Yen Ching-piao

Yen Ching-piao
MLY
顏清標
Yen in April 2021
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office
1 February 2002 – 28 November 2012
Succeeded byYen Kuan-heng
ConstituencyTaichung County→Taichung County 2→Taichung 2
Personal details
Born (1960-08-25) 25 August 1960 (age 63)
Shalu, Taichung, Taiwan
Political partyNon-Partisan Solidarity Union (since 2004)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (2000–04)
Kuomintang (until 2000)
Children5; including Yen Kuan-heng
Occupationpolitician

Yen Ching-piao (Chinese: 顏清標; pinyin: Yán Qīngbiāo; 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 children, including 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]

Legislative service and later career

Yen was detained on 28 February 2001,[14] while still serving as the speaker of the Taichung County Council.[15] He was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment on 31 August 2001.[16] Yen 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.[17] During his 2004 reelection campaign, Yen and other candidates filed an unsuccessful petition to change the election date from 11 December to 4 December.[18] 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.[19][20] In December, Yen's assistant Liu Sung-wu was taken in for questioning over electoral fraud, a charge Yen himself denied.[21] Soon after winning reelection, Yen was named party caucus whip.[22] His 2008 campaign, which featured heavy use of self-caricature, saw Yen win reelection against educator Lee Shun-liang.[23][24] 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.[25] On 10 August 2008, Yen's office was the site of a shooting which injured two people.[26]

The Taiwan High Court ruled in September 2011 that Yen was guilty of misusing public funds during his tenure on the Taichung County Council.[27] He appealed to the Supreme Court, which upheld the lower court ruling in November 2012.[28][29] 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.[30] This arrangement attracted criticism,[31] and following his son's electoral victory, Yen began serving a prison sentence of 42 months in February 2013.[32] In June 2013 an amendment to the Accounting Act originally considered in 2012 was brought forward for further discussion.[33] 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.[34] The initiative failed unanimously, with three abstentions.[35] Legislator Liao Cheng-ching proposed a bill that would not have applied to the terms of Yen's sentence in December 2013,[36] but instead Yen applied for parole in June 2014, which was granted in four days.[37]

He publicly supported Hau Lung-bin in the 2017 Kuomintang chairmanship election.[38]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Chu, Monique (15 June 2000). "The history of the man they call 'stone pumpkin'". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ "Taichung court orders detention of county officials". Taipei Times. 1 March 2001. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  15. ^ Jou, Ying-cheng (25 April 2001). "Yen Ching-piao's family decries courts". Taipei Times. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  16. ^ Lin, Irene (1 September 2001). "Grassroots leader jailed in Taichung". Taipei Times. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  17. ^ Chuang, Jimmy (22 April 2002). "Court keeps legislator in Taiwan". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  18. ^ Yiu, Cody (4 August 2004). "Election date likely won't be changed, commission says". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  19. ^ Wu, Debby (17 June 2004). "Legislator says new party should not be recognized". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  20. ^ Wu, Debby (20 November 2004). "Introducing the 'non-party' party". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  21. ^ Chuang, Jimmy (9 December 2004). "Prosecutors interrogate suspects over vote-buying". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  22. ^ Wu, Debby (24 January 2005). "KMT warns DPP over new Cabinet". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  23. ^ 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.
  24. ^ "FEATURE : Gangsters have a big say in politics". Taipei Times. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  25. ^ Shan, Shelley (16 April 2008). "Legislators push Taoyuan airport zone". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  26. ^ Chuang, Jimmy (15 August 2008). "Police step up security after spate of shootings". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  27. ^ Chang, Rich (21 September 2011). "Legislator jailed for using public funds to visit hostess bars". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  28. ^ Mo, Yan-chih (30 November 2012). "Convicted lawmaker vows to appeal". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  29. ^ Chang, Rich; Loa, Iok-sin (29 November 2012). "Court upholds legislator's sentence". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  30. ^ Mo, Yan-chih (26 January 2013). "Yen Ching-piao stumps for son in Taichung by-election". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  31. ^ Chang, Rich (19 January 2013). "DPP questions why Yen Ching-piao is not in jail". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  32. ^ Loa, Iok-sin (6 June 2013). "Closed-door negotiations harming democracy: CCW". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  33. ^ Shih, Hsiu-chuan (21 January 2012). "Legislature ends provisional session". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  34. ^ Chen, Ching-min; Chung, Jake (3 June 2013). "Ma's tour ignored green energy, DPP says". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  35. ^ Wang, Chris (14 June 2013). "Legislature unanimously vetoes controversial bill". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  36. ^ "Bill aims to reduce jail overcrowding with sentence cuts". Taipei Times. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  37. ^ Pan, Jason (7 June 2014). "Former legislator Yen Ching-piao out on parole again". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  38. ^ Hsu, Stacy (30 January 2017). "Jenn Lann Temple draws aspirants for KMT chief". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.


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