Chiang Wan-an

Chiang Wan-an (Chinese: 蔣萬安; born Chang Wan-an; 26 December 1978), also known by his English name Wayne Chiang, is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer who has served as the mayor of Taipei since December 2022. A member of the Kuomintang (KMT), he is the youngest mayor of Taipei in its history.^[1]

Chiang Wan-an
蔣萬安
Official portrait, 2022
14th Mayor of Taipei
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 December 2022
Deputy	See list Lee Shu-chuan Lin Yi-hua
Preceded by	Ko Wen-je
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office 1 February 2016 – 10 November 2022
Preceded by	Lo Shu-lei
Succeeded by	Wang Hung-wei
Constituency	Taipei III
Personal details
Born	Chang Wan-an (1978-12-26) 26 December 1978 (age 46) Taipei, Taiwan
Political party	Kuomintang
Spouse	Shih Fang-hsuan ​ (m. 2009)​
Relations	Chiang Ching-kuo (grandfather, ostensible) Chiang Kai-shek (great-grandfather, ostensible)
Children	3
Parent	Chiang Hsiao-yen (father)
Education	National Chengchi University (BA, LLB) University of Pennsylvania (LLM, JD, SJD)
Occupation	Politician lawyer
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	蔣萬安
Simplified Chinese	蒋万安
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jiǎng Wàn'ān Bopomofo ㄐㄧㄤˇ ㄨㄢˋ ㄢ Wade–Giles Chiang³ Wan⁴-an¹ Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Zoeng2 Maan6-On1
Birth name
Traditional Chinese	章萬安
Simplified Chinese	章万安
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhāng Wàn'ān Bopomofo ㄓㄤ ㄨㄢˋ ㄢ Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Zoeng1 Maan6-On1

Born to a prominent political family in Taipei, Chiang is the son of Chiang Hsiao-yen, who served as Vice Chairman of the Kuomintang from 2008 to 2014. Because Chiang's father claims lineage to the prominent Chiang family, Chiang is believed to be a great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek, who ruled Taiwan after the Retreat of the Republic of China.^[2]

Before entering politics, Chiang graduated from National Chengchi University, earned three law degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, and worked as a corporate lawyer in the United States. He represented Taipei City Constituency 3 as a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2016 to 2022, then ran for the mayoralty, defeating Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Shih-chung.

Early life and education

Chiang was born Chang Wan-an (Chinese: 章萬安; pinyin: Zhāng Wàn'ān) on 26 December 1978 in Taipei, Taiwan.^[3][4] He is the only son of politician Chiang Hsiao-yen and Helen Huang (黃美倫; Huáng Měilún), and has two elder sisters. His father claims to be an illegitimate son of Chiang Ching-kuo, the only son of Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek.^[5] Although the claim has been unrecognized by the main Chiang family, the family supported Hsiao-yen's rise in the Kuomintang.^[5] If true, Wan-an would be a great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek.^[6]

Wan-an's contested familial relationship with Chiang Kai-shek, who ruled Taiwan after the Great Retreat, has been controversial due to Chiang's divisive legacy as either a symbol of anti-communism or dictatorship.^[4] At age six, he was introduced to Soong Mei-ling.^[7] However, he was unaware of his familial relation to Chiang until high school, when his father made claims of being an illegitimate son of Chiang Ching-kuo. Following the announcement, the family changed their surname from Chang to Chiang.^[7][8]

After graduating from Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School,^[9] Chiang studied law and international relations as an undergraduate at National Chengchi University (NCCU), where he double majored in both subjects and earned both a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree.^[10][11] Because he graduated at the top of his high school class, he was automatically admitted to the university.^[7]

After graduating from NCCU, Chiang spent a year and a half working as an attorney for Lee and Li, the largest law firm in Taiwan, and became a legislative aide in the National Assembly, where he wrote a petition to legalize flights between Taiwan and mainland China. In 2001, he was named a "young leader of Taiwan" and was introduced to U.S. president Bill Clinton.^[7] In 2002, Chiang left Taiwan to pursue graduate studies in the United States at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied under law professor Jacques deLisle.^[7] He earned his Master of Laws (LL.M.) in 2004, his Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 2006, and a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.),^[9] all from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.^[12] He frequently traveled between New York City and Philadelphia while a law student.^[13]

Legal career

Upon receiving his J.D. degree, Chiang became an associate attorney at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, California, starting in the fall of 2006.^[7] He was admitted as a member of the State Bar of California on December 11, 2007.^[14] Chiang later moved to the Crone Law Group, a law firm in Silicon Valley, and worked as an associate specializing in venture capital, corporate law, and securities law from 2009 to 2011.^[15] He was soon made a partner of the firm.^[16] After practicing for several years, he founded his own law firm before returning to Taiwan in 2013.

