Fu Kun-chi (; born 8 May 1962) is a Taiwanese politician. He was a member of the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...

from 2002 to 2009, when he assumed the Hualien County magistracy. In September 2018, Fu was removed from the latter office, as the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

issued its final ruling on charges of insider trading against him, outstanding since 2005. Fu was re-elected to the Legislative Yuan in 2020. On 14 May 2020, he was convicted of illegal stock

speculation In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, good (economics), goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline i ...

and sentenced to two years and ten months in prison.

Education

Fu completed his bachelor's degree in transport administration and China research at

Tamkang University Tamkang University (TKU; ) is a private university in Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It was founded in 1950 as a junior college of English literature. Today it is a comprehensive university with 11 colleges that serves nearly 25,000 ...

. He then earned his master's degree in public administration from

National Dong Hwa University National Dong Hwa University (NDHU; ; shortened as "") is a national research university located in Hualien, Taiwan. Established in 1994, NDHU is widely considered as the most potential research university and the most prestigious university ...

Political career

Fu served in the

from 2002 to 2009. Fu assumed the position of Magistrate of Hualien County starting 20 December 2009 after winning the 2009 Hualien County magistrate election on 5 December 2009 as an independent candidate. He was reelected again for the second term as magistrate after winning the 2014 Hualien County magistrate election on 29 November 2014 as an independent candidate.

2016 Mainland China visit

In September 2016, Fu with another seven magistrates and mayors from Taiwan visited

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, which were

Hsu Yao-chang Hsu Yao-chang (; born 30 June 1955) is a Taiwanese politician. He represented Miaoli County in the Legislative Yuan from 2002 to 2014, when he was elected Magistrate of Miaoli County. Education Hsu graduated from the Chin-Min Institute of Tech ...

(Magistrate of

Miaoli County Miaoli County (Mandarin Pinyin: ''miáo lì xiàn''; Hakka PFS: ''Mèu-li̍t-yen''; Hokkien POJ: ''Biâu-le̍k-koān'' or ''Miâu-le̍k-koān'') is a county in western Taiwan. Miaoli is adjacent with Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City to the nort ...

Chiu Ching-chun Chiu Ching-chun (; born 8 December 1949) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Magistrate of Hsinchu County since 20 December 2009 until 25 December 2018. Education Chiu obtained his bachelor's degree from Minghsin University of Science and Tec ...

(Magistrate of

Hsinchu County Hsinchu County (Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-chu²'') is a county in north-western Taiwan. The population of the county is mainly Hakka; with a Taiwanese aboriginal minority in the southeastern part of the county. Zhubei is the county capital, where ...

Liu Cheng-ying Liu Cheng-ying (; Foochow Romanized: Làu Cĕng-éng; born 24 August 1958) is a politician in the Republic of China. He is the Magistrate of Lienchiang County since 25 December 2014. Education Liu obtained his master's degree in preventive medic ...

(Magistrate of

Lienchiang County The Matsu Islands ( or , ; Foochow Romanized: Mā-cū liĕk-dō̤), officially Lienchiang County (, ; Foochow Romanized: Lièng-gŏng-gâing), are an archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the East China Sea governed by the Republic of China ( ...

Yeh Hui-ching Ye () is a Chinese-language surname. It is listed 257th in the Song dynasty classic text ''Hundred Family Surnames'', and is the 43rd most common surname in China, with a population of 5.8 million as of 2008 and 2019. Ye is usually romanized as ...

(Deputy Mayor of

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, be ...

Chen Chin-hu Chen may refer to: People *Chen (surname) (陳 / 陈), a common Chinese surname * Chen (singer) (born 1992), member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band EXO * Chen Chen (born 1989), Chinese-American poet * (), a Hebrew first name or surname: * ...

(Deputy Magistrate of

Taitung County Taitung County (; Mandarin pinyin: ''Táidōng Xiàn''; Hokkien POJ: ''Tâi-tang-koān''; Hakka PFS: ''Thòi-tûng-yen''; Paiwan: ''Valangaw'';lit:Eastern part of Taiwan) is the third largest county in Taiwan, located primarily on the island' ...

Lin Ming-chen Lin Ming-chen () is a politician in the Republic of China. He has been the Magistrate of Nantou County since 25 December 2014. Education Lin earned his bachelor's degree in architecture from China Junior College of Technology and master's degr ...

(Magistrate of

Nantou County Nantou County (; Hokkien POJ: ''Lâm-tâu-koān''; Hakka PFS: ''Nàm-thèu-yen'') is the second largest county of Taiwan by area, located in the central part of the country. It is also the only non-coastal county in Taiwan. Its name derives fro ...

