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Taiwanese politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Hsieh Kuo-liang (Chinese: 謝國樑; pinyin: Xiè Guóliáng; Wade–Giles: Hsieh4 Kuo2-liang2; born 5 October 1975) is a Taiwanese politician. He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2005 to 2016, and has served as Mayor of Keelung since 25 December 2022.
George Hsieh Hsieh Kuo-liang | |
---|---|
謝國樑 | |
11th Mayor of Keelung | |
Assumed office 25 December 2022 | |
Deputy | Chiu Pei-lin |
Preceded by | Lin Yu-chang |
Member of the Legislative Yuan | |
In office 1 February 2005 – 1 February 2016 | |
Succeeded by | Tsai Shih-ying |
Constituency | Keelung |
Personal details | |
Born | Keelung, Taiwan | 5 October 1975
Political party | Kuomintang (since 2006) People First Party (until 2006) |
Spouse | Veronica Kuo |
Education | University of Southern California (BA) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS) |
After earning a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Southern California, Hsieh attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a Master of Science.[1] He previously worked for The China Post and founded Hualien Media International.[2]
Hsieh renounced US citizenship to contest the 2004 legislative election as a member of the People First Party.[3] He joined the Kuomintang in 2006, and represented Keelung in the Legislative Yuan until 2016. In 2009, he proposed an amendment to the Computer-Processed Personal Data Protection Act that would make it legal for elected officials to examine personal records without informing the individual subject to investigation.[4] The next year, Hsieh was named the co-chair of the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.[5] In 2013, Next Magazine reported that he and a small group of legislators had been subject to wiretapping by the Ministry of Justice since 2011.[6] Hsieh was the party's top choice to run for the mayoralty of Keelung City in 2014, after original candidate Huang Ching-tai's nomination had been withdrawn.[7] He repeatedly refused the mayoral nomination and campaigned for Hsieh Li-kung instead.[8][9] In February 2015, George Hsieh announced that he would not seek reelection, because his party had been soundly defeated in the November 2014 local elections.[10]
In May 2022, the Kuomintang nominated Hsieh as its candidate for the Keelung mayoralty in the local elections.[11] Hsieh defeated Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate and legislator Tsai Shih-ying .[12]
A CommonWealth Magazine published survey results in September 2023 ranking Hsieh at No. 21 of 22 of major mayors and magistrates in terms of approval ratings. A DPP city councillor attributed Hsieh’s low approval ratings to his breaking of campaign promises, including COVID-19 pandemic related subsidies.[13]
In June 2024, a campaign to recall Hsieh garnered 36,000 signatures and exceeded the threshold needed to initiate a recall vote.[14] The campaign organizers submitted the petition with 40,000 signatures on 5 July.[15] The Central Election Commission certified 36,909 of 43,137 submitted signatures in August, and scheduled the recall election for 13 October.[16][17] The Keelung City Election Commission later announced that 283 polling stations would be set up for the election.[18][19] With all polling stations reporting, 86,014 voted for Hsieh to remain in office, and 69,934 for his recall. In all seven districts of Keelung, a majority of voters rejected the recall of Hsieh.[20][21]
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