Lee Shying-jow or Lee Hsiang-chou (Chinese: 李翔宙; pinyin: Li Xiángzhòu; born 2 August 1952) is a Taiwanese general and diplomat. He is the incumbent Representative to Denmark, and was formerly the 4th Commanding General of the Republic of China Army (ROCA), 8th Deputy Minister of National Defense (MND), the 15th Director-General of the National Security Bureau (NSB) and the 2nd Minister of the Veterans Affairs Council (VAC).[1][2]

Lee Hsiang-chou
李翔宙
Lee in 2011
9th Representative of Taiwan to Denmark
Assumed office
1 January 2019
PresidentTsai Ing-wen
William Lai
Preceded byChuang Heng-sheng
2nd Minister of the Veteran Affairs Council
In office
20 May 2016 – 25 February 2018
Prime MinisterLin Chuan
William Lai
DeputyLiu Shu-lin
Lee Wen-chung
Preceded byTung Hsiang-lung
Succeeded byChiu Kuo-cheng
National Policy Advisor to the President
In office
24 July 2015 – 19 May 2016
PresidentMa Ying-jeou
15th Director-General of the National Security Bureau
In office
5 May 2014 – 23 July 2015
PresidentMa Ying-jeou
DeputyYen Meng-han
Kuo Chung-hsin
Wang Te-lin
Chou Mei-wu
Preceded byTsai De-sheng
Succeeded byYang Kuo-chiang
8th Armaments Deputy Minister of National Defense
In office
16 January 2014 – 4 May 2014
MinisterYen Ming
Preceded byYen Teh-fa
Succeeded byChiu Kuo-cheng
4th Commander of the ROC Army
In office
16 August 2011 – 15 January 2014
DeputyHuang Yi-ping
Hsun Chueh-hsin
Chu Yu-shu
Wu Yo-ming
Wang Hsing-wei
Preceded byYang Tien-hsiao
Succeeded byYen Teh-fa
Vice Chief of the General Staff of the ROC Armed Forces
In office
16 May 2011 – 15 August 2011
Preceded byWu Ta-peng
Succeeded byYen Teh-fa
25th Commander of the ROC Military Police
In office
1 June 2009 – 15 May 2011
DeputyKao Yao-bing
Preceded byHo Yung-chien
Succeeded byChang Ching-hsiang
5th Vice President of the National Defense University
In office
1 March 2008 – 31 May 2009
PresidentTseng Jing-ling
King Nai-chieh
Preceded byLu Hsiao-jung
Succeeded byWang Chuen-chiang
Personal details
Born2 August 1952 (1952-08-02) (age 72)
Donggang Township, Pingtung County, Taiwan
NationalityTaiwan
Alma materRepublic of China Military Academy
Tri-service University
National Taiwan University
National Chung Hsing University
Nickname"Brother Chou"
Military service
Allegiance Republic of China
Branch/service Republic of China Army (1974–2009, 2011–2015)
Republic of China Military Police (2009–2011)
Years of service1974–2015
Rank General
Battles/warsThird Taiwan Strait Crisis

Early life

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Lee Hsiang-chou was born in a Military dependents' village of the Republic of China Air Force called the Republican New Village (共和新村) at Donggang, Pingtung, Taiwan, there was his home. His ancestral home was in Xinxiang, Henan.

Lee later entered the Republic of China Army Preparatory School right after his completion of junior high school at age 15. He then later graduated from the Republic of China Military Academy in 1974 as a Missile Officer.

Lee also obtained his master's degree from the National Taiwan University, National Chung Hsing University of Taiwan and Georgetown University of the United States.[citation needed]

Military career

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Gen. Lee Shying-jow during his tenure as Commanding General of the Army (ROCA).

Early military position

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Lee served as the Commander of Military Police (ROCMP) from 1 June 2009 to 16 May 2011. He was promoted to General of the ROC Army on 16 May 2011 and appointed as the Vice Chief of the General Staff under Admiral Lin Chen-yi, the then Chief of the General Staff.

Army Commanding General

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General Lee was appointed to success General Yang Tien-hsiao as the Commanding General of the ROC Army on 16 August 2011.

On 16 July and 8 August 2013, General Lee tendered his resignation from his chief position and from the Ministry of National Defense due to the poor handling of the minister on the death scandal of Corporal Hung Chung-chiu, but was rejected by Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu and Yen Ming. Both Kao and Yen asked him to stay in his post.[3]

Deputy Minister of National Defense

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In early April 2014, speaking to the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan, Lee said that if the People's Liberation Army (PLA) were to invade Taiwan, they need at least four months for assault preparation, thus translated to the amount of advance warning Taiwan needs in such scenario. In the event of cross-strait war, the command has to come from Zhongnanhai, the headquarter of the Chinese Communist Party, by the task force formation at the Central Military Commission. The next step would be recalling all of the Chinese envoys in Taiwan, execute economic preparations and tighten control of Taiwanese business people in mainland China. He added that Taiwan has already prepared relevant measures with other countries and military reserve would be called in such attack scenario. Military confidence building measure can only be built between ROC Armed Forces and PLA only if the government of China renounces the use of force to achieve Chinese unification. The ROC Ministry of National Defense however would always remain neutral in any cross-strait issues, he added.[4]

Political career

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Veterans minister for the Tsai Administration

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On 28 April 2016, Lee Hsiang-chou was designated to be the new Minister of the Veterans Affairs Council. He then took office on 20 May 2016. Prior to assuming the position, Lee registered as a political independent, ending his affiliation with the Kuomintang, which he had joined in 1969.[5]

In December 2016, on his way to visit Thailand from Taiwan, Lee was denied stopover entry into Singapore for the purpose of visiting veterans of the Republic of China Armed Forces residing in the small island nation.[6]

Ambassador to Denmark

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Lee left the Veterans Affairs Council in February 2018,[7] and was appointed Taiwan's representative to Denmark that October.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Army Command Headquarters,MND >>Introduction". army.mnd.gov.tw. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  2. ^ "Taiwan News Quick Take". Taipei Times. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Army commander's resignation rejected". The China Post. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  4. ^ "China can invade in months: MND". Taipei Times. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  5. ^ Ku, Chuan; Lu, Hsin-hui; Kao, Evelyn (12 October 2017). "Premier rejects veteran affairs minister's resignation". Central News Agency. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  6. ^ Tu, Aaron; Chin, Jonathan (23 December 2016). "Former defense official denied Singapore entry: report". Taipei Times. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  7. ^ Hsu, Stacy (24 February 2018). "Reshuffle targets security, diplomacy". Taipei Times. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  8. ^ Yeh, Su-ping; Wang, Flor (19 October 2018). "Lee Shying-jow appointed new envoy to Denmark". Central News Agency. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
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