Tsai Ing-wen

Tsai Ing-wen (Chinese: 蔡英文; pinyin: Cài Yīngwén; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician and legal scholar who served as the 7th president of the Republic of China from 2016 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), she was the first woman to serve in the office. Born in Zhongshan District, Taipei, Tsai graduated from National Taiwan University in 1978, earned a master's degree in law from Cornell University in 1980, and earned her doctorate in law from the London School of Economics in 1984 before becoming a law professor. Appointed to government positions by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) in 1993, she was one of the chief drafters of the special state-to-state relations doctrine under President Lee Teng-hui. During Chen Shui-bian's first term, she chaired the Mainland Affairs Council, before joining the DPP in 2004 and serving briefly in the Legislative Yuan. She was appointed Vice Premier under Su Tseng-chang but resigned in 2007. Following the DPP's defeat in the 2008 presidential election, Tsai was elected party chair, a position she held three times (2008–2012, 2014–2018, and 2020–2022). In 2011, she became the first woman nominated as a presidential candidate by a major Taiwanese party, narrowly defeating Su Tseng-chang in the DPP primary. She lost the 2012 presidential election to incumbent Ma Ying-jeou before winning the 2016 presidential election by a landslide against Eric Chu. She was re-elected in 2020 over Han Kuo-yu and was succeeded by Lai Ching-te.