Tuan Yi-kang (Chinese: 段宜康; pinyin: Duàn Yíkāng; born 14 November 1963) is a Taiwanese politician. A former leader of the Democratic Progressive Party's now-abolished New Tide faction, he has served on the party's Central Standing Committee, the Taipei City Council and the Legislative Yuan.

Tuan Yi-kang
段宜康
Man in gray pinstriped shirt standing with right hand raised in front of a podium and microphone stand
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office
1 February 2012 – 31 January 2020
ConstituencyRepublic of China
In office
1 February 2002 – 1 February 2005
ConstituencyTaipei 2nd
Personal details
Born (1963-11-14) 14 November 1963 (age 60)
Taipei, Taiwan
NationalityRepublic of China
Political partyDemocratic Progressive Party
Alma materNational Taiwan University
OccupationPolitician

Education edit

Tuan was born in Taipei, graduated from Ta-Chih Junior High School and Chung Kung Senior High School, before attending National Taiwan University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science.[1][2]

Political career edit

Tuan started his political career by working for legislators Lu Hsiu-yi, Hung Chi-chang and Yeh Chu-lan. He was Kao Chih-peng's campaign manager in Kao's 1993 run for Penghu County Magistrate.[2][3] In 1994, Tuan was elected to the Taipei City Council, and served until 2002. Tuan took office in the Legislative Yuan later that year, and was defeated in his 2005 reelection campaign.[1][4] He was the chief convener of the New Tide faction, before it was officially dissolved in 2006.[5][6] In 2008, Tuan served within the Democratic Progressive Party as deputy secretary-general,[7][8] resigning in March.[9]

2008 legislative election edit

He won a primary against David Huang, losing to Kuomintang incumbent Lin Yu-fang in the 2008 legislative elections.[10][11]

  • Eligible voters: 238,616
  • Total votes cast (Ratio): 151,986 (63.69%)
  • Valid Votes (Ratio): 150,147 (98.79%)
  • Invalid Votes (Ratio): 1,839 (1.21%)
No. Candidate Party Votes Ratio Elected
1 Ye Mei (葉玫)   Home Party 324 0.22%
2 Wu Jian Yi (吳建毅) Taiwan Farmers' Party 251 0.17%
3 Wei Jhih Jhong (魏志中)   Independent 284 0.19%
4 Lin Yu-fang   Kuomintang 87,448 58.23%  
5 Huang Ci Bin (黃啟彬)   Taiwan Constitution Association 360 0.24%
6 Tuan Yi-kang   Democratic Progressive Party 61,480 40.95%

Tuan was elected to the DPP Central Standing Committee in 2010.[12] He contested the 2012 legislative elections as a candidate for Taipei's second district, but later withdrew from the district party primary.[13] He won a seat in the Legislative Yuan through the proportional representation ballot.[14] He was also reelected to the CSC.[15][16] Tuan was placed on the proportional representation list again for the 2016 elections, and won an at-large seat.[17] In June, Tuan stated that he would retire from politics at the end of his term in 2020, as he expected reforms he supported over the course of his legislature tenure to have been implemented by that time.[18]

Controversy edit

Lien Chan's daughter Lien Hui-hsin sued Tuan for slander in 2004, for alleging that she had helped her father commit tax evasion.[19]

Tuan claimed in January 2015 that President Ma Ying-jeou illegally accepted NT$200 million from various businesspeople during his 2008 presidential campaign.[20][21] Later that month Ma filed a lawsuit against Tuan for NT$10 million.[22] In February 2016, the Taipei District Court ordered Tuan to pay Ma NT$600,000.[23] The penalty was retained in a December 2016 Taiwan High Court ruling.[24]

In December 2015, Tuan accused Wang Ju-hsuan of improperly profiting in the real estate market by acquiring multiple properties intended to house military families.[25] Wang sued Tuan for defamation, but the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office dropped the case, and also found that none of Wang's real estate deals were illegal.[26]

