19 Facts About Jaw Shaw-kong

Jaw Shaw-kong is a Taiwanese politician, media personality and entrepreneur.

Between Legislative Yuan stints, Jaw Shaw-kong led the Environmental Protection Administration.

Jaw Shaw-kong was the vice presidential candidate of the Kuomintang in the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election.

Jaw Shaw-kong was born on 6 May 1950 in Keelung and grew up in Luodong, Yilan County.

Jaw Shaw-kong's ancestral home is in Hebei, China where his father, Jaw Yan-min, was born in 1922, and served in the Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army and recruited in the Whampoa Military Academy when he was 16.

Jaw Shaw-kong fought for the NRA in the Chinese Civil War and the Second Sino-Japanese War before the KMT retreated to Taiwan in 1949.

Jaw Shaw-kong earned a degree in agricultural engineering from National Taiwan University in 1972, then attended Clemson University in the United States, where he obtained a master's degree in mechanical engineering.

Jaw Shaw-kong was elected to the Taipei City Council in 1981 and served until 1986, when he was elected to the Legislative Yuan.

In 1992, against the wishes of his party, the Kuomintang, Jaw Shaw-kong resigned from the EPA to seek reelection to the legislature.

Jaw Shaw-kong later became a member of the New Kuomintang Alliance and the Breakfast Club, set up in opposition to party chairman Lee Teng-hui.

In 1994, Jaw Shaw-kong resigned his legislative seat to contest to the Taipei City mayoralty on behalf of the New Party, but lost to Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Shui-bian.

Jaw Shaw-kong announced his intention to retire from politics in July 1996.

Jaw Shaw-kong has hosted his own radio and television programs.

In 2004, Jaw Shaw-kong was invited to debate the referendum on cross-strait relations.

Jaw Shaw-kong was named an adviser to Kuomintang candidates during the 2010 election cycle.

Jaw Shaw-kong announced his interest about returning to politics in February 2021, disclosing that he had met with Han Kuo-yu in September 2020, who told Jaw Shaw-kong that he should return to the Kuomintang and run for the party leadership.

Jaw Shaw-kong stated on 28 April 2021 that he was no longer considering a run for the Kuomintang chairmanship.

Jaw Shaw-kong is a staunch supporter of unification with China, albeit not under the People's Republic of China, and believes unification is not possible under the current circumstances.

Jaw Shaw-kong opposes Taiwanese independence, saying there would be no war across the Taiwan Strait as long as Taiwan did not formally declare independence.