Frank Hsieh, nominee of the Democratic Progress Party (DPP) in
the 2008 election in Taiwan, replaced Chen Shui-bian as the
chairman of the DPP on Monday, according to reports by Taiwan-based
media.
It was Hsieh's second time to serve as the DPP chairman.
The DPP suffered a landslide defeat against its rival Kuomintang
(KMT) in Taiwan's "legislature" elections on Jan. 12.
The KMT won 81 of the 113 seats, beating the DPP, which got 27
seats. Two seats went to the New Party.
The People First Party, the Taiwan Solidarity Union and a
non-partisan candidate each took one seat.
Chen Shui-bian declared his resignation hours after the DPP's
defeat, to take responsibility for what he termed the most
disastrous defeat since the DPP was founded.
Hsieh, born in 1946, is a native of Taipei. His ancestral
hometown is Dongshan Island, Fujian Province, southeast China.
Hsieh majored in law and was awarded a bachelor's degree from
the "National Taiwan University" and a master's degree from Japan's
Kyoto University.
In 1986, Hsieh drafted the constitution of the DPP. He also
created the name for the party.
In 1998, Hsieh was elected mayor of Kaohsiung. From 2000-2002,
he was chairman of the DPP. Between February 2005 and January 2006,
he was head of the "Legislative Yuan".
In December 2006, he lost to a KMT candidate in the mayoral
election of Taipei.
(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2008)