Lee Tung-hao (; born 7 October 1955) is a Taiwanese economist and politician also known by the name Thomas Lee. He has served as 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 ...

twice, from 2002 to 2005, and again between 2012 and 2016.

Academic career

Lee graduated from

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...

with a bachelor's degree in economics and later earned a doctorate in the subject from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in the United States. Outside of politics, Lee has taught finance at

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei. The university is also considered as the earliest public service training facility of the Republic of China. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subs ...

Political career

Lee was elected to the

in 2001 via the People First Party proportional representation party list. In 2004, he was named a defendant in two court cases, as

Chen Che-nan Chen Che-nan (; born 30 March 1941) is a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese retired politician. Chen was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1987 to 1994. Originally affiliated with the Kuomintang, he joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1993 ...

and Chang Ching-fang separately charged Lee with libel. Later that year, Lee offered to resign his legislative seat, as PFP chairman

James Soong James Soong Chu-yu (born 16 March 1942) is a Taiwanese politician. He is the founder and current Chairman of the People First Party. Born to a Kuomintang military family of Hunanese origin, Soong began his political career as a secretary to ...

attempted to join the body and engage President

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...

in debate. After Lee's first term expired, he was nominated by the People First Party to join the

National Communications Commission The National Communications Commission (NCC; ) is an independent statutory agency of Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) responsible for regulating the development of the telecommunication and broadcasting industries, promoting compe ...

. In 2011, Lee was again placed on the party list ballot as a PFP legislative candidate. During his second legislative term, Lee served as caucus whip for the People First Party. In November 2012, he attended a student-led protest against the monopolization of

media in Taiwan The mass media in Taiwan is considered to be one of the freest and most competitive in Asia. Cable TV usage is high (around 80%) and there is also a wide selection of newspapers available covering most political viewpoints. Taiwan's media history ...

. Lee opposed the 2013 passage of the Senior Secondary Education Act and Junior College Act because he believed that the laws did not allocate enough money to the

education system The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...

. After the 2014 Kaohsiung gas explosions, Lee proposed special statues that would help relief efforts. In 2015, Chen Yi-chieh,

Kao Chin Su-mei Kao Chin Su-mei (born September 21, 1965), also known as Chin Su-mei, May Chin and Ciwas Ali, is a Taiwanese politician and retired actress and singer. She is of Manchu and Atayal descent, Ciwas Ali being her Atayal name. In the 1980s and 199 ...

, Hsu Hsin-ying, and Lee founded a new legislative caucus named the New Alliance.

Political stances

Lee supported the signing of the

Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) is a free trade agreement (FTA) between the governments of the People's Republic of China (mainland China, PRC, commonly "China") and the Republic of China (ROC, commonly "Taiwan"), that aims ...

between China and Taiwan. He has stated that

ractopamine Ractopamine () is an animal feed additive used to promote leanness and increase food conversion efficiency in farmed animals in several countries, but banned in others. Pharmacologically, it is a phenol-based TAAR1 agonist and Beta-adrenergic ag ...

use in beef "is not an urgent issue." After the

Codex Alimentarius Commission The Codex Alimentarius () is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines, and other recommendations published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations relating to food, food production ...

voted to permit trace amounts of ractopamine in beef, Lee suggested that the government adopt the international standard and propose legislative amendments to allow the United States to export beef to Taiwan. Lee became known as "the cannon of tax reform" in part due to his support of the capital gains tax.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Tung-hao 1955 births Living people Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from New Taipei People First Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan Members of the 8th Legislative Yuan 20th-century Taiwanese economists Academic staff of the National Chengchi University National Taiwan University alumni Ohio State University Graduate School alumni