Yen Ching-piao

Yen Ching-piao
MLY
顏清標
Yen in March 2008
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office
1 February 2002 – 28 November 2012
Succeeded by Yen Kuan-heng
Constituency Taichung County→Taichung County 2→Taichung 2
Personal details
Born (1960-08-25) 25 August 1960
Shalu, Taichung, Taiwan
Nationality Taiwanese
Political party Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (since 2004)
Other political
affiliations		 Independent (2000–04)
Kuomintang (until 2000)
Children 2; including Yen Kuan-heng
Occupation politician

Yen Ching-piao (Chinese: 顏清標; born 25 August 1960) is a Taiwanese politician.

Personal life and early career

As a child, Yen Ching-piao earned the nickname "winter melon-piao" from his grandfather for his short stature and stocky build.[1][2] Yen married at age 17,[1][2] and had two children, son Yen Kuan-heng and daughter Yen Li-ming.[3][4] Yen was linked to organized crime in 1986 and imprisoned on Green Island for over three years.[1][2] Upon his release, Yen was elected a borough leader, and, in 1994, was elected to the Taiwan Provincial Assembly, becoming the body's youngest member.[1][2] He later served on the Taichung County Council, including a stint as speaker.[5] Yen was expelled from the Kuomintang in April 2000, after having publicly backed James Soong's presidential campaign the previous month.[1][6]

Yen assumed the chairmanship of the Dajia Jenn Lann Temple in January 1999,[1][2] and used his position to push for direct travel from Taiwan to mainland China.[7][8][9] He has become known for leading the Dajia Matsu pilgrimage, a temple event often attended by politicians.[10][11][12] Yen has also served as honorary chairman of the Taiwan Mazu Fellowship.[13]

Political career

He won a Taichung County legislative seat while serving a prison sentence for corruption, attempted murder, and firearms possession.[2] While serving the sentence, Yen was also barred from leaving Taiwan, a restriction the Taiwan High Court refused to lift, even after Yen had been named to a delegation that was to visit Central America and the United States in April 2002.[14] During his 2004 reelection campaign, Yen and other candidates filed an unsuccessful petition to change the election date from 11 December to 4 December.[15] That year, Yen joined a formal political party for the first time after his expulsion from the Kuomintang, co-founding the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union and running as an NPSU candidate.[16][17] In December, Yen's assistant Liu Sung-wu was taken in for questioning over electoral fraud, a charge Yen himself denied.[18] Soon after winning reelection, Yen was named party caucus whip.[19] His 2008 campaign, which featured heavy use of self-caricature, saw Yen win reelection against educator Lee Shun-liang.[20][21] In his third term in the legislature, Yen opposed a proposal to specially designate Taoyuan International Airport as a separately administered entity unless Kaohsiung International Airport and Ching Chuan Kang Airport in his own constituency also received the designation.[22] On 10 August 2008, Yen's office was the site of a shooting which injured two people.[23]

The Taiwan High Court ruled in September 2011 that Yen was guilty of misusing public funds during his tenure on the Taichung County Council.[24] He appealed to the Supreme Court, which upheld the lower court ruling in November 2012.[25][26] Yen then spent most of January 2013 on the campaign trail, as his son had declared his candidacy to succeed the elder Yen to the Legislative Yuan.[27] This arrangement attracted criticism,[28] and following his son's electoral victory, Yen began serving a prison sentence of 42 months in February 2013.[29] In June 2013 an amendment to the Accounting Act originally considered in 2012 was brought forward for further discussion.[30] The amendment would have ended financial impropriety investigations into city and county council members, potentially shortening Yen Ching-piao's imprisonment because the offense he was jailed for occurred between 1998 and 2000, when he was a member of the Taichung County Council.[31] The initiative failed unanimously, with three abstentions.[32] Legislator Liao Cheng-ching proposed a bill that would not have applied to the terms of Yen's sentence in December,[33] but instead Yen applied for parole in June 2014, which was granted in four days.[34]

