Ma Ying-jeou was born in Hong Kong on July 13, 1950, but he and his family permanently moved to Taiwan a year later, and have lived here ever since. In a family of five children, he is the only male sibling. Ma's father, Ma Ho-ling, was originally from Hengshan County in Hunan Province on the mainland. From his early years, the elder Ma was deeply involved in patriotic activities, joining the Youth Army and fighting in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). Throughout his lifetime, Ma Ho-ling dedicated himself to his government and country. He served in various positions and capacities in the KMT Party and government after the war against Japan in 1945 until his death at the age of 85 in 2005. Ma Ying-jeou's mother, Chin Hou-hsiu, having also devoted her life to the government, is now a retired civil servant.

In 1977, Mr. Ma married Chow Mei-ching. They have two daughters: Ma Wei-chung and Ma Yuan-chung. The smallest addition to their family is a stray dog that they adopted in 1999 and affectionately call Ma Hsiao-jeou (Little Ma).

Ma Ying-jeou graduated from Taiwan's foremost academic institution, National Taiwan University, in 1972 receiving a bachelor's degree from the College of Law. After earning a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from New York University in 1976, Ma received a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) degree from Harvard Law School in 1981, specializing in law of the sea and international economic law.

Upon returning to Taiwan in 1981 Ma became the deputy director of the First Bureau of the Presidential Office. In this post, he served as President Chiang Ching-kuo's English interpreter and secretary. He was concurrently deputy secretary-general of the KMT's Central Committee. In 1986, he was assigned by President Chiang the heavy task of researching the possibility of lifting martial law, relaxing restrictions on cross-strait contacts (e.g. by permitting residents in Taiwan to visit their mainland relatives), and reforming the parliament.

On October 7, 1986, President Chiang granted an interview to Katherine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post. During the interview Chiang announced that Taiwan would act as soon as possible to lift martial law and the ban on forming new political parties. This event marked a momentous turning point in Taiwan's democratic development. As the president's English secretary at the time, Mr. Ma was witness to this historic milestone in Chinese civilization.

In 1988, he was appointed Chairman of the Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission of the Executive Yuan. Concurrently, he was also assigned to form a Mainland Affairs Task Force and subsequently became the body's executive secretary. Three years later, Ma was appointed to the newly established Mainland Affairs Council, becoming its first-ever vice chairperson while concurrently serving as a KMT representative at-large in the Second National Assembly.

In 1993, Mr. Ma was appointed Minister of Justice, in which position he launched an aggressive campaign to fight against corruption and drugs, investigated allegations of vote-buying, cracked down on organized crime, and reformed the prison system. In 1996, Ma was appointed Minister without Portfolio. Although no longer in charge of fighting crime, Ma nevertheless resigned in May 1997 to take responsibility for a series of heinous crimes, notably the kidnap and brutal murder of Pai Hsiao-yen, the daughter of a famous Taiwanese entertainer. He later returned to teach law at the College of Law, National Chengchi University.

In 1998, Ma Ying-jeou joined the hotly contested race for Taipei mayor. This was the first time Ma would run for an elected position and face the scrutiny of public opinion. Campaigning on a platform built on technocratic expertise and a fresh outlook, Ma won the election with 760,000 ballots, or 51.13 percent of the vote. Four years later he secured a second term in office, winning 870,000 ballots, or 64.11 percent of the vote.

During his eight-year tenure as Taipei mayor, Ma succeeded in transforming Taipei into a world-class cosmopolitan city. Many domestic and international polls have frequently ranked Taipei among the top quality cities in the region.

In 2005, Mr. Ma ran for the KMT chairmanship. He put forth a roadmap to reform the party's social and organizational structures and revitalize its image. Ma's message for change attracted the strong support of young and swing voters, in the end securing him a landslide victory of 73% of the votes.

On February 13, 2007, Ma was indicted on corruption charges in connection with a special allowance fund that was under his discretionary use during his tenure as Taipei mayor. In response to these charges Ma immediately issued a statement entitled, "Turning Grief and Indignation into Strength," in which he tendered his resignation as KMT Party chairman and officially announced that he would join the presidential race in 2008.

In the days following this event, media polls showed that over 70 percent of respondents believed in Ma's innocence. In August and December of 2007, both the Taipei District Court and Taiwan High Court ruled that Ma was innocent of all charges. This decision was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court on April 24, 2008, marking a definitive victory for Ma Ying-jeou.

