AGE: 57
OCCUPATION: President-elect of Taiwan
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0
PRO: After outgoing President Chen Shui-bian's two scandal-ridden terms, Ma — a Harvard-educated lawyer and former Mayor of Taipei — is offering new hope to the Taiwanese people, particularly in the form of closer ties to economically booming China.
CON: Hardly scandal-free himself, the Nationalist politician was forced to resign from his post in 2007 after being indicted on charges of misusing mayoral funds, and is immediately being thrust into a testy situation with the mainland.