Shih obtained his bachelor's degree in business administration from Fu Jen Catholic University in 1978, master's degree in economics from Soochow University in 1980 and doctoral degree in economics from National Taiwan University in 1984. As a student, he led a demonstration which protested the White Terror, a period of political suppression that began after the 228 Incident of 1947.[1]
He was appointed to the Financial Supervisory Commission in July 2006, and named FSC chairman in August of that year.[1] During Shih's tenure as FSC chairman, the Rebar Chinese Bank filed for bankruptcy protection, which caused a bank run that led to NT$19 billion in losses and eventual government takeover of the financial institution.[2][3][4] The Enterprise Bank of Hualien, independent of Rebar, was also declared insolvent and placed under the purview of the FSC.[5] Shih resigned on 12 January 2007, shortly after the takeover announcement, to take responsibility for the Rebar scandal and was succeeded by Susan Chang on an interim basis, before Hu Sheng-cheng took office.[6][7]
Shih returned to the Academia Sinica's Institute of Social Science after resigning the FSC chairmanship.[8][9] He was named the economic adviser to Tsai Ing-wen's 2016 presidential campaign.[10] Shortly before she won the election, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission reported that Shih could be chosen as a financial adviser in Tsai's administration.[11] Tsai's premier Lin Chuan selected Shih as a minister without portfolio in April 2016. Shih was in charge of economic and communications policies, and led trade negotiations.[12] He was named chairman of the Taiwan Stock Exchange in June 2016 and assumed the position on July 1.[13][14][15]
Shih succeeded Lin Hsi-yao as vice premier of the Republic of China in September 2017.[16][17] He was appointed to the office by William Lai, who replaced Lin Chuan as premier. Shih stepped down from the vice premiership when the Lai cabinet resigned, and was replaced by Chen Chi-mai. Shih became an adviser to the National Security Council.[18] On 20 May 2020, Shih was named chairman of the Taiwan Asset Management Corporation, a position that had remained vacant after the December 2018 resignation of Lin Mei-chu.[19]
