Paul Chiu, Taiwan finance minister in Asian financial crisis, dies at 83

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) Paul Chiu (邱正雄), a former vice premier and finance minister who tackled several financial crises during his time in office in the late 1990s and 2008, has died at 83, sources confirmed Wednesday.

The confirmation, made by sources who wished to remain anonymous, came after local media reports about Chiu's death surfaced Tuesday night. No further details, such as the date or cause of death, were provided.

According to the Chinese-language United Daily News' website, Chiu's friends said he had become quite ill and frail over the past year, after spending years caring for his wife in poor health.

Born on Feb. 19, 1942, in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan, Chiu studied economics at National Taiwan University and went on to obtain a master's degree and a doctorate degree from the Ohio State University in the United States.

Chiu began his civil servant career at the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the early 1970s, with his first major post being deputy head of the Department of Foreign Exchange from 1976-1981, during which time Taiwan moved to a flexible exchange rate system.

Chiu left his position as deputy governor of the central bank in 1996 to become minister of finance, one year before the Asian financial crisis.

Thailand's devaluation of its currency in July 1997 led to speculators targeting foreign exchange markets in Southeast Asia and East Asia, and market interventions in several countries proved counterproductive.

Taiwan weathered the crisis and posted around 5.1 percent economic growth in 1998, but Chiu faced a local banking crisis in late 1998 as a result of which he successfully restructured the local banking sector.

He also pushed for the establishment of a financial regulatory body and for the National Financial Stabilization Fund, which was set up to ease capital market volatility caused by unexpected major events.

Former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) praised Chiu, who was in the Cabinet from 1996-2000, as "the world's best finance minister in the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis."

Chiu returned to government when former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May 2008, working as vice premier under then-Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), as Taiwan was hit by the global financial crisis and saw a surge in unemployment and a decline in exports.

After Typhoon Morakot devastated southern Taiwan with floods and landslides in August 2009, Chiu was named head of a taskforce established to deal with the aftermath until the Cabinet resigned en masse on Sept. 10 that year.

Chiu had since worked as chairman of EnTie Commercial Bank and Bank SinoPac, and also taught economics at National Taiwan University.

(By Alec Chang and Kay Liu) Ednitem/AW