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Premier Yu Kuo-hwa was considered the helmsman of Taiwan’s financial policies from the 1970s to the 1980s.

During his premiership, he led Taiwan’s economy on a liberalized, globalized and systematic path of development. Value-added business taxes were imposed in 1986 and foreign exchange controls were lifted in 1987. That same year, the Council of Labor Affairs and the Environmental Protection Administration were established. In 1988, the government finished appropriating land reserved for public facilities in order to reduce public spending and gain more construction space, an act that left a lasting influence on Taiwan’s public infrastructure.

Premier Yu also cared deeply about the welfare of the public and the underprivileged. In 1988, the government passed the Consumer Protection Law and the Farmer Health Insurance Act. In 1989, it amended the Handicapped Welfare Act to protect the rights of disabled persons to work.

The photo shows Premier Yu Kuo-hwa at a cadet training ceremony at Cheng Gong Ling Training Center on September 10, 1984.