2019 in Taiwan explained

Events from the year 2019 in Taiwan, Republic of China. This year is numbered Minguo 108 according to the official Republic of China calendar.

Incumbents

• President: Tsai Ing-wen
• Vice President: Chen Chien-jen
• Premier:
  • William Lai (until 13 January)
  • Su Tseng-chang (from 14 January)
• Vice Premier:
  • Shih Jun-ji (until 13 January)
  • Chen Chi-mai (from 14 January)

Events

January

• 25 January – The merger of Minkuotang into Congress Party Alliance.
• 27 January – First two of six 2019 Taiwanese by-elections held.

March

• 16 March – Remaining four of six 2019 Taiwanese by-elections held.

April

• 13 April – The official opening of Taikang Cultural Center in Annan District, Tainan.
  • 18 April – 2019 Hualien earthquake 24 April – The inauguration of National Academy of Marine Research in Cianjhen District, Kaohsiung.

May

• 12 May – The opening of Tainan City Zuojhen Fossil Park in Zuozhen District, Tainan.

July

• 1 July – The closing of Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum in Datong, Taipei.
• 15 July – The opening of Jiahou Line Bikeway in Taichung.

August

• 6 August – Founding of the Taiwan People's Party.
• 18 August – Founding of the Taiwan Action Party Alliance.

September

• 16–22 September – 2019 OEC Kaohsiung
• 16 September – The Republic of China terminated diplomatic relations with the Solomon Islands.^{[1] [2]}
• 20 September – The Republic of China terminated diplomatic relations with Kiribati.^{[3] [4]}

October

• 1 October – The collapse of Nanfang'ao Bridge in Su'ao, Yilan County.^[5]
• 14–20 October – 2019 Asian Baseball Championship

November

• 30 November – The closing of Core Pacific City in Songshan, Taipei.^[6]

December

• 31 December – The Anti-infiltration Act passes third legislative reading.

Deaths

• 8 January – Huang Chin-tao, 93, Taiwanese World War II veteran (Imperial Japanese Navy) and resistance fighter (27 Brigade).^[7]
• 21 January –, 36, Taiwanese mountaineer.^[8]
• 23 January – Lin Ching-hsuan, 65, Taiwanese writer, heart attack.^[9]
• 9 February – Huang Erh-hsuan, 82, Taiwanese politician, MLY (1993–2002).^[10]
• 14 February – Kao Chun-ming, 89, Taiwanese Presbyterian minister and activist.^[11]
• 6 March – Mai Chao-cheng, 77, Taiwanese economist, member of Academia Sinica.^[12]
• 15 March – Luo Jye, 95, Taiwanese billionaire businessman, founder of Cheng Shin Rubber.^[13]
• 23 March – Lee Shi-chi, 81, Taiwanese artist.^[14]
• 26 March –, 75, Taiwanese politician, throat cancer.^[15]
• 5 May – Shih Chi-yang, 84, Taiwanese politician, Minister of Justice (1984–1988), Vice Premier (1988–1993) and President of the Judicial Yuan (1994–1999), multiple organ failure.^[16]
• 13 May – Lo Tung-bin, 92, Taiwanese biochemist.^[17]
• 23 May – Ping Hsin-tao, 92, Taiwanese translator, producer, and publisher.^[18]
• 1 June – Han Kuang-wei, Taiwanese naval officer and engineer.^[19]
• 9 June – Ma Ju-lung, 80, Taiwanese actor, (Cape No. 7, Monga, ), infection.^[20]
• 12 June – Chang Liyi, 89, Taiwanese pilot (ROCAF), heart attack.^[21]
• 26 July – Hwung Hwung-hweng, 72, Taiwanese hydraulic engineer, president of National Cheng Kung University (2011–2015), chairman of the Aviation Safety Council (2015–2018), minister of the Ocean Affairs Council (2018–2019).^[22]
• 16 August – Roland Peter Brown, 93, American physician based in Taiwan.^[23]
• 4 September – Tsem Tulku Rinpoche, 53, Taiwanese-born Malaysian Tibetan tulku, liver failure.^[24]
• 8 September – Roger Hsieh, 85, Taiwanese politician, MLY (1993–1999).^[25]
• 16 September –, 49, Taiwanese voice actress (Crayon Shin-chan, Chibi Maruko-chan), multiple organ failure.^[26]
• 10 October – Tsai Ying-wen, 67, Taiwanese political scientist.^[27]
• 15 November – Olav Bjørgaas, 93, Norwegian physician (Norwegian Mission Alliance) in Taiwan.^[28]
• 18 November – Ching-Liang Lin, 88, Taiwanese physicist.^[29]
• 24 November – J. Bruce Jacobs, 76, American-born Australian Taiwan studies academic, cancer.^[30]
• 25 November – Chang Jen-hu, 92, Taiwanese geographer.^[31]
• 27 November – Godfrey Gao, 35, Taiwanese-Canadian model and actor (, Love is a Broadway Hit, Legend of the Ancient Sword), heart attack.^[32]
• 17 December –, 84, Taiwanese nativist writer.^[33]

