Liao Pen-yen (; born 26 September 1956) is a Taiwanese politician who served two terms in 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 2008.

Education

Liao graduated from

Fu Jen Catholic University Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU, FJCU or Fu Jen; or ) is a private Catholic university in Xinzhuang, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1925 in Beijing at the request of Pope Pius XI and re-established in Taiwan in 1961 at ...

with a degree in business management.

Political career

Liao was elected the mayor of

Shulin Shulin District () is an inner city District (Taiwan), district in southwestern New Taipei City, Taiwan. History On August 1, 1946, seventeen urban villages () were divided from Yingge District, Yingge Township and made into Shulin Townshi ...

in 1993, serving in that position until 2002.Alt URL
/ref> During his tenure, Liao and other township heads were investigated for corruption, as they had charged multiple businesses a "township chief tax" to raise money for local community development funds. He ran in the legislative elections of 2001 and won a seat in the

. Liao was the

Taiwan Solidarity Union The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) is a political party in Taiwan which advocates Taiwan independence, and is affiliated with the Taiwanese localization movement. It was officially founded on 12 August 2001 and is considered part of the Pan-Gr ...

's caucus whip throughout most of his time in office. His expulsion from the TSU, announced in October 2007 and confirmed in November, for refusing to support the party's policies, led four other party members to defect. Shortly after Liao's expulsion the TSU ran ads in the ''

United Daily News ''United Daily News'' (UDN; ) is a newspaper published in Taiwan. It is considered to support the pan-Blue Coalition in its editorials. History UDN was founded in 1951 by Wang Tiwu as a merger of three newspapers, ''Popular Daily'' (全民� ...

'' suggesting that Liao should 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 ...

. Later that month, Liao and a couple other defectors launched reelection bids under the DPP banner. A group of women's rights organizations opposed Liao's candidacy, and his 2008 campaign was unsuccessful. Though he was reported to be leading the race six days before polls opened, Liao lost to

Huang Chih-hsiung Huang Chih-hsiung (; born 16 October 1976 in Taipei County (now New Taipei City), Taiwan) is a Taiwanese athlete. Representing the Republic of China (as Chinese Taipei) in the 2004 Summer Olympics, he won the silver medal at the Men's 68 kg Tae ...

by 5.49% of votes. Liao stood for election again in 2012, but did not win. He was elected to the

New Taipei City Council New Taipei City Council () is the city council of New Taipei City, Republic of China. It is now composed of 66 councillors, all recently elected on 24 November 2018 in the local elections. Along with the Kaohsiung City Council, the city counci ...

in 2014.

Controversy

In 2010, the Taipei District Court found Liao not guilty of taking bribes from the Taiwan Dental Association. In September 2011, the Taiwan High Court heard an appeal of the case and sentenced him to seven years and three months imprisonment, as well as a suspension of civil rights for three years. The High Court ruling was appealed to 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 ...

, which cleared him of the charges in March 2016.

Personal life

Liao Pen-yen's son Liao Yi-kun ran for a legislative seat in 2016, but was defeated in a Democratic Progressive Party primary by

Su Chiao-hui Su Chiao-hui (; 5 April 1976) is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer. Early life Su Chiao-hui was born in Taipei. She obtained her bachelor's degree in law from National Taiwan University. She then obtained her Master of Laws from the Boston Univer ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liao, Pen-yen 1956 births Living people New Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan Members of the 6th Legislative Yuan Taiwan Solidarity Union Members of the Legislative Yuan Fu Jen Catholic University alumni Taiwanese politicians of Hakka descent Mayors of places in Taiwan New Taipei City Councilors Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan