Roger Hsieh or Hsieh Tsung-min (; 2 May 1934 – 8 September 2019) was a Taiwanese politician. He won election to 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 ...

in 1992 and 1995, losing reelection in 1998 and 2001.

Education and activism

Hsieh attended

Taichung First High School The Taichung Municipal T̲aic̲hung F̲irst S̲enior H̲igh School (TCFSH; , simply as ) is a High school in the United States, senior high school in North District, Taichung, North District, Taichung, Taiwan. TCFSH was the first high school fo ...

, studied law at National Taiwan University alongside , and completed graduate work in political science at National Chengchi University. While studying at National Taiwan University, Hsieh, Wei and legal academic Peng Ming-min printed ten thousand copies of the "," a manifesto advocating the overthrow of the Kuomintang one-party state. The three were promptly arrested; Hsieh was subject to torture. Hsieh and Wei were later released but did not play a role in their mentor's escape to Sweden, though the government suspected the pair of aiding Peng. Hsieh and Wei were jailed for a second time in 1971. For his support of democracy, Hsieh spent over eleven years behind bars. Following his release, Hsieh spent seven years in the United States, and returned to Taiwan in 1986. at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport on 30 November 1986 to show support for Hsieh and fellow dissident Hsu Hsin-liang. Barred from entry into Taiwan on that day, the two explored alternative means of getting into the country and eventually succeeded. In December 2018, Hsieh was exonerated by the Transitional Justice Commission.

Political career

Another NTU classmate, Kuomintang member Shih Chi-yang, aided Hsieh's early political career. With the support of

Huang Hsin-chieh Huang Hsin-chieh (; 20 August 1928 – 30 November 1999) was a Taiwanese politician, Taipei city council member, National Assembly representative, Legislative Yuan legislator, publisher of ''Formosa Magazine'' and Taiwan Political Theory magazin ...

, Hsieh was elected to the

in 1992 and 1995, though he lost election in 1998. During his legislative tenure, Hsieh attempted to pass bills regarding compensation to victims of the

White Terror White Terror is the name of several episodes of mass violence in history, carried out against anarchists, communists, socialists, liberals, revolutionaries, or other opponents by conservative or nationalist groups. It is sometimes contrasted wit ...

like himself. According to legislative inquires launched by Hsieh, the White Terror period saw over 29,000 people tried in court. Subsequently, Hsieh was named an adviser to President Chen Shui-bian. While serving in this position, Hsieh spent much of his time investigating the

La Fayette-class frigate scandal The Taiwan frigate scandal, or the Lafayette scandal, was a political scandal in Taiwan and France. History In 1998, former French foreign minister Roland Dumas alleged that a US$500 million commission was paid by Thomson-CSF (now Thales) to Fr ...

. As a result of Hsieh's probe, Andrew Wang, an accused arms dealer, filed a lawsuit against him in August 2001, an action that was later reviewed by the Control Yuan. Hsieh resigned as presidential adviser in 2001 to run in that year's legislative elections.

Death

Hsieh died in a hospital in New Taipei on 8 September 2019, aged 85. Republished as

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsieh, Roger 1934 births 2019 deaths Prisoners and detainees of Taiwan Taiwanese democracy activists Taiwanese prisoners and detainees Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Taiwanese revolutionaries National Taiwan University alumni National Chengchi University alumni Members of the 2nd Legislative Yuan Members of the 3rd Legislative Yuan Changhua County Members of the Legislative Yuan Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Senior Advisors to President Chen Shui-bian Taiwanese expatriates in the United States