
- John K. Fairbank
John King Fairbank. In 1929, when he graduated from Harvard "summa cum laude", he went to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar in order to study British imperial history. At Oxford, Fairbank learned that the Qing imperial archives were being opened, and he decided to go to Beijing to do research for his doctoral degree in 1932. In Beijing, he studied at Tsinghua University under the direction of the prominent Chinese historian Tsiang Tingfu.