Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) yesterday announced that its chairman, Hu Sheng-cheng (胡勝正), had died of pulmonary calcification on Tuesday evening at National Taiwan University Hospital.
The 77-year-old widely respected academic was survived by his wife and two sons.
Hu had been frail and was recently hospitalized for flu symptoms, his secretary said by telephone.
Photo: Wang Meng-lun, Taipei Times
The Taipei-based think tank is setting up a makeshift memorial hall for people to pay tribute to Hu from today, she said.
With a doctoral degree in economics from the University of Rochester in the US, Hu took the helm of CIER in 2016 at the invitation of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). He concurrently served as a standing board director at the central bank.
Tsai said Hu’s death was a great loss to the nation.
A native of Yilan, Hu taught at Purdue University for 28 years before returning home to teach at National Taiwan University in 1996. In 2000 he was elected a member of Academia Sinica, the nation’s top research institute.
Hu joined the government in 2001, first serving as minister without portfolio and later heading the Council for Economic Planning and Development (renamed the National Development Council, NDC) and the Financial Supervisory Commission.
Hu had called on the local industry to transform and upgrade, replacing the “Made in Taiwan” model with the “Served by Taiwan” orientation, the NDC said in a statement.
Hu also pushed for equitable distribution of the nation’s wealth and resources, as well as advocated the need for balanced development between rural and urban areas, the council said.
The central bank described Hu as a gentle man, who remained positive even as his health deteriorated after a serious gastrointestinal ailment in 2016.
He passed out during a meeting at the Presidential Office in April last year and was rushed to Mackay Memorial Hospital.
Academics across the political spectrum mourned his death, expressing their admiration for his academic prowess.
Hu gave up a comfortable life in the US and demonstrated great courage by joining the government in a time of tumult, Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台經院) president Lin Chien-fu (林建甫) said.
As the head of CIER, Hu said the institute would strive for better quality and forward-looking research to help the government, industry and society.
He showed particular concern about the nation’s rapidly aging population, which he said merited serious attention from policymakers and the public so that they could better grasp the issue and make adjustments.
Packed into a small room, a drone, bipedal robot, supermarket checkout and other devices showcase a vision of China’s software future — one where an operating system developed by national champion Huawei (華為) has replaced Windows and Android. The collection is at the Harmony Ecosystem Innovation Center in the southern city of Shenzhen, a local government-owned entity that encourages authorities, companies and hardware makers to develop software using OpenHarmony (鴻蒙), an open-source version of the operating system Huawei launched five years ago after US sanctions cut off support for Google’s Android. While Huawei’s recent strong-selling smartphone launches have been closely watched for
The waves of the Aegean Sea lap gently at the tables and chairs of two beach restaurants on Greece’s Halkidiki peninsula. It is an idyllic scene, but one that is totally illegal. Like many others in Greece, the two establishments on Pefkochori Beach do not have a license to set up shop so close to the water. After a wave of protests last summer by locals about bars and restaurants illegally covering beaches with sunbeds and tables, the Greek state is taking action. It is cracking down on rogue tourist practices with surveillance drones, satellite imagery and a special app
South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc, the world’s No. 2 memorychip maker, is to invest 103 trillion won (US$74.6 billion) through 2028 to strengthen its chips business, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), its parent SK Group said yesterday. SK Group also said it plans to secure 80 trillion won by 2026 to invest in AI and semiconductors as well as fund shareholder returns, while streamlining its more than 175 subsidiaries. The sprawling conglomerate outlined the plans following a two-day strategy meeting, aiming to revive the group after SK Hynix, its main money maker, and the group’s electric vehicle battery arm suffered heavy losses. SK
Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), a subsidiary of Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車), yesterday said it is again offering a NT$100,000 discount for its entry-level n7 electric vehicle models. The n7’s price has gone down from NT$1.099 million to NT$999,000, Luxgen said, adding that there are 25,000 preorders for the model. MG Motor’s electric hatchback, the MG4, entered the market in the middle of last month, with a starting price of NT$990,000. China Motor Corp (中華汽車), which distributes MG vehicles in Taiwan, said it aims to sell 1,600 MG4s this year. MG, originally a British brand, was acquired by China’s SAIC Motor