# Henry Hsu

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For the Taiwanese singer, see [Henry Hsu (singer)](/source/Henry_Hsu_(singer)).

**Henry Hsu** (traditional Chinese: 徐亨; pinyin: *Xú Hēng*; 6 December 1912 – 3 February 2009) was a Chinese naval officer, athlete and politician.

## Life and career

Hsu was born in [Hua County](/source/Huadu_District), China, and had planned to follow his parents into the medical field, until his mother's death in a hotel fire when Hsu was eighteen.[1] Upon graduation from [Whampoa Military Academy](/source/Whampoa_Military_Academy), Hsu pursued legal studies in Shanghai.[2] He represented the Republic of China at the [1930](/source/1930_Far_Eastern_Championship_Games) and [1934 Far Eastern Championship Games](/source/1934_Far_Eastern_Championship_Games), as a volleyball player and footballer, respectively.[3][4] Hsu also competed as a swimmer and water polo player.[4] During [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Hsu served in the [Republic of China Navy](/source/Republic_of_China_Navy). At the time of the [Battle of Hong Kong](/source/Battle_of_Hong_Kong), he was a Lieutenant-Commander and aide-de-camp to Admiral [Chan Chak](/source/Chan_Chak).[5] Hsu saved Admiral Chan's life during a dramatic [breakout](/source/Breakout_(military)) in five small torpedo boats on Christmas Day 1941, which saved a total of sixty eight Chinese, [British Raj](/source/British_Raj) and Danish intelligence, naval and marine personnel from the Japanese in Hong Kong; for this feat he was made an Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1942.[2][5] Hsu retired from duty with the rank of Rear Admiral.[6] He then owned hotels in Hong Kong, soon expanding operations to Taiwan when he moved there in 1982, and later to the United States in 1992.[2][7][8]

He was a member of the [International Olympic Committee](/source/International_Olympic_Committee) from 1970 to 1988, and led the [Republic of China Olympic Committee](/source/Republic_of_China_Olympic_Committee) from 1973 to 1974.[3] Hsu was first appointed to the [Legislative Yuan](/source/Legislative_Yuan), Taiwan's unicameral legislature, in 1972 and served until 1987.[4][6] Upon stepping down from the legislature, he was named a national policy adviser to President [Chiang Ching-kuo](/source/Chiang_Ching-kuo), and also served Chiang's successor [Lee Teng-hui](/source/Lee_Teng-hui) until 2000.[4] Alongside his position as an adviser, Hsu served a nearly concurrent term as president of the [Red Cross Society of the Republic of China](/source/Red_Cross_Society_of_the_Republic_of_China) from 1988 to 2000.[6]

He died of heart failure at the age of 96 in 2009, while being treated for uremia and pneumonia at [Taipei Veterans General Hospital](/source/Taipei_Veterans_General_Hospital).[3][6] His funeral was held on 16 March, with [Ma Ying-jeou](/source/Ma_Ying-jeou), [Liu Chao-shiuan](/source/Liu_Chao-shiuan), [Wang Jin-pyng](/source/Wang_Jin-pyng), [Wu Ching-kuo](/source/Wu_Ching-kuo), and [Chi Cheng](/source/Chi_Cheng_(athlete)) in attendance.[9]

## References

1. Matthews, Joe (6 July 2006). ["Hotel's owners dig in for labor fight"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jul-06-me-hotel6-story.html). *Los Angeles Times*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090324062458/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/06/local/me-hotel6) 24 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 22 April 2017. [Alt URL](https://www.pressreader.com/usa/los-angeles-times/20070706/281951718407697)

1. Luard, Tim (20 May 2009). ["Henry Hsu"](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/20/obituary-henry-hsu). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 22 April 2017.

1. ["Local veteran dies aged 96"](http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2009/02/05/2003435326). *Taipei Times*. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2017.

1. ["Death of Henry Heng Hsu, IOC Honorary Member since 1988"](https://www.olympic.org/news/death-of-henry-heng-hsu-ioc-honorary-member-since-1988). International Olympic Committee. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2017.

1. Lai, Benjamin (2014). [*Hong Kong 1941–45: First strike in the Pacific War*](https://books.google.com/books?id=0KnvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT142). Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781782002703.

1. ["Ex-lawmaker, sports leader Henry Hsu dies at 96"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090205174917/http://chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2009/02/04/194540/Ex%2Dlawmaker%2Dsports.htm). *China Post*. 4 February 2009. Archived from [the original](http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2009/02/04/194540/Ex-lawmaker-sports.htm) on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2017.

1. Luard, Tim (2012). [*Escape from Hong Kong: Admiral Chan Chak's Christmas Day Dash, 1941*](https://books.google.com/books?id=U8En3GmM02MC&pg=PA256). Hong Kong University Press. p. 256. ISBN 9789888083763.

1. ["Taiwanese group buys L.A. Airport Hilton"](http://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/05/04/Taiwanese-group-buys-LA-Airport-Hilton/6682704952000/). *United Press International*. 4 May 1992. Retrieved 22 April 2017.

1. ["IOC veteran laid to rest"](http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/03/17/2003438709). *Taipei Times*. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2017.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Henry Hsu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hsu) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hsu?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.