Fellow Democratic Progressive Party member and incumbent Hualien City mayor Tien Chih-hsuan [zh] died in May 2016,[27] and the DPP lost the subsequent by-election in August.[28] After the results of the vote were announced, Tuan made Facebook posts that were critical of Hualien voters, for which he apologized.[29][30] In September, Tuan accused Radio Taiwan International of "assisting" unification efforts, by renting low-cost airtime to the China-based Guangdong Television.[31]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Tuan, Yi-kang (8)". Legislative Yuan. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Tuan, Yi-kang (5)". Legislative Yuan. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  3. ^ Diamond, Larry; Shin, Gi-Wook (2014). New Challenges for Maturing Democracies in Korea and Taiwan. Stanford University Press. p. 289. ISBN 9780804789226.
  4. ^ "Suspect donations avoiding scrutiny". Taipei Times. Central News Agency. 12 May 2005. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  5. ^ Huang, Jewel (7 July 2006). "Factions not key cause of DPP's problems: New Tide". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  6. ^ Young, David (1 April 2008). "Infighting continues among DPP leaders". China Post. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  7. ^ Mo, Yan-chih; Ko, Shu-ling (7 March 2008). "Presidential election 2008: 15 days to go: Ma camp accuses rival of smear campaign". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  8. ^ "UN referendums to accompany presidential poll". Taiwan Info. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  9. ^ Shih, Hsiu-chuan (30 March 2008). "DPP's young force plans party reform measures". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  10. ^ Shih, Hsiu-chuan; Ko, Shu-ling (11 November 2007). "Lee confident about TSU future". Taipei Times. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  11. ^ "KMT wins two-thirds majority". Taipei Times. 13 January 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  12. ^ Engbarth, Dennis (19 July 2010). "DPP campaign aims to bring people 'Happiness and Pride'". Taiwan News. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  13. ^ Tseng, Wei-chen (20 March 2011). "Tuan Yi-kang bows out of DPP primary for Shilin-Datong". Taipei Times. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  14. ^ Soong, Grace (19 January 2012). "Former DPP official rallies against HTC". China Post. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  15. ^ Kuo, Adam Tyrsett (15 July 2012). "Key DPP members position themselves for committee election". China Post. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2016. Alt URL
  16. ^ Wang, Chris (16 July 2012). "DPP election ushers in new leadership". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  17. ^ Wen, Kui-hsiang; Wang, Cheng-chung; Lu, Hsin-hui; Chang, S.C. (19 January 2016). "Incoming ruling party to discuss 'neutral' speaker issue". Central News Agency. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  18. ^ Chen, Wei-han (29 June 2017). "DPP's Tuan to withdraw from politics". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  19. ^ Chuang, Jimmy (30 September 2007). "Tuan Yi-kang refuses to apologize to Lien family". Taipei Times. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  20. ^ Huang, Hsin-po (24 February 2016). "Tuan ordered to pay Ma". Taipei Times. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  21. ^ Hsiao, Alison (25 January 2015). "Ma pledges 'defensive' lawsuits". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  22. ^ Shih, Hsiu-chuan (30 January 2015). "Ma files lawsuits against lawmaker, critic". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  23. ^ Tsai, Page; Wen, Kui-hsiang; Wu, Lilian (23 February 2016). "DPP legislator must compensate President Ma for donation allegations". Central News Agency. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  24. ^ Liu, Shi-yi; Wu, Lilian; Lee, Hsin-Yin (20 December 2016). "DPP legislator ordered to pay compensation to former president". Central News Agency. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  25. ^ Chiao, Yuan-Ming (3 December 2015). "KMT vice-presidential candidate sues DPP lawmaker for defamation". China Post. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  26. ^ Pan, Jason (30 January 2016). "Prosecutors drop Tuan Yi-kang defamation case". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  27. ^ Loa, Iok-sin (30 May 2016). "Hualien Mayor Tien Chih-hsuan dies of lung cancer at 56". Taipei Times. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  28. ^ Chen, Wei-han (28 August 2016). "KMT's Wei wins Hualien by-election". Taipei Times. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  29. ^ Chen, Wei-han (29 August 2016). "Lawmaker apologizes for criticizing Hualien voters". Taipei Times. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  30. ^ Chen, Wei-han (30 August 2016). "DPP legislator apologizes again after election remark". Taipei Times. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  31. ^ Peng, Wan-hsin; Hetherington, William (12 September 2016). "RTI 'assisting' unification with China: legislator". Taipei Times. Retrieved 12 September 2016.