Chang Ching-sen

Chang graduated from National Taiwan University with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in 1982 and earned his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the university in 1991. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "Modern Urban Planning in Taiwan: A Political, Historical, and Economic Study (1895-1988)".^[3]

In the mid-2000s, Chang was the vice chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development.^[4] He served as an advisor to Ko Wen-je's 2014 Taipei mayoral campaign.^[5][6] He was named a policy advisor to Tsai Ing-wen's 2016 presidential bid.^[7] After Tsai won, her designated premier Lin Chuan named Chang to the cabinet as a minister without portfolio on 7 April 2016.^[8] Three weeks before he took office on 20 May, Chang made controversial comments on Facebook about an urban renewal project in Shilin District.^[9] He apologized via Facebook two days after making the post,^[10] but later chose to deactivate his account on the social media platform.^[11]

In September 2016 Chang made an unofficial statement that Mainland Chinese tourists are Taiwan's most needed friends, and to the Taiwanese that there is a difference between the Mainland Chinese people and the Mainland Chinese government.^[12]