US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI384

UNCLAS TAIPEI 000384 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS AIT/W 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, TW 
SUBJECT: TAIWAN PRAYER BREAKFAST DELEGATION HEAD WU LI-PEI: 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 
 
1.  Wu Li-pei, Senior Advisor in the Office of President Chen 
Shui-bian, was born in Changhua County, Taiwan, in 1934.  He 
earned a B.A. in Economics at the National Taiwan University 
(1957) and, after his brother was arrested by the Nationalist 
Government, moved to the U.S., where he later earned an 
M.B.A. at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas (1969). 
 
2.  After completing his M.B.A., Wu moved to Alaska, where he 
worked with the National Bank of Alaska, rising to become 
Chief Financial Officer.  In 1978, he became President of 
Alaska National Bank, and in 1982 moved to Los Angeles to 
become Chairman and CEO of General Bancorp.  In 1990 he was 
awarded the Outstanding Entrepreneur Award by the National 
Association of Investment Companies. 
 
3.  Wu served as Chief of the Overseas Association for Chen 
Shui-bian during the Taiwan 2000 presidential campaign, and 
was made Senior Advisor to President Chen following the 
election.  Earlier, in 1985, he had founded the Taiwanese 
American Citizen League (TACL), which now has 12 chapters 
nationwide.  In 2001, he founded the Los-Angeles-based 
Formosa Foundation, of which he is Chairman.  The Foundation, 
he told the "Taipei Times" (August 30, 2002), works to change 
the U.S. one-China policy and is intended to complement the 
work of other Taiwanese American organizations, such as the 
Formosan Association of Public Affairs (FAPA).  (Note: The 
above information was based on open-source material.) 
PAAL