page_title: Fredrick Chien
section_title: Minister of Foreign Affairs
hierarchical_section_title: Fredrick Chien / Minister of Foreign Affairs
caption_attribution_description: English: Chien-Mandela, 1993-06
context_page_description: Fredrick F. Chien, or Chien Foo, is a retired Taiwanese diplomat and politician who served as the President of the Republic of China Control Yuan from 1999 to 2005. His previous governmental positions include Director-General of the Government Information Office from 1972 to 1975, ROC Representative to the United States from 1982 to 1988, Chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development from 1988 to 1990, and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 1996. He was also the Speaker of the National Assembly between 1996 and 1999.
context_section_description: On June 1, 1990, as part of the new Hau Pei-tsun cabinet, Chien was appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs replacing Lien Chan. During his tenure as Foreign Minister, he also served a member of the Veterans Affairs Council, Mainland Affairs Council, and Council for Cultural Affairs.
  Saudi Arabia became the first diplomatic ally to cease ties with the ROC during Chien's tenure, and it established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic in July 1990.
  In January 1991, Mr. and Mrs. Chien traveled to Africa to meet with South Africa's F. W. de Klerk and Swaziland's Mswati III. The Chiens were accompanied by Section Chief David Lin, who would, later on, become the Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Ma Ying-jeou's administration. During a meeting with President de Klerk on January 22, the South African leader assured that his government cherished the special relationship with the ROC and that there was no hidden agenda to develop relations with the mainland. During the visit, Chien and South Africa's Minister of Finance Barend du Plessis signed an agreement for the ROC to provide South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation with a $60 million low-interest loan.
  Speaking at the International Conference on the Republic of China and the New International Order on August 21, 1991, Chien said that his country stands beside the freedom-loving nations of the world and is "willing to seize every opportunity to fulfill (her) destiny in a transformed international context." He added that the three prongs of "pragmatic diplomacy" are to consolidate and strengthen existing diplomatic ties, develop and upgrade substantive ties with countries without diplomatic relations, and to participate or resume participation in international organizations and activities according to a more flexible formula.
  In a December 1991 essay published in Foreign Affairs, Chien shared Taiwan's model of "pragmatic diplomacy" and also stated that "Taiwan's experience shows that the Chinese people, like any other people, are fully capable of practicing democracy, promoting rapid economic growth ... and living peacefully with their neighbors." Chien also cited Taiwan's growing status in the international community, with its growing economic strength, rapid democratization, and flexible diplomacy.
  On June 29, 1992, Chien announced that the ROC resumed diplomatic relations with the African nation of Niger, without asking the Niger government to sever ties with the mainland. Soon afterward, the mainland broke off diplomatic ties with Niger.
  During a July interview with political scientist Dennis V. Hickey, when asked about the issue of representation, Chien stressed that "we still adhere to the position of one China and that Taiwan is a part of (the Republic of) China."
  When the Republic of Korea, the last Asian country with formal diplomatic relations with ROC, decided to transfer diplomatic recognition to the PRC in August, as foreign minister, Chien criticized"[t]he Government of Roh Tae-woo has violated the trust and trampled on international justice."
  Chien and his wife Julie made a visit to Singapore in November 1992 despite Singapore's official diplomatic relationship with Beijing.
  Chien cited in the 1992 year-end press conference that while the ROC formally applied for accession to the GATT (under the name of Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu), "the biggest challenge for us...would be re-entry to the United Nations."
  Chien made a "private visit" to Japan as the ROC foreign minister in February 1993, marking the first ministerial visit to Japan since 1972 when the two nations broke its relations.
  On April 21, two weeks after President Lee's announcement at the Legislative Yuan, Chien announced that the ROC would formally apply to rejoin the UN by September 1995, the first time the ROC government published a timeframe on its bid to rejoin the UN. 
  On July 4, speaking on television, Chien called for the people of Taiwan to "tell their foreign friends that it is unfair and wrong for the international community t
caption: Chien meets with African National Congress's Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1993
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