Legislative Yuan (2016–2022)

On August 29, 2023, Chiang Wan-an met with Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng in Shanghai

Chiang faced Lo Shu-lei in the first round of the Kuomintang party primary for the legislative elections in April 2015.^[17] After Lo failed to build a sufficient lead, another primary was called the next month, which Chiang won.^[18] He ran as the KMT candidate for Taipei City's third constituency in the 2016 legislative elections and won a seat in the Legislative Yuan.^[19] The Taipei District Prosecutor's Office ended an investigation of vote-buying accusations against Chiang in March, but did not charge him with wrongdoing.^[20]

In January 2018, Chiang stated that he would not seek to represent the Kuomintang in the Taipei mayoral election scheduled for November.^[21] Chiang ran for reelection in 2020, defeating his closest opponent, Democratic Progressive Party candidate Enoch Wu, by six percent of votes, 51–45%.^[22][23]

Mayor of Taipei (2022–)

In May 2022, the Kuomintang nominated Chiang as its candidate for the Taipei mayoralty in the local elections.^[11] On 10 November 2022, Chiang announced he would resign his legislative seat to focus on his mayoral campaign.^[24][25] A by-election for Chiang's legislative constituency was scheduled for 8 January 2023.^[26] On 26 November 2022, he was elected as the Mayor of Taipei.^[27][28] Upon taking office on 25 December 2022,^[29] Chiang became the youngest-ever Mayor of Taipei.^[30]

2022 Taipei mayoral election result[31]
Party		#	Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Kuomintang (KMT)	6	Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安)	575,590	42.29%
	Democratic Progressive (DPP)	12	Chen Shih-chung (陳時中)	434,558	31.93%
	Independent	8	Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊)	342,141	25.14%
	Others			8,662	0.64%
Total				1,360,951	100.00%
Voter turnout				67.70%

Personal life

Chiang met his future wife, Shih Fang-hsuan (石舫亘), while they both were students at National Chengchi University.^[32] They dated for ten years and married on 23 May 2009. Their first child, a son named Chiang Te-li (蔣得立), was born in June 2011,^[33][34] and their second son, Chiang Te-yu (蔣得宇), was born on 23 July 2021.^[35] In January 2023, they welcomed their third son, Chiang Te-cheng (蔣得正).^[36]

Family tree

Chiang family tree  view talk edit

Soong May‑ling 宋美齡 Mao Fumei 毛福梅 Chiang Kai‑shek 蔣介石 Yao Yecheng 姚冶誠 Chen Jieru 陳潔如 Faina Chiang Fang‑liang 蔣方良 Chiang Ching-kuo 蔣經國 Chang Ya‑juo 章亞若 (mistress) Shih Chin‑i 石靜宜 Chiang Wei‑kuo 蔣緯國 (adopted) Chiu Ju‑hsüeh 丘如雪 Chen Yao‑kuang 陳瑶光 (adopted) Alan Chiang Hsiao‑wen 蔣孝文 Amy Chiang Hsiao‑chang 蔣孝章 Alex Chiang Hsiao‑wu 蔣孝武 Eddie Chiang Hsiao‑yung 蔣孝勇 Winston Chang Hsiao‑tzu 章孝慈 John Chiang Hsiao‑yen 蔣孝嚴 Chiang Hsiao‑kang 蔣孝剛 Nancy Xu Nai‑jin 徐乃錦 Yu Yang‑ho 俞揚和 Wang Zhang‑shi 汪長詩 Michelle Tsai Hui‑mei 蔡惠媚 Elizabeth Fang Chi‑yi 方智怡 Chao Chung‑te 趙申德 Helen Huang Mei‑lun 黃美倫 Wang Yi‑hui 王倚惠 Theodore Yu Tsu‑sheng 俞祖聲 Chang Ching‑sung 章勁松 Chang Yo‑chu 章友菊 Vivian Chiang Hui‑lan 蔣惠蘭 Chiang Hui‑yün 蔣惠筠 Chiang Wan‑an 蔣萬安 Chiang Yo‑mei 蔣友梅 Alexandra Chiang Yo‑lan 蔣友蘭 Johnathan Chiang Yo‑sung 蔣友松 Demos Chiang Yo‑bo 蔣友柏 Edward Chiang Yo‑chang 蔣友常 Andrew Chiang Yo‑ching 蔣友青 Chiang Yo‑chüan 蔣友娟 Chiang Yo‑chieh 蔣友捷 Notes Dashed lines represent marriages Dotted lines represent extra-marital relationships and adoptions Solid lines represent descendants