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Clara Chou

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clara Chou
周玉蔻
Chou in 2017
Born (1953-09-09) 9 September 1953 (age 73)
Keelung, Taiwan
EducationNational Chengchi University (BA)
Harvard University (MPA)
Peking University (MBA)
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • television personality
  • radio personality
Political party
Kuomintang
(before 2000; 2008–2014)
Taiwan Solidarity Union (2006)
Spouse
Lee Hyun-Reng
​
​
(m. 2001; div. 2017)​
Chinese name
Chinese周玉蔻
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhōu Yùkòu
Wade–GilesChou Yu-kou
Southern Min
Hokkien POJChiu Gio̍k-khò͘

Chou Yuh-kow (Chinese: 周玉蔻; pinyin: Zhōu Yùkòu; born 9 September 1953), also known by her English name Clara Chou, is a Taiwanese journalist and media personality.

Early life and education

[edit]

Chou was born in 1953 in Keelung, Taiwan.[1] Her parents were from Laiyang, Shandong.[1] Her father was a schoolteacher.[2] She was raised in Keelung in a military dependents' village.[3] She has two brothers, one of whom graduated from Central Police University.[4]

Chou completed both junior high and senior high at National Keelung Girls' Senior High School.[1] After high school, she graduated from National Chengchi University with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1975.[5] As an undergraduate, she was classmates with journalist Kelu Chao and film producer Peggy Chiao.[6] Her undergraduate professors included writer Lin Hwai-min.[7]

Chou later pursued graduate studies in the United States, earning a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from Harvard University in 1987.[8] In 2012, she earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Peking University.[9]

Journalism and broadcasting (1975–2012)

[edit]

After college, Chou worked as a reporter and translator for the Broadcasting Corporation of China and as a reporter for the English-language newspaper China News (英文中國日報).[10] By 1981, she was a senior editor at the newly-established CommonWealth Magazine.[11] She then worked as a reporter for United Daily News.[12] In 1986, she obtained an interview with Philippine president Corazon Aquino after arriving before dawn without a scheduled appointment and remaining outside Aquino's office while other international news organizations conducted their interviews.[13]

In 1988, Chou began a six-month reporting project on Chang Ya-juo, a mistress of Chiang Ching-kuo, for which United Daily News provided travel expenses and other resources for her to interview members of Chang's family and cultural-preservation workers in China.[14] United Daily News began serializing her resulting account in the autumn of 1989.[14] Linking Publishing published the work as a 261-page book, Chiang Ching-kuo and Chang Ya-juo (蔣經國與章亞若), on January 18, 1990.[15]

In April 1990, Chou became a news director (採訪主任) of the United Evening News.[16] Alongside her newspaper work, she continued writing book-length accounts of contemporary Taiwanese political figures.[12] In December 1992, CommonWealth published her book Lee Teng-hui's Thousand Days (李登輝的一千天) detailing the early years of Lee Teng-hui's presidency.[17]

After leaving newspaper journalism, Chou expanded into television and broadcasting in 1994, establishing the 2000 Studio (2000年工作室) and her own television programs.[18] In March 1998, she was hosting the morning program UFO Breakfast (飛碟早餐) on UFO Radio.[19] She was also editor-in-chief of TVBS Weekly and editor-in-chief of the news department at Era News.[20]

In November 2000, Chou returned to the Era media group to serve as director of Era News while writing a book about then-former premier Tang Fei.[21] On February 26, 2004, Chou announced that she was ending her work at UFO Radio and News98, citing differences with the management of UFO Radio.[22]

Later career

[edit]

From 2012 until 2021, she anchored Chou Chou Breakfast (蔻蔻早餐) from 7:00 to 9:00 every weekday on Hit FM.

In 2014, Chou accused President Ma Ying-jeou of accepting donations from the Ting Hsin International Group.[23] At the time, the company was investigated as part of the 2014 Taiwan food scandal. Chou believed Ma had a hand in covering up Ting Hsin's role in the incident.[24] In December, Ma filed two lawsuits against Chou for the comments she made.[25] She countered with a lawsuit against the Kuomintang, targeting acting party chairperson Wu Den-yih.[26] Chou was stripped of her KMT membership later that month,[27][28] days after she had presented evidence of the party's alleged misdeeds.[29] In December 2015, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chou on charges of defamation in connection to her comments about Ting Hsin.[30] The first ruling in Ma's court case against Chou was handed down later that month. The Taipei District Court found her not guilty of defamation.[31][32] Ma appealed the verdict to the Taiwan High Court.[33]