Notes and References

1. News: Taiwan severs ties with the Solomons . 17 September 2019 . Taipei Times . 17 September 2019.
2. News: Chen . Christie . Lim . Emerson . Taiwan breaks diplomatic ties with Solomon Islands (update) . 16 September 2019 . Central News Agency . 16 September 2019.
3. News: Chen . Christie . Hou . Elaine . Taiwan cuts diplomatic ties with Kiribati . 20 September 2019 . Central News Agency . 20 September 2019.
4. News: Lin . Chia-nan . Political Maneuvering: Kiribati severs diplomatic relations . 21 September 2019 . Taipei Times . 21 September 2019.
5. News: Bodies of 2 of 3 missing Pinoys in Taiwan bridge collapse found . BusinessWorld.
6. News: Tzu-yu. Pan. Lin. Ko. 30 November 2019. Core Pacific City mall closes doors, attracting 100,000 people. Focus Taiwan. 2 December 2019.
7. News: Hsiao . Sherry . WWII veteran and former resistance fighter dies at 93 . 10 January 2019 . Taipei Times . 10 January 2019.
8. News: Wu . Che-hao . Ko Lin . Celebrity hiker dies of suspected hypothermia in central Taiwan . 24 January 2019 . Central News Agency . 21 January 2019.
9. News: Wang . Yi-ju . Wei . Yun-ling . Wang . Flor . Famous writer Lin Ching-hsuan dies at age 65 . 23 January 2019 . Central News Agency . 23 January 2019.
10. News: Shih . Hsiu-chuan . President Tsai expresses sadness at death of DPP founding member . 10 February 2019 . Central News Agency . 9 February 2019.
11. News: Liu . Li-jen . Chin . Jonathan . Democracy pioneer and Presbyterian minister dies . 15 February 2019 . Taipei Times . 15 February 2019.
12. Web site: https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20190308004417-260405 . zh:中研院院士麥朝成辭世 開放門生舊故悼念 . . zh-tw . 2019-03-08.
13. https://www.bikenews.online/index.php?route=bossblog/article&blog_article_id=197 CST Founder, Luo Jye, Passes Away
14. News: Top Taiwanese artist dies at the age of 81. 1 June 2020 . Taipei Times . 24 March 2019.
15. Web site: https://tw.appledaily.com/new/realtime/20190326/1540058/ . zh:新北市前議長陳幸進今病逝 政壇人士意外不捨 . . zh-tw.
16. News: Lin . Chang-shun . Lin . Emerson . Former Judicial Yuan president Shih Chi-yang, 84, dies . 5 May 2019 . Central News Agency . 5 May 2019.
17. News: 本院羅銅壁院士辭世 . 19 July 2020 . Academia Sinica . 23 May 2019 . zh.
18. News: Crown Magazine founding publisher dies aged 92. Chen Cheng-wei. Chung Yu-chen. 4 June 2019. Central News Agency. 12 June 2019.
19. News: Academician Kuang-Wei Han Has Passed Away . 16 September 2023 . Academia Sinica . 20 June 2019.
20. News: Chen . Cheng-wei . Taiwanese actor Ma Ju-lung passes away aged 80 . 10 June 2019 . Central News Agency . 9 June 2019.
21. News: 洪哲政 . zh:U-2偵察機傳奇飛行員張立義 上午病逝松山醫院 . https://udn.com/news/story/10930/3867231 . 18 June 2019 . United Daily News . 12 June 2019 . zh.
22. News: 侯俐安 . zh:知名水利專家、海委會首任主委黃煌煇離世 享壽72 . https://money.udn.com/money/story/5648/3952234 . 26 July 2019 . United Daily News . 26 July 2019 . zh . 26 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190726075003/https://money.udn.com/money/story/5648/3952234 . dead .
23. News: Roland Brown . 22 October 2019 . The Kansan . 22 August 2019.
24. News: Parinirvana of His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche . 6 September 2019 . Kechara . 5 September 2019.
25. News: Yeh . Su-ping . Yeh . Joseph . Presidential Office mourns death of independence activist Roger Hsieh . 9 September 2019. Central News Agency . 9 September 2019.
26. News: Everington . Keoni . Taiwanese voice actress behind Shin-chan dies at age 49 . 17 September 2019 . Taiwan News . 16 September 2019.
27. News: Chien . Hui-ju . Hetherington . William . Researcher Tsai Ying-wen dies . 14 October 2019 . Taipei Times.
28. News: Han Cheung . Taiwan in Time: Doctor from the North Sea . 24 November 2019 . Taipei Times . 24 November 2019.
29. News: 臺大物理系退休教授林清涼老師仙逝 . 12 December 2019 . Physical Society of Taiwan . 28 November 2019 . zh . 11 December 2019 . https://archive.today/20191211073116/https://www.ps-taiwan.org/news.php?id=12&fid=1&nid=463 . dead .
30. News: Baker . Diane . Taiwan specialist Bruce Jacobs dies in Melbourne . 27 November 2019 . Taipei Times . 25 November 2019.
31. News: zh:獨家》文化大學老董張鏡湖今午辭世 享耆壽92歲 . https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/2989313 . 25 November 2019 . Liberty News . 25 November 2019 . zh.
32. News: Brown . Scott . Vancouver-raised model and Asian film star Godfrey Gao dead at 35 . 27 November 2019 . Vancouver Sun . 26 November 2019 . 27 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191127183725/https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/vancouver-raised-model-and-asian-film-star-godfrey-gao-dead-at-35-reports . dead .
33. News: Chen . Cheng-wei . Kao . Evelyn . Literary pioneer dies at age 84 . 18 December 2019 . Central News Agency . 17 December 2019.