He publicly supported Hau Lung-bin in the 2017 Kuomintang chairmanship election.[35]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Chu, Monique (15 June 2000). "The history of the man they call `stone pumpkin'". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tsai, Ting-i (14 January 2002). "Newsmakers: Elected from jail, Yen thanks Matsu". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  3. ↑ Lii, Wen (12 November 2014). "Lien family tops vote for 'dominant political families'". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  4. ↑ Hsu, Stacy (12 January 2016). "Eric Chu braves elements to campaign in Taichung". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "KMT set for showdown with Soong". Taipei Times. 17 September 1999. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  6. ↑ Chen, Lauren (10 March 2000). "Two more join Soong". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  7. ↑ Chu, Monique (15 June 2000). "Yen Ching-piao: pious leader or crafty politician?". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Sung, Catherine (31 January 2000). "Pilgrimage could bring direct link". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  9. ↑ Lin, Chieh-yu (8 July 2000). "Chen makes appeal to Matsu followers". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  10. ↑ Ko, Shu-ling (10 April 2000). "Politicians using Matsu pilgrimage for their own ends". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  11. ↑ Lee, I-chia (25 March 2012). "Dajia Matsu pilgrimage sallies forth". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  12. ↑ Buchan, Noah (17 April 2010). "Matsu on the move". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "Kaohsiung bridge re-opens after help from China". Taipei Times. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  14. ↑ Chuang, Jimmy (22 April 2002). "Court keeps legislator in Taiwan". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  15. ↑ Yiu, Cody (4 August 2004). "Election date likely won't be changed, commission says". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  16. ↑ Wu, Debby (17 June 2004). "Legislator says new party should not be recognized". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  17. ↑ Wu, Debby (20 November 2004). "Introducing the 'non-party' party". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  18. ↑ Chuang, Jimmy (9 December 2004). "Prosecutors interrogate suspects over vote-buying". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  19. ↑ Wu, Debby (24 January 2005). "KMT warns DPP over new Cabinet". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  20. ↑ Li, Ming-hsien; Li, Hsien-fang (27 February 2007). "Politicians of all stripes turn to cartoon alter egos in the battle for voters' hearts". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  21. ↑ "FEATURE : Gangsters have a big say in politics". Taipei Times. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  22. ↑ Shan, Shelley (16 April 2008). "Legislators push Taoyuan airport zone". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  23. ↑ Chuang, Jimmy (15 August 2008). "Police step up security after spate of shootings". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  24. ↑ Chang, Rich (21 September 2011). "Legislator jailed for using public funds to visit hostess bars". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  25. ↑ Mo, Yan-chih (30 November 2012). "Convicted lawmaker vows to appeal". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  26. ↑ Chang, Rich; Loa, Iok-sin (29 November 2012). "Court upholds legislator's sentence". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  27. ↑ Mo, Yan-chih (26 January 2013). "Yen Ching-piao stumps for son in Taichung by-election". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  28. ↑ Chang, Rich (19 January 2013). "DPP questions why Yen Ching-piao is not in jail". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  29. ↑ Loa, Iok-sin (6 June 2013). "Closed-door negotiations harming democracy: CCW". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  30. ↑ Shih, Hsiu-chuan (21 January 2012). "Legislature ends provisional session". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  31. ↑ Chen, Ching-min; Chung, Jake (3 June 2013). "Ma's tour ignored green energy, DPP says". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  32. ↑ Wang, Chris (14 June 2013). "Legislature unanimously vetoes controversial bill". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  33. ↑ "Bill aims to reduce jail overcrowding with sentence cuts". Taipei Times. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  34. ↑ Pan, Jason (7 June 2014). "Former legislator Yen Ching-piao out on parole again". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  35. ↑ Hsu, Stacy (30 January 2017). "Jenn Lann Temple draws aspirants for KMT chief". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
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