| George Hsieh | |
| Native Name Lang: | zh-tw |
| Order1: | 11th |
| Office1: | Mayor of Keelung |
| Term Start1: | 25 December 2022 |
| Deputy1: | Chiu Pei-lin |
| Predecessor1: | Lin Yu-chang |
| Office2: | Member of the Legislative Yuan |
| Term Start2: | 1 February 2005 |
| Term End2: | 1 February 2016 |
| Constituency2: | Keelung |
| Successor2: | Tsai Shih-ying |
| Birth Date: | 1975 10, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Keelung, Taiwan |
| Nationality: | Taiwanese |
| Spouse: | Veronica Kuo |
| Education: | University of Southern California (BA) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS) |
George Hsieh Kuo-liang (; born 5 October 1975) is a Taiwanese politician. He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2005 to 2016, and has served as Mayor of Keelung since 25 December 2022.
After earning a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Southern California, Hsieh attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a Master of Science.[1] He previously worked for The China Post and founded Hualien Media International.[2]
Hsieh renounced US citizenship to contest the 2004 legislative election as a member of the People First Party.[3] He joined the Kuomintang in 2006, and represented Keelung in the Legislative Yuan until 2016. In 2009, he proposed an amendment to the Computer-Processed Personal Data Protection Act that would make it legal for elected officials to examine personal records without informing the individual subject to investigation.[4] The next year, Hsieh was named the co-chair of the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.[5] In 2013, Next Magazine reported that he and a small group of legislators had been subject to wiretapping by the Ministry of Justice since 2011.[6] Hsieh was the party's top choice to run for the mayoralty of Keelung City in 2014, after original candidate Huang Ching-tai's nomination had been withdrawn.[7] He repeatedly refused the mayoral nomination and campaigned for Hsieh Li-kung instead.[8] [9] In February 2015, George Hsieh announced that he would not seek reelection, because his party had been soundly defeated in the November 2014 local elections.[10]
In May 2022, the Kuomintang nominated Hsieh as its candidate for the Keelung mayoralty in the local elections.[11] Hsieh defeated Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate and legislator .[12]
A CommonWealth Magazine published survey results in September 2023 ranking Hsieh at No. 21 of 22 of major mayors and magistrates in terms of approval ratings. A DPP city councillor attributed Hsieh’s low approval ratings to his breaking of campaign promises, including COVID-19 pandemic related subsidies.[13]
In June 2024, a campaign to recall Hsieh garnered 36,000 signatures and exceeded the threshold needed to initiate a recall vote.[14] The campaign organizers submitted the petition with 40,000 signatures on 5 July.[15] The Central Election Commission certified 36,909 of 43,137 submitted signatures in August, and scheduled the recall election for 13 October.[16] [17] The Keelung City Election Commission later announced that 283 polling stations would be set up for the election.[18] [19] With all polling stations reporting, 86,014 voted for Hsieh to remain in office, and 69,934 for his recall. In all seven districts of Keelung, a majority of voters rejected the recall of Hsieh.[20] [21]