Chou made further accusations of the KMT in June 2015, this time against then-unconfirmed presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu, claiming that Hung's master's degree from Northeast Missouri State University was falsified.[34][35] Hung sued Chou and the Next Magazine employees who first published the accusations.[36] Chou further stated in August that Hung was thinking of ending her presidential run early in return for a legislative position or money. In response, Hung charged Chou with defamation again.[37] That same month, Terry Gou was awarded NT$2 million in his defamation suit against Chou, who had accused Gou of violating the Political Donations Act in January.[38][39]

Political career

[edit]

Chou supported the Kuomintang, before the party lost power in the 2000 election. After the loss, she publicly supported the Democratic Progressive Party's policies, and ran as a candidate for the Pan-Green Taiwan Solidarity Union in the 2006 Taipei City municipal election.[9] She was expelled from the TSU during her mayoral campaign for suggesting that President Chen Shui-bian resign in the wake of First Lady Wu Shu-chen's indictment for graft,[40][41] though her name still appeared on the ballot as the TSU candidate.[42] The expulsion was later reduced to a suspension.[43] By 2008, Chou had rejoined the KMT.[9] After Ma Ying-jeou resigned as KMT chair in December 2014, Chou tried to run for the position, but was rejected.[44]

2006 Taipei City Mayoral Election Result
No Candidate Party Votes %
1 Li Ao Independent 7,795 0.61%
2 Clara Chou[a] Taiwan Solidarity Union 3,372 0.26%
3 Frank Hsieh Democratic Progressive Party 525,869 40.89%
4 James Soong[b] Independent 53,281 4.14%
5 Hau Lung-pin Kuomintang 692,085 53.81%
6 Ke Tsi-hai (柯賜海) Independent 3,687 0.29%

Personal life

[edit]