After announcing his presidential candidacy Ma campaigned tirelessly to reach the people. He launched a tour of the entire island, trekking on bike to countless towns and villages and living among the people in what the media coined Ma's "Long Stay." His sincerity, positive campaigning style, and technocratic expertise and experience won him strong grassroots support. On March 22, 2008, he was duly elected president of the Republic of China.

On May 20, 2008, Ma Ying-jeou was inaugurated as the 12th-term president of the ROC. In his inaugural speech entitled, "Taiwan's Renaissance," Ma pledged to ease regulatory restrictions and tap into Taiwan's competitive advantages in order to encourage domestic firms to establish a strong home base in Taiwan while networking throughout the Asia-Pacific region and positioning themselves globally. However, he reminded listeners that while his administration would take steps to meet international competition head on, it would also act at home to look after the interests of the underprivileged and preserve the natural environment.

In addition, Ma emphasized his intention to institute clean government and lead by example. In particular, he stated that for a young democracy, amending the constitution is not so important as honoring and executing the currently existing constitution.

In foreign policy, President Ma stressed his commitment to deepening Taiwan's participation in the process of regional economic integration in East Asia, and to transforming Taiwan into a "peacemaker," so that the international community will look at our nation in a whole new light. Regarding cross-strait relations, Ma stated his intention to adopt a stance of "no unification, no independence, and no use of force." In particular, he advocated the maintenance of the status quo under the framework of the ROC constitution and the resumption of negotiations with the mainland based on the "1992 Consensus." Ma called for Taiwan and the mainland to reconcile their differences in cross-strait relations and in the international community so that both sides could pursue win-win strategies that would contribute to the peaceful development of the region.

The president also extended his sincere condolences to the family members of victims in the Sichuan earthquake, and expressed his wish for the speedy recovery of the people and area, as well as his hopes that the people of mainland China could one day experience the same freedom, democracy, and equitable distribution of wealth that are enjoyed on this side of the Taiwan Strait.

President Ma declared his determination to uphold those ideals that best embody Taiwan's core traditional values—benevolence, righteousness, diligence, honesty, generosity and industriousness. Furthermore, the incoming Ma administration envisioned creating a government that would work hand-in-hand with the people for a better tomorrow, and would make policy in accordance with the principle of "putting Taiwan first for the benefit of the people."

Soon after taking office President Ma encountered severe challenges originating from beyond Taiwan's borders. The US subprime mortgage crisis triggered a financial tsunami that swept across the globe and left economic recession in its wake. President Ma's administration calmly responded by declaring a blanket guarantee for all bank deposits, taking steps to spur domestic demand, easing restrictions on cross-strait economic and trade ties, and adopting measures to increase employment. Meanwhile, the government identified six key emerging industries as future mainstays of the Taiwan economy, and stepped up efforts to bring about a more diversified industrial structure and jump-start new engines for economic growth. In addition, environmental concerns have also been a high priority. The president's vigorous steps to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions have already borne fruit, as Taiwan succeeded in reducing its carbon emissions in 2008 by 4.1% year-on-year, lowering them to the same level they were at in 2005. Carbon emissions in 2009 were down 4.9% from 2008, and energy consumption per unit of GDP in 2009 was down 4.0% from 2007, an indication that energy is now being used more efficiently. In 2010, rapid economic growth caused a slight rise in carbon emissions, but energy-use efficiency still increased by more than the target of 2%. The administration's strong, decisive response to the financial crisis has navigated Taiwan safely through the storm and brought about a stable recovery, while its environmental measures have steered national development in the direction of a sustainable, low-carbon economy.

Crafting a response to regional economic integration in Asia is another key policy focus for the administration. Guided by the principle of "helping people do business, making Taiwan more competitive," Ma has set with determination about the task of signing a cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). The point of ECFA is to ensure that firms from Taiwan can compete on a level playing field internationally. The president is also seeking actively to sign free trade agreements with Taiwan's other principal trading partners to safeguard the competitiveness of our exports.

Parity and dignity are the non-negotiable preconditions of Ma's approach to cross-strait relations, and on these terms he has succeeded in re-starting cross-strait talks, defusing hostility, and establishing the conditions for peaceful interaction. During six rounds of talks between Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation, and Chen Yunlin, chairman of mainland China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, the two sides have signed 15 agreements covering such matters as: regular direct cross-strait flights; direct postal services; visits to Taiwan by mainland Chinese tourists; financial supervisory cooperation; food safety; cooperation on fishing crew affairs; product testing and certification; inspection and quarantine of agricultural products; joint crime-fighting and judicial cooperation; protection of intellectual property rights; and medical care and public health. By expanding the scope of cross-strait cooperation, the two sides are gradually building goodwill and trust.

