Taiwanese politician (born 1956)
Su Huan-chih (Chinese: 蘇煥智; pinyin: Sū Huànzhì; Wade–Giles: Su1 Huan4-chih4; born July 20, 1956) is a Taiwanese politician who was the magistrate of Tainan County from 2001 to 2010, until Tainan County's merger into Tainan City. Born in a rural township in southern Taiwan, Su graduated from National Taiwan University. He passed the bar examination in 1986 and started his career as a lawyer.[1]
Su made his entry into politics in the 1990s. He was elected legislator three times in a row serving from 1992 to 2001. As an experienced legislator, Su launched a magisterial campaign in 2001 and was elected with over 51% of the votes, becoming the second member of the Democratic Progressive Party to ever hold the position.[2]
Early life and career
Su Huan-chih was born on 20 July 1956 in Cigu, Tainan County. He grew up in the agriculture-based township during his childhood years.[1]
Su began studying at the prestigious National Taiwan University majoring in physics. He decided to drop out and switched his major to laws in 1977.[1] After passing the bar examination, Su started his career as a practicing lawyer. With his academic experience in physics, he was hired by IBM Taiwan to serve as its patent attorney.[1]
Su gave up his job at IBM and went back to his hometown to run for legislator. He was elected a member of the Legislative Yuan in 1992. He promoted the senior welfare and environmental protection. Having been elected three times in a row, Su worked to decrease the difference in resource distribution between northern and southern Taiwan.[1]
Tainan magistracy
Su was elected the magistrate of Tainan County and took office on December 20, 2001.[3] He focused on preserving the environment of the region. For example, he worked with international ecologists and planned to build a research center near the habitat of black-faced spoonbills with a goal to preserve these endangered birds.[4]
The Su administration also improved the technological economy of the region. The net worth of the Tainan Science Park grew from NT$50.1 billion in 2001 to NT$451.6 billion in 2006. Apart from the growth in profit, many new industrial parks were established. As a result, Tainan County transformed from an agrarian county to a technological county.[1]
Despite the technological innovations, Su also promoted agriculture of southern Taiwan. The Taiwan Orchid Plantation (Chinese: 台灣蘭花科技園區) was founded during his term. The plantation has held three international exhibitions since its establishment. The exhibitions attracted more than 600 thousand visitors gaining NT$400 million from export orders.[1]
Later political career
In March 2018, Su began his independent campaign for the Taipei mayoralty.[5][6] He ended his Taipei mayoral bid in July, choosing to contest the same office in Tainan.[7]
| 2018 Tainan City mayoral results[8]
|
| No.
|
Candidate
|
Party
|
Votes
|
Percentage
|
|
| 1 |
Huang Wei-cher |
Democratic Progressive Party |
367,518
|
38.02%
|
|
| 2 |
Kao Su-po |
 Kuomintang |
312,874
|
32.37%
|
|
| 3 |
Lin Yi-feng (林義豐) |
 Independent |
84,153
|
8.71%
|
|
| 4 |
Hsu Chun-hsin (許忠信) |
Independent |
45,168
|
4.67%
|
|
| 5 |
Chen Yong-he (陳永和) |
Independent |
117,179
|
12.12%
|
|
| 6 |
Su Huan-chih |
Independent |
39,778
|
4.11%
|
|
| Total voters |
1,546,862
|
| Valid votes |
966,670
|
| Invalid votes |
|
| Voter turnout |
62.49%
|
On 24 August 2019, Su founded the Taiwan Renewal Party [zh] and was elected its convenor.[9] During the 2022 local election cycle, Su contested the Taipei mayoralty.[10]
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