In 1998, Chou claimed that she and Daniel Huang had an affair.[47] She married Lee Hyun-Reng in 2001.[48]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ Despite Chou's expulsion from the Taiwan Solidarity Union on 9 November 2006, the party could not withdraw their recommendation for Chou under Republic of China's Public Officials Election and Recall Law. She would still contest the elections as a TSU candidate.[45]
  2. ↑ James Soong was Chairman of the People's First Party at the time of the elections, but entered the elections as an independent.[46]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 蔣方良與蔣經國. 城邦讀書花園 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 城邦文化. October 20, 1993. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  2. ↑ "《新聞麻辣燙》5/14直播內容超麻辣！周玉蔻直指林沛祥一家行事「如傅崐萁夫婦」霸佔基隆多年！蔣萬安、郭禮伯面容比對...吳靜怡驚「好像！」稱蔣萬安詐欺因「蔣姓」選他的人". 放言Fount Media. Retrieved 2026-03-31.
  3. ↑ Chou, Clara (May 10, 2026). 外省二代？山東人？中國人？　我在混亂、自我否定與掙扎中，走向台灣人認同的心路歷程. Fount Media (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  4. ↑ "父親、二哥接連辭世 周玉蔻喊「差一個擁抱」：心好痛". Yahoo News (in Chinese). 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2026-03-31.
  5. ↑ 周玉蔻. Fount Media (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  6. ↑ 李興前. 政大記憶網 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). National Chengchi University Library. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  7. ↑ 周玉蔻的媒體顛覆 泛藍頭痛. New Taiwan Weekly (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2004. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  8. ↑ 快新聞／哈佛棄北京選台大　校友周玉蔻「揭主因」：擔心學生變人質而來台灣. FTV News (in Chinese (Taiwan)). October 14, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 Lim, Ruey Yan (9 November 2015). "Clara Chou: The woman who stole the limelight at press conferences of historic Xi-Ma meeting". Straits Times. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  10. ↑ 《文創研習之二》周玉蔻打造金門為和平區 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Kinmen County Government. July 4, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  11. ↑ 編者的話. CommonWealth Magazine (in Chinese (Taiwan)). June 1, 1981. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  12. 1 2 蔣方良與蔣經國. 城邦讀書花園 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 城邦文化. October 20, 1993. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  13. ↑ 代表性戰役／卓亞雄（聯合報特約主筆） (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Excellence in Journalism Award Foundation. July 11, 2013. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  14. 1 2 Chou, Clara (November 22, 2007). 埋葬一本書. UDN Blog (in Chinese (Taiwan)). United Daily News Group. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  15. ↑ 蔣經國與章亞若 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Linking Publishing. January 18, 1990. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  16. ↑ 政局變動下，新聞媒體的角色與省思. CommonWealth Magazine (in Chinese (Taiwan)). April 1, 1990. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  17. ↑ Chou, Clara (December 1, 1992). 李登輝的一千天. CommonWealth Magazine (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  18. ↑ 蔣方良與蔣經國. 城邦讀書花園 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 城邦文化. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  19. ↑ Ho, Chi-yu (March 1, 1998). 「飛碟」夢想征服台灣天空. CommonWealth Magazine (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  20. ↑ Chen, Tsung-i (October 21, 2004). 周玉蔻的媒體顛覆 泛藍頭痛. New Taiwan Weekly (in Chinese (Taiwan)). No. 448. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  21. ↑ 周玉蔻用「總統緋聞」捧紅唐飛. Business Today (in Chinese (Taiwan)). November 30, 2000. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  22. ↑ Hou, Pei-yin (February 26, 2004). 周玉蔻記者會　宣佈新東家訝異轉場. TVBS News (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  23. ↑ Chien, Li-chung; Chung, Jake (26 December 2014). "President files suit against Clara Chou". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  24. ↑ Chang, Hsiao-ti (24 December 2014). "Ma knew about donation: Clara Chou". Taipei Times. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  25. ↑ Huang, Kelven; Chang, Maubo (25 December 2014). "President has no choice but to sue Chou: spokeswoman". Central News Agency. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  26. ↑ Shih, Hsiu-Chuan (24 December 2014). "Clara Chou, KMT exchange lawsuits". Taipei Times. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  27. ↑ Chyan, Amy (31 December 2014). "KMT discipline committee aims to 'expel membership' of Clara Chou". China Post. Archived from the original on April 28, 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  28. ↑ Shih, Hsiu-chuan (1 January 2015). "Clara Chou denied chance to appeal at KMT meeting". Taipei Times. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  29. ↑ Pan, Jason (27 December 2014). "Clara Chou delivers case against Ma to prosecutors". Taipei Times. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  30. ↑ Pan, Jason (19 December 2015). "Taipei prosecutors charge Clara Chou with defamation". Taipei Times. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  31. ↑ Pan, Jason (1 January 2015). "Clara Chou not guilty of defamation". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  32. ↑ Tsai, Pei-chi; Hsieh, Chia-chen; Chang, S.C. (31 December 2015). "TV pundit found not guilty of libel against President Ma". Central News Agency. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  33. ↑ Hsiang, Cheng-chen; Chung, Jake (31 August 2016). "Ma accuses Clara Chou of 'groundless slander'". Taipei Times. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  34. ↑ Chiao, Yuan-Ming (24 June 2015). "Hung threatens lawsuit over pundit accusations". The China Post. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  35. ↑ Hsiao, Alison (25 June 2015). "Hung's nomination can not be withheld: KMT". Taipei Times. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  36. ↑ Liu, L.J.; Lin, Lillian (24 June 2015). "KMT presidential hopeful to sue TV pundits for slander". Central News Agency. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  37. ↑ Hsiao, Alison; Loa, Iok-sin (16 August 2015). "Hung's office takes legal action against Chou". Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  38. ↑ Chiao, Yuan-Ming (22 August 2015). "Court rules in favor of Gou in defamation suit". China Post. Archived from the original on August 22, 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  39. ↑ "Clara Chou ordered to compensate Gou over donation claim". Taipei Times. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  40. ↑ "TSU may reconsider stance on recall". Taipei Times. 13 November 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  41. ↑ Wang, Flora (7 November 2006). "TSU reverses stand on new recall vote". Taipei Times. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  42. ↑ Mo, Yan-chih (10 November 2006). "TSU revokes Chou's membership". Taipei Times. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  43. ↑ "TSU panel overturns decision to expel Chou". China Post. 2 December 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  44. ↑ Chung, Lawrence (12 December 2014). "New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu to run for Kuomintang chairman". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  45. ↑ "TSU expels Taipei mayoral candidate". China Post. 10 November 2006. Archived from the original on January 16, 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  46. ↑ Shih, Hsiu-chuan (10 December 2006). "Elections 2006: People First Party chairman announces an end to his career". Taipei Times. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  47. ↑ Huang, Sandy (24 February 2003). "Allegations of adultery dog Hwang". Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  48. ↑ "周玉蔻老公被控欠債". Apple Daily (in Chinese). 27 May 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
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