Koo Chen-fu
{{Short description|Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (1917–2005)}}
{{family name hatnote|Koo}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Koo Chen-fu
| native_name = {{no bold|辜振甫}}
| image = 19690120辜振甫.jpg
| caption = Koo Chen-fu in 1969
| order1 =
| office1 = Chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation
| deputy1 = Johnnason Liu
| term_start1 = 21 November 1990
| term_end1 = 3 January 2005
| predecessor1 = Position established
| successor1 = Johnnason Liu (acting)
Chang Chun-hsiung
| birth_date = {{birth date|1917|1|6|df=y}}
| birth_place = Taihoku Chō, Japanese Taiwan
| death_date = {{death date and age|2005|1|3|1917|1|6|df=y}}
| death_place = Taipei, Taiwan
| father = Koo Hsien-jung
| children = {{hlist|Chester|Leslie}}
| relatives = Jeffrey Koo Sr. (nephew)
Yan Fu (Grandfather-in-law)
| occupation = {{hlist|Businessman|diplomat|film producer}}
| footnotes =
| citizenship = Empire of Japan (before 1945)
Republic of China (after 1945)
| education = Taihoku Imperial University
}}
Koo Chen-fu ({{zh|t=辜振甫|p=Gū Zhènfǔ|w=Ku Chen-fu|poj=Ko͘ Chín-hú}}, 6 January 1917 – 3 January 2005), also known as C.F. Koo, was a Taiwanese businessman, diplomat, and film producer. He led the Koos Group of companies from 1940 until his death. As a chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), Koo arranged the first direct talks between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China since 1949 and served as Taiwan's negotiator in both the 1993 and 1998 Wang-Koo summit.
He was also a film producer and produced a number of Taiwanese films between 1973 and 1982, such as Love, Love, Love (1974), Eight Hundred Heroes (1975), Heroes of the Eastern Skies (1977), The Coldest Winter in Peking (1981), and Attack Force Z (1982).{{Hkmdb name|30881}}
Early life and education
Born in northern Taiwan into a wealthy business family headed by his father Koo Hsien-jung,{{cite news |last=Yeh |first=Lindy |title=The Koo family: a century in Taiwan |work=Taipei Times |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2002/04/15/132003 |date=April 15, 2002 |access-date=2014-12-22 |page=3}} Koo attended Taihoku Imperial University (now National Taiwan University). He inherited a substantial fortune upon his father’s death in 1937. Koo graduated in 1940 and pursued a graduate degree in Japan at Tokyo Imperial University.{{CN|date=January 2025}}
Koo was jailed in 1946 for 19 months on treason charges for helping the Empire of Japan.{{cite news |author1=Han Cheung |title=Taiwan in Time: Sedition or a groundless verdict? |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2018/07/22/2003697135 |access-date=22 July 2018 |work=Taipei Times |date=22 July 2018}} After his release, he took refuge in Hong Kong and returned to Taiwan in 1949 to marry his wife, Cecilia Koo.
Koo, alongside his nephew Jeffrey Koo Sr., founded the Koos Group during the 20th century. He remained focused on running Koos Group as well as on his political career that led to his elevation to the central committee of Kuomintang.{{cite journal| last=Reyes |first=Alejandro |url=http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/98/1030/nat2.html |title=Tycoon and statesman: Koo has excelled in many roles |journal=Asiaweek |date=October 3, 1998}}{{cite news|last1=Su |first=Joy |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/01/04/2003217958 |title=Koo one of the nation's most important figures |newspaper=Taipei Times |date=January 4, 2005}}
Political career
File:Koo Chen-Fu Family Residence 03.jpg.]]
Koo was a member of the Kuomintang (KMT) but had complex political connections.{{cite news |title=President Chen Pays Tribute To Koo Chen-fu |url=https://english.president.gov.tw/NEWS/1883 |access-date=2024-01-26 }} His half-brother, Koo Kwang-ming, was a leading figure in the Taiwan independence movement. Despite this, Koo maintained a strong relationship with the ROC government and served as Presidential Advisor from 1991 until his death in 2005.
SEF chairmanship
Koo was the founding chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).{{cite news|title=Exchange 'Link' May Break Down Contact 'Wall'; ROC will Allow|url=http://taiwaninfo.nat.gov.tw/fp.asp?xItem=10595&CtNode=103|access-date=10 November 2016|work=Taiwan Today|date=26 November 1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110172751/http://taiwaninfo.nat.gov.tw/fp.asp?xItem=10595&CtNode=103|archive-date=10 November 2016|url-status=dead}} On 16 December 1991, a little over ten months after the establishment of the SEF, the authorities of People's Republic of China (PRC) set up the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), with Wang Daohan as its chairman. The following year Koo and Wang held preliminary talks in Hong Kong that resulted in the so-called "1992 Consensus" and facilitated negotiations of practical matters. However, the content and the existence of this "1992 consensus" is widely disputed. In 2001, Koo publicly affirmed that the meeting did not result in a consensus on the issue of "one-China". In April 1993, Koo and Wang met in Singapore to hold the first formal discussions between Taipei and Beijing since 1949. The two met again in Shanghai in 1998. On 18 October 1998, Koo met Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, in Beijing, in what was then the highest-level talks yet held between the two sides. The talks were called off by Beijing in 1999 after ROC President Lee Teng-hui proposed his two-states theory.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/195649.stm |title=Gaps remain between China and Taiwan |publisher=BBC News |date=October 18, 1998 |postscript=. A report on the 1998 talks.}}
Death
Koo Chen-fu died of renal cancer on the morning of 3 January 2005 at the age of 87.{{cite news|last1=Chen|first1=Melody|title=Koo Chen-fu, 88, dies of kidney cancer|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2005/01/04/2003217943|access-date=22 December 2014|work=Taipei Times|date=January 4, 2005}}
Legacy
The Koo family remains one of Taiwan’s most influential business dynasties. In recognition of his contributions, the National Taiwan University Social Sciences Library was renamed the Koo Chen-Fu Memorial Library.{{cite news |title=Koo Chen-Fu Memorial Library at National Taiwan University |url= https://web.lib.ntu.edu.tw/koolib/en/en_intro.html |access-date=2024-01-26 }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.sef.org.tw/en/ Straits Exchange Foundation] (official website)
- [https://web.lib.ntu.edu.tw/koolib/en/en_intro.html Koo Chen-Fu Memorial Library at National Taiwan University]
- [https://www.tccgroupholdings.com/en/aboutHistory.html Taiwan Cement Corporation History]
- [https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/01/04/2003217958 Koo one of the nation's most important figures]
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{{s-ttl|title=President of the Straits Exchange Foundation|years = 1990–2005}}
{{s-aft|after=Chang Chun-hsiung}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Koo, Chen-fu}}
Category:Businesspeople from Taipei
Category:Deaths from kidney cancer in Taiwan
Category:Hokkien businesspeople
Category:Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan
Category:National Taiwan University alumni
Category:Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Taipei
Category:Prisoners and detainees of Taiwan
Category:Senior advisors to President Chen Shui-bian
Category:Senior advisors to President Lee Teng-hui
Category:Taiwanese film producers
Category:Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent