Lin Tzou-yien (; born 28 October 1948) is a Taiwanese physician. He was the deputy Minister of Health and Welfare and served as acting Minister in October 2014 upon the resignation of

Chiu Wen-ta Chiu Wen-ta (; born 21 July 1950) is a Taiwanese medical educator. He was the Minister of Health and Welfare (formerly the Minister of the Department of Health) of the Executive Yuan from 2011 to 2014. Early career Prior to joining politics, C ...

. Upon the appointment of Chiang Been-huang, Lin returned to his previous post until he was promoted again to head the ministry as part of Lin Chuan's incoming cabinet, which took office on 20 May 2016. Lin was succeeded in office by

Chen Shih-chung Chen Shih-chung (; born December 1952) is a Taiwanese politician. He served as Minister of Health and Welfare from 2017 to 2022, gaining wide recognition in 2020 as the public face of Taiwan's COVID-19 efforts. He was the Democratic Progressiv ...

on 7 February 2017.

Medical career

Lin studied at the Taipei Medical College from 1966 to 1973 and spent the 1980s abroad in the United States, serving fellowships at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas. In 1984, he returned to Taiwan and began working for the Chang Gung hospital system. He was the superintendent of Chang Gung Children's Hospital until 2011.

ROC Department of Health Ministry

Later that year, Lin began working as a deputy minister of the Department of Health. In early April 2013 during the H7N9 flu virus outbreak, Lin gave a statement that expressed confidence in Taiwan's ability to develop its own vaccine against the virus without any collaboration with

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

. Speaking at the

Central Epidemic Command Center The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC; ) is an agency of the (NHCC). It has been activated by the Government of the Republic of China, government of Taiwan for several disease outbreaks, such as the 2009 swine flu pandemic and the COVID-19 pan ...

, he further added that the

ROC government The Government of the Republic of China, is the national government of the Republic of China whose ''de facto'' territory currently consists of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other island groups in the "free area". Governed by the Dem ...

had prepared a team to produce the vaccine with the collaboration with local manufacturers. After head health minister

resigned on 3 October 2014 to take responsibility for a food scandal involving tainted oil, Lin was named acting minister. He was subsequently replaced by Chiang Been-huang on 22 October. On 7 April 2016, Tsai Ing-wen's designated premier Lin Chuan named Lin Tzou-yien the next leader of the health ministry. He took office on 20 May 2016. At the

World Health Assembly The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states. T ...

On 25 May 2016 in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, Lin delivered the 5-minute speech representing

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

. He called for the sound participation of Chinese Taipei in

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

. The speech was delivered fully in English without mentioning the word ''Taiwan'', although at one point he was referring to the "Taiwanese population".

References

Taiwanese Ministers of Health and Welfare Living people 1948 births Taipei Medical University alumni University at Buffalo alumni University of Texas alumni Taiwanese expatriates in the United States Taiwanese hospital administrators 21st-century Taiwanese politicians {{Taiwan-politician-stub