In foreign affairs, President Ma has been pursuing a policy of viable diplomacy, and the resulting improvement in cross-strait relations has put an end to a long and vituperative standoff between the two sides in the diplomatic sphere. This change has brought more stable ties with our diplomatic allies and strengthened substantive relations with countries with which we do not have official relations. As a result, important breakthroughs have come on many different fronts. The country has been able to send higher-level representation to the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, for example, joined the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, and been admitted as an observer at the World Health Assembly. These developments have greatly increased Taiwan's maneuvering room on the international stage, and provided a reason to continue developing the cross-strait relationship. Positive momentum is building. In addition, our foreign aid missions are active around the globe, and we have achieved our goal of obtaining visa-free entry for ROC nationals in 100 countries. The number of jurisdictions offering visa-free courtesies now accounts for 96% of the countries and territories frequently visited by ROC nationals. In addition, our innovative prowess is frequently on prominent display in international venues. All of these things clearly demonstrate that the ROC enjoys universal respect in the international community.

During his three years in office, Ma has clearly demonstrated his administration's commitment to clean government and the rule of law. Serious steps have been taken to end abuse of power, push forward with political and economic reform, engage in more dialogue with the opposition, establish a higher profile for Taiwan on the international stage, and open up direct postal, transportation, and trade links across the Taiwan Strait. In May 2010, moreover, he put forward six steps to a better Taiwan, pledging his intent to "strengthen the country through innovation, revive the country by promoting culture, save the country through environmental protection, stabilize the country by adhering to the constitution, secure the country by providing social services, and protect the country by promoting peace."

Looking forward to a "Golden Decade" for Taiwan, President Ma spoke in his 2011 New Year's Day Message of his four main hopes for the future, saying that he wants "educational reforms that provide a lasting solution," "environmental stewardship that provides lasting viability," "lasting justice," and "a lasting peace." On the first day of the ROC’s centennial, he called for national unity as we work to lay a firm foundation for another 100 strong years for the ROC, so that in the next century the ROC will become a nation the world will respect, and an inspiration to many.

Ma Ying-jeou was born in Hong Kong on July 13, 1950, but he and his family permanently moved to Taiwan a year later, and have lived here ever since. In a family of five children, he is the only male sibling. Ma's father, Ma Ho-ling, was originally from Hengshan County in Hunan Province on the mainland. From his early years, the elder Ma was deeply involved in patriotic activities, joining the Youth Army and fighting in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). Throughout his lifetime, Ma Ho-ling dedicated himself to his government and country. He served in various positions and capacities in the KMT Party and government after the war against Japan in 1945 until his death at the age of 85 in 2005. Ma Ying-jeou's mother, Chin Hou-hsiu, having also devoted her life to the government, is now a retired civil servant.

In 1977, Mr. Ma married Chow Mei-ching. They have two daughters: Ma Wei-chung and Ma Yuan-chung. The smallest addition to their family is a stray dog that they adopted in 1999 and affectionately call Ma Hsiao-jeou (Little Ma).

Ma Ying-jeou graduated from Taiwan's foremost academic institution, National Taiwan University, in 1972 receiving a bachelor's degree from the College of Law. After earning a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from New York University in 1976, Ma received a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) degree from Harvard Law School in 1981, specializing in law of the sea and international economic law.

Upon returning to Taiwan in 1981 Ma became the deputy director of the First Bureau of the Presidential Office. In this post, he served as President Chiang Ching-kuo's English interpreter and secretary. He was concurrently deputy secretary-general of the KMT's Central Committee. In 1986, he was assigned by President Chiang the heavy task of researching the possibility of lifting martial law, relaxing restrictions on cross-strait contacts (e.g. by permitting residents in Taiwan to visit their mainland relatives), and reforming the parliament.

On October 7, 1986, President Chiang granted an interview to Katherine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post. During the interview Chiang announced that Taiwan would act as soon as possible to lift martial law and the ban on forming new political parties. This event marked a momentous turning point in Taiwan's democratic development. As the president's English secretary at the time, Mr. Ma was witness to this historic milestone in Chinese civilization.

In 1988, he was appointed Chairman of the Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission of the Executive Yuan. Concurrently, he was also assigned to form a Mainland Affairs Task Force and subsequently became the body's executive secretary. Three years later, Ma was appointed to the newly established Mainland Affairs Council, becoming its first-ever vice chairperson while concurrently serving as a KMT representative at-large in the Second National Assembly.

