Yen Ching-piao

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

Yen Ching-piao
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
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

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. Chu, Monique (15 June 2000). "The history of the man they call 'stone pumpkin'". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  2. 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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