) and

Wu Cherng-dean Wu Cherng-dean (; born 10 May 1957) is a Taiwanese politician. As of 2003 and 2006 he was of the New Party of the Republic of China in Taiwan and served as a legislator. In 2003 he and Sisy Chen joined the People First Party (PFP) legislative ca ...

(Deputy Magistrate of

Kinmen County Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It lies roughly east of the city of Xiamen in Fujian, from which it is separate ...

). Their visit was aimed to reset and restart cross-strait relations after President

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...

took office on 20 May 2016. The eight local leaders reiterated their support of

One-China policy The term One China may refer to one of the following: * The One China principle is the position held by the People's Republic of China (PRC) that there is only one sovereign state under the name China, with the PRC serving as the sole legit ...

under the

1992 consensus The 1992 Consensus is a political term referring to the alleged outcome of a meeting in 1992 between the semiofficial representatives of the People's Republic of China (PRC) of mainland China and the Republic of China (ROC) of Taiwan. They are of ...

. They met with

Taiwan Affairs Office The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council is an administrative agency under the State Council of Mainland China. It is responsible for setting and implementing guidelines and policies related to the Republic of China (Taiwan), as stipulate ...

Head

Zhang Zhijun Zhang Zhijun (; born 1 February 1953) is a Chinese diplomat and politician. From 17 March 2013 to 21 March 2018, he has served as the Minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. He is currently the president of the Association fo ...

and

Chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

Yu Zhengsheng.

2020 legislative election

Fu ran as an independent in the Hualien County Constituency he represented from 2002 to 2009, and defeated sitting legislator

Hsiao Bi-khim Hsiao Bi-khim (; born August 7, 1971) is a Taiwanese politician and diplomat who served as a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2002 to 2008 and again between 2012 and 2020. Since July 2020, Hsiao has been serving as the representative of the R ...

in the 2020 legislative elections.

Controversy

In 2000, legal action began against investors of Taiwan Pineapple Group, regarding insider trading dating back to 1997. Subsequent investigations found that Fu was not involved in speculation of Taiwan Pineapple stocks, but did profit from

stock manipulation In economics and finance, market manipulation is a type of market abuse where there is a deliberate attempt to interfere with the free and fair operation of the market; the most blatant of cases involve creating false or misleading appearances ...

of other companies. A 2013 Taiwan High Court ruling found Fu guilty, and he was to serve three years imprisonment. An appeal was heard by the same court in February 2019, and Fu's sentence was reduced to 34 months. Upon hearing the appeal in May 2020, the

decided to uphold the High Court's 2019 ruling, without suspending Fu's civil rights, which permitted Fu to retain his seat in the Legislative Yuan. In 2005, Fu was charged with insider trading dating back to 2003. The Taichung District Court ruled in 2008 that he was to pay a NT$50 million fine and sentenced to a prison term of 54 months. The case was appealed to the High Court, and Supreme Court, which returned the case to the High Court. A 2016 High Court decision held that Fu was guilty and reduced his sentence to eight months imprisonment. The Supreme Court refused another appeal in September 2018, and ruled that Fu must serve his eight-month sentence. Immediately after the court decision, the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

removed Fu from the Hualien County magistracy. Fu's deputy Tsai Yun-huang was also removed from office, and the interior ministry selected

Tsai Pi-chung Tsai Pi-chung () is a Taiwanese politician. He took office as acting Hualien County Magistrate on 17 September 2018 until 25 December 2018. Prior to succeeding Fu Kun-chi in the position, Tsai served as Deputy Minister of Justice. He studied law ...

to succeed Fu. Fu began serving his sentence on 25 September 2018. In March 2019, it was reported that Fu's sentence had been reduced by one month on good behavior, which granted him early release on 24 April 2019. The Hualien District Prosecutors’ Office charged Fu with tax evasion in October 2017, regarding real estate sales. On 24 June 2020, the Taiwan High Court extended Fu's prison sentence to a total of 46 months, in decisions regarding the stock manipulation cases against him, as well as his divorce from Hsu Chen-wei.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fu, Kun-chi 1962 births Living people Magistrates of Hualien County Tamkang University alumni National Dong Hwa University alumni Kuomintang Members of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan Expelled members of the Kuomintang People First Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan Members of the 6th Legislative Yuan Members of the 7th Legislative Yuan Taiwanese politicians convicted of insider trading Hualien County Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 10th Legislative Yuan Spouses of Taiwanese politicians