John Kuan

{{Short description|Taiwanese politician}} {{about|the Republic of China politician|the geographic region|Guanzhong|the chancellor of the State of Qin|Guan Zhong}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Kuan Chung | native_name = {{lang|zh-hant|{{nobold|關中}}}} | image = 關中 (2014).jpg | alt = | caption = | order1 = 11th | office1 = President of the Examination Yuan | term_start1 = 1 December 2008 | term_end1 = 31 August 2014 | 1blankname1 = Vice | 1namedata1 = Wu Jin-lin | deputy1 = | predecessor1 = Yao Chia-wen<br>Wu Jin-lin (acting) | successor1 = Wu Jin-lin | order2 = 11th | office2 = Vice President of the Examination Yuan | term_start2 = 1 September 1996 | term_end2 = 30 May 2000 | president2 = Hsu Shui-teh | predecessor2 = Mao Gao-wen | successor2 = Wu Rong-ming | order3 = | office3 = Minister of the Civil Service | term_start3 = 1 September 1994 | term_end3 = 31 August 1996 | predecessor3 = Chen Kuei-hua | successor3 = {{ill|Chiu Chin-yi|zh|邱進益}} | order4 = | office4 = Member of the Legislative Yuan | term_start4 = 1 February 1993 | term_end4 = 1 September 1994 | constituency4 = Taipei 1 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1940|6|9|df=y}} | birth_place = Tientsin, China | party = Kuomintang | other_party =  | spouse = Chang Hui-chun | partner =  | relations = | children = Wendy Kuan | occupation = | education = National Chengchi University (BA)<br>{{no wrap|Tufts University (MA, MA, PhD)}} }}

'''Kuan Chung''' ({{lang-zh|c=關中|p=Guān Zhōng}}; born 9 June 1940), also known by his English name '''John Kuan''', is a Taiwanese diplomat and politician who was president of the Examination Yuan of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.exam.gov.tw/html/profile/pd-50.asp |title=President of the Examination Yuan |language=Chinese |publisher=Examination Yuan |accessdate=2009-10-29 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317234229/http://www.exam.gov.tw/html/profile/pd-50.asp |archivedate=March 17, 2009 }}</ref>

== Early life and education == Kuan was born in Tianjin, China, in 1940. He is of Manchu descent, belonging to the Plain White Banner. His father, {{Interlanguage link|Kuan Da-chung|zh|關大成}}, was a KMT politician.<ref>{{Cite web |last=world |first=Taiwan Panorama Magazine {{!}} An international, bilingual magazine for Chinese people around the |title=Kuan Chung--Thinker and Activist |url=http://www.taiwan-panorama.com/en/Articles/Details?Guid=642c6701-c02b-46eb-89f2-326273e745d8&CatId=11&postname=Kuan%20Chung--Thinker%20and%20Activist&srsltid=AfmBOopE714WU2X_G_eWZcGcUhxb0zPwd7d8ke2IS1cKbyseQtdtfEZr |access-date=2025-11-19 |website=Taiwan Panorama Magazine {{!}} An international, bilingual magazine for Chinese people around the world |language=zh-Hant-TW}}</ref>

After high school, Kuan graduated from National Chengchi University with a bachelor's degree in diplomacy in 1967 and briefly enrolled in National Taiwan University to study political science before withdrawing. He completed graduate studies in the United States at Tufts University, where he earned a Master of Arts (M.A.) in diplomacy, a second master's degree, and his Ph.D. in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1969 and 1973, respectively.<ref>{{cite news |title=Who's Who in the ROC |url=http://www.ey.gov.tw/en/Upload/WebArchive/4695/Who's%20Who%20in%20the%20ROC.pdf |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020105104/http://www.ey.gov.tw/en/Upload/WebArchive/4695/Who%27s%20Who%20in%20the%20ROC.pdf |archivedate=20 October 2016 |accessdate=5 May 2016 |pages= |agency=Executive Yuan}}</ref>

Kuan's doctoral dissertation was titled, "The Kuomintang-Communist Party Negotiations, 1944–1946: The Failure of Efforts to Avoid Civil War".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aspaturian |first=Vernon V. |date=1979-12-01 |title=Related dissertations of interest to specialists in comparative communism |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039359279904411 |journal=Studies in Comparative Communism |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=382–388 |doi=10.1016/S0039-3592(79)90441-1 |issn=0039-3592|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He later was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Indianapolis.

==Personal life== Kuan's surname ''Kuan'' is the sinicized form of his clan (hala) name Gūwalgiya (Manchu: {{mongolUnicode|ᡤᡡᠸᠠᠯᡤᡳᠶᠠ}} {{lang-zh|links=no|c=瓜爾佳氏}}).

Kuan's daughter, Wendy Kuan (關雲娣), died in May 2011 after she fell from the kitchen window of her 27th floor apartment in Shanghai. It was rumored that she committed suicide because her husband, Zero Lin (林哲樂), was having an affair. Kuan has avoided meeting Lin ever since his daughter's death, refusing to attend any family events where his son-in-law would be present.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Yang|first1=Chiu-ying|last2=Hsu|first2=Stacy|title=FEATURE: John Kuan keeps daughter alive through grandchild|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/08/05/2003568974/1|accessdate=29 April 2016|work=Taipei Times|date=5 August 2013}}</ref>

==See also== *Manchu people in Taiwan

==References== {{reflist}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuan, John}} Category:Living people Category:1940 births Category:Tufts University alumni Category:University of Indianapolis alumni Category:Kuomintang Members of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan Category:Taiwanese people of Manchu descent Category:Republic of China politicians from Tianjin Category:Taiwanese presidents of the Examination Yuan Category:Ministers of civil service of Taiwan Category:Manchu politicians Category:Members of the 2nd Legislative Yuan Category:National Chengchi University alumni Category:Taiwanese people from Tianjin Category:Politicians from Tianjin Category:Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan Category:National Taiwan University alumni Category:21st-century Taiwanese politicians