In 1993, Mr. Ma was appointed Minister of Justice, in which position he launched an aggressive campaign to fight against corruption and drugs, investigated allegations of vote-buying, cracked down on organized crime, and reformed the prison system. In 1996, Ma was appointed Minister without Portfolio. Although no longer in charge of fighting crime, Ma nevertheless resigned in May 1997 to take responsibility for a series of heinous crimes, notably the kidnap and brutal murder of Pai Hsiao-yen, the daughter of a famous Taiwanese entertainer. He later returned to teach law at the College of Law, National Chengchi University.

In 1998, Ma Ying-jeou joined the hotly contested race for Taipei mayor. This was the first time Ma would run for an elected position and face the scrutiny of public opinion. Campaigning on a platform built on technocratic expertise and a fresh outlook, Ma won the election with 760,000 ballots, or 51.13 percent of the vote. Four years later he secured a second term in office, winning 870,000 ballots, or 64.11 percent of the vote.

During his eight-year tenure as Taipei mayor, Ma succeeded in transforming Taipei into a world-class cosmopolitan city. Many domestic and international polls have frequently ranked Taipei among the top quality cities in the region.

In 2005, Mr. Ma ran for the KMT chairmanship. He put forth a roadmap to reform the party's social and organizational structures and revitalize its image. Ma's message for change attracted the strong support of young and swing voters, in the end securing him a landslide victory of 73% of the votes.

On February 13, 2007, Ma was indicted on corruption charges in connection with a special allowance fund that was under his discretionary use during his tenure as Taipei mayor. In response to these charges Ma immediately issued a statement entitled, "Turning Grief and Indignation into Strength," in which he tendered his resignation as KMT Party chairman and officially announced that he would join the presidential race in 2008.

In the days following this event, media polls showed that over 70 percent of respondents believed in Ma's innocence. In August and December of 2007, both the Taipei District Court and Taiwan High Court ruled that Ma was innocent of all charges. This decision was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court on April 24, 2008, marking a definitive victory for Ma Ying-jeou.

After announcing his presidential candidacy Ma campaigned tirelessly to reach the people. He launched a tour of the entire island, trekking on bike to countless towns and villages and living among the people in what the media coined Ma's "Long Stay." His sincerity, positive campaigning style, and technocratic expertise and experience won him strong grassroots support. On March 22, 2008, he was duly elected president of the Republic of China.

On May 20, 2008, Ma Ying-jeou was inaugurated as the 12th-term president of the ROC. In his inaugural speech entitled, "Taiwan's Renaissance," Ma pledged to ease regulatory restrictions and tap into Taiwan's competitive advantages in order to encourage domestic firms to establish a strong home base in Taiwan while networking throughout the Asia-Pacific region and positioning themselves globally. However, he reminded listeners that while his administration would take steps to meet international competition head on, it would also act at home to look after the interests of the underprivileged and preserve the natural environment.

In addition, Ma emphasized his intention to institute clean government and lead by example. In particular, he stated that for a young democracy, amending the constitution is not so important as honoring and executing the currently existing constitution.

In foreign policy, President Ma stressed his commitment to deepening Taiwan's participation in the process of regional economic integration in East Asia, and to transforming Taiwan into a "peacemaker," so that the international community will look at our nation in a whole new light. Regarding cross-strait relations, Ma stated his intention to adopt a stance of "no unification, no independence, and no use of force." In particular, he advocated the maintenance of the status quo under the framework of the ROC constitution and the resumption of negotiations with the mainland based on the "1992 Consensus." Ma called for Taiwan and the mainland to reconcile their differences in cross-strait relations and in the international community so that both sides could pursue win-win strategies that would contribute to the peaceful development of the region.

The president also extended his sincere condolences to the family members of victims in the Sichuan earthquake, and expressed his wish for the speedy recovery of the people and area, as well as his hopes that the people of mainland China could one day experience the same freedom, democracy, and equitable distribution of wealth that are enjoyed on this side of the Taiwan Strait.

President Ma declared his determination to uphold those ideals that best embody Taiwan's core traditional values—benevolence, righteousness, diligence, honesty, generosity and industriousness. Furthermore, the incoming Ma administration envisioned creating a government that would work hand-in-hand with the people for a better tomorrow, and would make policy in accordance with the principle of "putting Taiwan first for the benefit of the people."

