Profile Admirer of Thatcher with reputation for frugality

The first female president of Taiwan since the days of Imperial China is a British-educated admirer of Margaret Thatcher with a reputation for frugality and self-discipline.

Tsai Ing-wen, 59, is a lawyer who earned a doctorate at the London School of Economics in 1984 after stints at the National Taiwan University and Cornell University Law School.

Known to her supporters as “Little-Ing”, she was born on Aug 31 1956 in Pingtung County and moved to Taipei at the age of 11.

After completing her doctorate, Ms Tsai returned to Taipei to teach law at the National Chengchi University and began her political journey as a consultant to the mainland affairs council which handles links between Taiwan and mainland China.

In 2000 Ms Tsai received her first highprofile political position as chairman of the mainland affairs council. After joining the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 2004 she rose rapidly through the ranks, being appointed vicepremier in 2006 under President Su Tseng-chang, two years after being elected as a legislator.

Her path to the presidency was not all easy, however. She ran for the mayoralty of New Taipei City in 2010 but lost to the Kuomintang Party (KMT) candidate, and again lost to the KMT in a close presidential election in 2012 – resigning as head of her party after her defeat.

Her fortunes changed in 2014 when Tsai was re-elected DPP party chief, leading the party to a crushing victory in local elections.

As a believer in Taiwanese autonomy, Ms Tsai promises to maintain crossstrait stability, but she is a champion of Taiwan’s democracy which she contrasts with the one-party government in Beijing.

She lives alone in a modest apartment with two cats, does not speak of her private life and once boasted of having had the same pair of shoes for 16 years. As Taiwan faces a tougher economic future she seems now to be demanding the same restraint of her people.

But as a student in 1980s Britain, it was Mrs Thatcher who left an indelible impression. “Mrs Thatcher was a powerful figure at the time I was a student in London,” she said. “I admire her versatility and strength.”