Lee Teng-hui

Lee Teng-hui
李登輝
Official portrait, 2016
4th President of the Republic of China
In office 13 January 1988 – 20 May 2000
Premier	List Yu Kuo-hwa Lee Huan Hau Pei-tsun Lien Chan Vincent Siew
Vice President	Lee Yuan-tsu Lien Chan
Preceded by	Chiang Ching-kuo
Succeeded by	Chen Shui-bian
5th Vice President of the Republic of China
In office 20 May 1984 – 13 January 1988
President	Chiang Ching-kuo
Preceded by	Hsieh Tung-min
Succeeded by	Lee Yuan-tsu
2nd Chairman of the Kuomintang
In office 27 July 1988 – 24 March 2000 Acting: 13 January 1988 – 27 July 1988
Preceded by	Chiang Ching-kuo
Succeeded by	Lien Chan
11th Chairman of Taiwan Provincial Government
In office 5 December 1981 – 20 May 1984
President	Chiang Ching-kuo
Preceded by	Lin Yang-kang
Succeeded by	Liu Chao-tien (acting) Chiu Chuang-huan
4th Mayor of Taipei
In office 9 June 1978 – 5 December 1981
Preceded by	Lin Yang-kang
Succeeded by	Shao En-hsin (邵恩新)
Minister without Portfolio
In office 1 June 1972 – 1 June 1978
Premier	Chiang Ching-kuo
Personal details
Born	(1923-01-15)15 January 1923 Sanzhi, Taihoku Prefecture, Japanese Taiwan
Died	30 July 2020(2020-07-30) (aged 97) Beitou, Taipei, Taiwan
Resting place	Wuzhi Mountain Military Cemetery
Citizenship	Japan → Republic of China
Nationality	Chinese (Taiwan)
Political party	Kuomintang (1971–2001) Independent (from 2002)
Other political affiliations	Chinese Communist Party (1946–1948) Taiwan Solidarity Union (affiliated non-member; from 2001)
Spouse	Tseng Wen-hui ​ (m. 1949)​
Children	3
Alma mater	Kyoto Imperial University National Taiwan University (BS) Iowa State University (MS) Cornell University (PhD)
Occupation	Economist, statesman
Military service
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Branch/service	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1944–1945
Rank	Second lieutenant
Battles/wars	World War II Pacific War
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	李登輝
Simplified Chinese	李登辉
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lǐ Dēnghuī Bopomofo ㄌㄧˇ ㄉㄥ ㄏㄨㄟ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Lii Denghuei Wade–Giles Li3 Têng1-hui1 Tongyong Pinyin Lǐ Denghuei MPS2 Lǐ Dēng-huēi IPA [lì tə́ŋ.xwéɪ] Hakka Romanization Lí Tên-Fî Yue: Cantonese Jyutping lei5 dang1fai1 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Lí Teng-hui Tâi-lô Lí Ting-hui
Japanese name
Kanji	岩里政男
Kana	いわさと まさお
Transcriptions Romanization Iwasato Masao

Lee Teng-hui (Chinese: 李登輝; 15 January 1923 – 30 July 2020) was a Taiwanese statesman and agriculturist who served as the 4th president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the first president to be born in Taiwan, the last to be indirectly elected and the first to be directly elected.

During his presidency, Lee oversaw the end of martial law and the full democratization of the ROC, advocated the Taiwanese localization movement, and led an ambitious foreign policy agenda to gain allies around the world. Nicknamed "Mr. Democracy", Lee was credited as the president who completed Taiwan's democratic transition.

After leaving office, he remained active in Taiwanese politics. Lee was considered the "spiritual leader" of the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU),^[1] and recruited for the party in the past.^[2] After Lee campaigned for TSU candidates in the 2001 Taiwanese legislative election, he was expelled by the KMT.^[3] Other activities that Lee engaged in included maintaining relations with former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian and Japan.