20 Facts About Ma Ying-jeou

Ma Ying-jeou is a Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016.

Ma Ying-jeou served as chairman of the Kuomintang from 2005 to 2007 and from 2009 to 2014.

Ma Ying-jeou was sworn into office as president on 20 May 2008, and sworn in as the Chairman of the Kuomintang on 17 October 2009; he resigned as chairman of Kuomintang on 3 December 2014.

Ma Ying-jeou became the first ROC leader to meet with an incumbent General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party when he met Xi Jinping in Singapore in November 2015.

Ma Ying-jeou's ancestors had migrated from Shaanxi to Jiangxi and then finally to Hunan.

Ma Ying-jeou was born in Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon, part of then-British Hong Kong, on 13 July 1950.

Ma Ying-jeou's parents were in Hong Kong on the way from Hunan Province of Communist China to Nationalist-held Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War.

Ma Ying-jeou's family left Hong Kong for Taiwan in 1952.

Ma Ying-jeou served his compulsory military duty in the ROC Marine Corps and Navy from 1972 to 1974, obtaining the rank of lieutenant.

Ma Ying-jeou then pursued advanced studies in the United States, first earning an LL.

Ma Ying-jeou completed her undergraduate studies in life sciences at Harvard University and then her graduate studies at New York University.

Ma Ying-jeou remained a supporter of the Kuomintang, rather than supporting the New Party formed by KMT supporters who campaigned on an anti-corruption platform.

Ma Ying-jeou was strongly criticized by the DPP for not allowing the ROC national flag to be flown along with a PRC flag during Asian Women's Football Championship held in Taipei.

Ma Ying-jeou opposed the 2004 referendum, which had been widely criticized by the US and PRC.

Ma Ying-jeou's handling of the post-election demonstrations of the Pan-Blue Coalition, in which he at one point sent riot police to control the demonstrations of his pan-blue party supporters, was generally seen as impartial.

Ma Ying-jeou was the official nominee of the Kuomintang for the 2008 presidential election.

Ma Ying-jeou attended the inaugurations of both Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic and Fernando Lugo of Paraguay.

Ma Ying-jeou has not shown decisiveness required in a leader when facing a sudden disaster.

Ma Ying-jeou later approved a visit by the Dalai Lama to lead prayers for Typhoon Morakot victims in August 2009.

Since then, Ma Ying-jeou has emphasized the "1992 Consensus" as the existing basis for constructive dialogue and exchange between mainland China and Taiwan.