Soon after taking office President Ma encountered severe challenges originating from beyond Taiwan's borders. The US subprime mortgage crisis triggered a financial tsunami that swept across the globe and left economic recession in its wake. President Ma's administration calmly responded by declaring a blanket guarantee for all bank deposits, taking steps to spur domestic demand, easing restrictions on cross-strait economic and trade ties, and adopting measures to increase employment. Meanwhile, the government identified six key emerging industries as future mainstays of the Taiwan economy, and stepped up efforts to bring about a more diversified industrial structure and jump-start new engines for economic growth. In addition, environmental concerns have also been a high priority. The president's vigorous steps to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions have already borne fruit, as Taiwan succeeded in reducing its carbon emissions in 2008 by 4.1% year-on-year, lowering them to the same level they were at in 2005. Carbon emissions in 2009 were down 4.9% from 2008, and energy consumption per unit of GDP in 2009 was down 4.0% from 2007, an indication that energy is now being used more efficiently. In 2010, rapid economic growth caused a slight rise in carbon emissions, but energy-use efficiency still increased by more than the target of 2%. The administration's strong, decisive response to the financial crisis has navigated Taiwan safely through the storm and brought about a stable recovery, while its environmental measures have steered national development in the direction of a sustainable, low-carbon economy.

Crafting a response to regional economic integration in Asia is another key policy focus for the administration. Guided by the principle of "helping people do business, making Taiwan more competitive," Ma has set with determination about the task of signing a cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). The point of ECFA is to ensure that firms from Taiwan can compete on a level playing field internationally. The president is also seeking actively to sign free trade agreements with Taiwan's other principal trading partners to safeguard the competitiveness of our exports.

Parity and dignity are the non-negotiable preconditions of Ma's approach to cross-strait relations, and on these terms he has succeeded in re-starting cross-strait talks, defusing hostility, and establishing the conditions for peaceful interaction. During six rounds of talks between Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation, and Chen Yunlin, chairman of mainland China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, the two sides have signed 15 agreements covering such matters as: regular direct cross-strait flights; direct postal services; visits to Taiwan by mainland Chinese tourists; financial supervisory cooperation; food safety; cooperation on fishing crew affairs; product testing and certification; inspection and quarantine of agricultural products; joint crime-fighting and judicial cooperation; protection of intellectual property rights; and medical care and public health. By expanding the scope of cross-strait cooperation, the two sides are gradually building goodwill and trust.

In foreign affairs, President Ma has been pursuing a policy of viable diplomacy, and the resulting improvement in cross-strait relations has put an end to a long and vituperative standoff between the two sides in the diplomatic sphere. This change has brought more stable ties with our diplomatic allies and strengthened substantive relations with countries with which we do not have official relations. As a result, important breakthroughs have come on many different fronts. The country has been able to send higher-level representation to the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, for example, joined the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, and been admitted as an observer at the World Health Assembly. These developments have greatly increased Taiwan's maneuvering room on the international stage, and provided a reason to continue developing the cross-strait relationship. Positive momentum is building. In addition, our foreign aid missions are active around the globe, and we have achieved our goal of obtaining visa-free entry for ROC nationals in 100 countries. The number of jurisdictions offering visa-free courtesies now accounts for 96% of the countries and territories frequently visited by ROC nationals. In addition, our innovative prowess is frequently on prominent display in international venues. All of these things clearly demonstrate that the ROC enjoys universal respect in the international community.

During his three years in office, Ma has clearly demonstrated his administration's commitment to clean government and the rule of law. Serious steps have been taken to end abuse of power, push forward with political and economic reform, engage in more dialogue with the opposition, establish a higher profile for Taiwan on the international stage, and open up direct postal, transportation, and trade links across the Taiwan Strait. In May 2010, moreover, he put forward six steps to a better Taiwan, pledging his intent to "strengthen the country through innovation, revive the country by promoting culture, save the country through environmental protection, stabilize the country by adhering to the constitution, secure the country by providing social services, and protect the country by promoting peace."

Looking forward to a "Golden Decade" for Taiwan, President Ma spoke in his 2011 New Year's Day Message of his four main hopes for the future, saying that he wants "educational reforms that provide a lasting solution," "environmental stewardship that provides lasting viability," "lasting justice," and "a lasting peace." On the first day of the ROC’s centennial, he called for national unity as we work to lay a firm foundation for another 100 strong years for the ROC, so that in the next century the ROC will become a nation the world will respect, and an inspiration to many.