Hou Yu-ih (; born 7 June 1957), also romanized Hou You-yi, is a Taiwanese politician. He has served as Director-General of the National Police Agency from 2006 to 2008 and as acting

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

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 ...

from October 2015 to January 2016. He has been the incumbent mayor of New Taipei since 25 December 2018.

Law enforcement career

Upon his graduation from the

Central Police University Central Police University (CPU; ) is a police academy located in Guishan District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan. CPU is the highest educational institution for police education in Taiwan. CPU is an administrative agency under the Ministry of the Interior ...

, Hou was sent to the Taipei City Police Department. In 1992, he became an inspector at the

Criminal Investigation Bureau The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB; ) is the agency of National Police Agency under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of China. History The modern criminal police system of the Republic of China was originally established in 1946 ...

(CIB), a division of the National Police Agency (NPA). Five years later, he led the rescue of the

Alexander family The Alexander family was a prominent Croatian Jewish family from Zagreb. Alexander family ancestors moved to Zagreb from Güssing in Austria. For a century, the family played an important role in the economic and social life of Zagreb. Until 1941 an ...

. In 1998 Hou was named second in command of the CIB. He was given the concurrent post of Taoyuan County police chief in 2001 and promoted within the NPA in 2003, becoming the leader of the CIB. The next year, Hou was tasked with investigating the

3-19 shooting incident The March 19 shooting incident (), also known as the 319 incident, was an assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of ...

, an assassination attempt on

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Chen Shui-bian, a longtime friend. He was named the director-general of the NPA in 2006, becoming the youngest leader of the police force at the time of his appointment. During his tenure, the NPA was criticized for its inadequate response to the

2006 protests 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

led by Shih Ming-teh. Multiple Kuomintang politicians also wanted Hou to reopen the investigation on the 3-19 shooting incident. Arms dealer Tang Shou-yi, who had fled to Mainland China by August 2006, had recanted his confession, stating that it was coerced and therefore untrue. Hou was named the president of

in 2008 and was replaced at the NPA by .

Political career

Hou originally joined the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

in 1975, but allowed his membership to lapse during his law enforcement career. Hou was recruited to join the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...

in 2002. Eric Chu asked Hou to serve as deputy mayor of New Taipei in 2010, and Hou rejoined the Kuomintang in 2013. Hou served as deputy mayor alongside Lee Shu-chuan and Hsu Chih-chien who left office on 25 February 2014 and 30 June 2014, respectively. Later, Chen Shen-hsien was appointed to the deputy mayorship. Hou was promoted from his previous position as deputy mayor on 20 October 2015, as Chu prepared for the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kirib ...

. Chu lost the election to Tsai Ing-wen, and resumed mayoral duties on 18 January 2016. Hou resigned from the deputy mayorship on 28 February 2018, stating that he would contest the Kuomintang mayoral primary. On 6 April 2018, the KMT announced that Hou had won the primary.

2018 New Taipei mayoral election

2022 New Taipei mayoral election

On August 17, 2022, Hou confirmed that he would run for a second term as mayor of New Taipei.

Personal life

Hou's firstborn son Hou Ni-wei died on 15 May 1992, in a , which killed 23 people. He and his wife Jen Mei-ling raised three daughters, Hou Yu-fan, Hou Ni-chia, and Hou Yu-chia.

References

External links

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hou, Yu-ih 1957 births Living people Mayors of New Taipei Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Chiayi County Central Police University faculty Central Police University alumni Taiwanese police officers Deputy mayors of New Taipei Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan 21st-century Taiwanese politicians Presidents of universities and colleges in Taiwan