Lee Ying-yuan (; 16 March 1953 – 11 November 2021) was a Taiwanese politician. He was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1995 and stepped down in 2000. In 2005, Lee was appointed the Minister of

Council of Labor Affairs The Ministry of Labor (MOL; ) is a ministry of the Republic of China (Taiwan) representing opinions of employees, political and academic circles to review labor policies, laws and regulations, as well as related projects and programs in Taiwan. MO ...

, which he led until 2007. Lee has also served as Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan and 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 ...

, and was reelected to the Legislative Yuan in 2012. He was appointed the Minister of Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in 2016. He left the EPA in 2018, and subsequently served as Taiwan's representative to Thailand from 2020 to 2021.

Early life, education and activism

Lee Ying-yuan was born into a family of farmers in 1953. He studied public health at

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 ...

and earned a master's degree in health policy from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

before receiving his PhD in health economics in 1988 from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. Upon Lee's graduation, he was slated to teach at NTU, but was placed on a blacklist and barred from returning to Taiwan by 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 ...

-led government, stemming from his pro-democracy activities in the

Formosa Incident The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident, or the ''Formosa Magazine'' incident,tang was a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 10 December 1979 during Taiwan's ...

during Taiwan's

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

period. During Lee's time as a student in the United States, he was also an active member of the

World United Formosans for Independence The World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI) is an organization promoting Taiwan independence. It was established in 1970 by like-minded organizations in Canada, the U.S., Japan, Europe, and Taiwan. Its aim is to establish a Republic of ...

, which attracted more of the KMT's attention.

Return to Taiwan

After returning to Taiwan through illegal channels and avoiding intelligence agents for fourteen months, Lee was arrested in September 1991, and charged with violation of of the . He was released in May 1992, after would-be colleagues at National Taiwan University intervened on his behalf. Revisions to Article 100 were also passed that month, and meant that evidence of possible threats had to be submitted to the Commission of Violence prior to indictment or arrest.

Political career

Lee was elected 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 1995. He then became the youngest convener of the

(DPP) caucus in the legislature. Following DPP’s successful presidential election in 2000, Lee was appointed by 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 ...

to be the Deputy Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the U.S. and then Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan. He was then named the DPP candidate for

Taipei City Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the Capital city, capital and a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Regions of Taiwan, Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of t ...

's 2002 mayoral election, losing to incumbent mayor

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...

in a landslide. He was named the head of the

in 2005, and stayed on in the

Su Tseng-chang Hope Su Tseng-chang (; born 28 July 1947) is a Taiwanese politician serving as premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2019, and previously from 2006 to 2007. He was the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in 2005 and from 2012 ...

cabinet. Under his leadership, the CLA sought to decrease the number of job-related deaths and injuries causing disabilities. In 2008, Lee was named the Secretary-General of the Democratic Progressive Party and deputy Yunlin County magistrate under Su Chih-fen. He resigned the deputy magistracy to run in a legislative-by election caused by the annulment of

Chang Sho-wen Chang Sho-wen (; born 7 May 1971) is a Taiwanese politician. He first won election to the Legislative Yuan in 2004 and was reelected in 2008. Partway through his second term, Chang was removed from office on charges of electoral fraud. He left th ...

's election. However, Lee lost a primary to

Liu Chien-kuo Liu Chien-kuo (; born 9 March 1969) is a Taiwanese politician. A former member of the Yunlin County Council, he has represented Yunlin County in the Legislative Yuan since 2009. Education Liu has earned two bachelor's degrees, one from Nation ...

. He was re-elected to the Legislative Yuan in 2012. During the summer of 2015, Lee accompanied DPP chairperson and presidential nominee

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 ...

on her visit to the United States, along with DPP

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

Joseph Wu Joseph Wu Jaushieh (; born October 31, 1954) is a Taiwanese politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China under current President Tsai Ing-wen since February 26, 2018. He was formerly the Secretary-Gen ...

. Lee was named Tsai's Environmental Protection Administration minister after she won the 2016 election. He stated that his goal was to transform the EPA into a full-fledged ministry within 18 months of taking office. On 1 December 2018, Lee stepped down from the EPA. In June 2020, Lee was appointed representative of Taiwan to Thailand, succeeding , and formally took office on 13 August 2020. Lee's resignation from the position was approved on 4 August 2021, and took effect on 1 September 2021.

Personal life

Lee was married to Laura Huang (黃月桂).

Death

Lee died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

on 11 November 2021, at the age of 68 in

National Taiwan University Hospital The National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH; ) is a medical facility located in the Zhongzheng District of Taipei, Taiwan. It started operations under Japanese rule in Daitōtei (today's Dadaocheng) on 18 June 1895, and moved to its present ...

References

External link

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ying-yuan 1953 births 2021 deaths Taiwanese politicians of Hakka descent Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan National Taiwan University alumni Taiwan independence activists Yunlin County Members of the Legislative Yuan Harvard School of Public Health alumni Members of the 8th Legislative Yuan Members of the 9th Legislative Yuan Members of the 3rd Legislative Yuan University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan Magistrates of Yunlin County Taiwanese Ministers of Environment Taiwanese Ministers of Labor Representatives of Taiwan to Thailand Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Taiwan