Liu Yi-te (; born 15 April 1960) is a Taiwanese politician. While affiliated with 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 ...
, he was a member of the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
between 1992 and 2000. He joined 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 ...
upon its establishment in 2001, and since April 2016, has served as party chairman.
Early life and activism
Liu is of
Mainland Chinese
Mainland Chinese or Mainlanders are Chinese people who live in or have recently emigrated from mainland China, defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) except for Hong Kong ( SAR of the PRC), Macau (SAR of the PRC), ...
descent, and became active in the
tangwai movement
The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Legi ...
as a student. In a 2001 interview, Liu credited a classmate at with sparking his interest in politics by reporting Liu to administration for harboring anti-government views, after Liu had tried to start a discussion about a local politician. As Taiwan was then a one-party state led 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 ...
, Liu was slapped upon refusing to retract his comments about the politician in a written statement. Liu later met
Lee Wen-chung
Lee Wen-chung (; born 20 June 1958) is a Taiwanese politician who served in the National Assembly (Republic of China), National Assembly from 1992 to 1999, then in the Legislative Yuan until his resignation in 2006.
Early life
Lee was born to a p ...
and
Lai Chin-lin 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 ...
, where he led a club advocating for
Taiwan independence
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
.
Political career
Liu ran in the December 1991
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
elections and took office in 1992 as a representative of Taipei. He won reelection in 1996, and was named
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 ...
caucus leader. From this position, Liu worked with senior Kuomintang members of the National Assembly and passed a resolution to extend the term of the National Assembly while also reducing its membership by mandating that the next assembly election take place under a system of proportional representation. The passage of the resolution drew criticism from both the Kuomintang and Democratic Progressive Party headquarters. The
Judicial Yuan
The Judicial Yuan () is the judicial branch of the government of the Republic of China on Taiwan.''See'' Constitution arts. 77-82, ''available at'' ''See'' Additional Articles of the Constitution art. 5, ''available at'' It runs a Constitution ...
ruled against the term extension in 2000, but Liu subsequently supported an initiative to postpone the election date of 6 May mandated by the Judicial Yuan. Liu later chastised members of the Judicial Yuan and worked with Kuomintang assembly delegates to remove the justices' lifetime stipend, though he refused to endorse abolition of the Judicial Yuan itself. Another vote on the fate of the National Assembly was taken in April 2000, in which Liu and
Chen Chin-te of the DPP, as well as their KMT counterparts, agreed to end the National Assembly on 20 May 2000, passing many of its powers 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 ...
. After stepping down from the National Assembly, Liu was named director of the DPP's organizational development department.
He formed an electoral coalition in January 2001 with Chen Chin-te,
Chen Tsiao-long
Chen Tsiao-long (; born 1 October 1953) is a Taiwanese politician who served two terms as a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2002 to 2008.
Education
Chen studied electrical engineering at the National Taipei University of Technology.
Pol ...
, Chiu Kuo-chang, Kang Tai-shan, and , but did not win election to the Legislative Yuan that December. By June of that year, Liu had been approached by a pro-Taiwan alliance that later became 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 ...
, which Liu joined instead. He was named president of the ''
Independence Evening Post
The ''Independence Evening Post'' () was a Chinese-language newspaper founded by Wu San-lien, which was published in Taiwan from 1947 to 2001. For most of its existence, the publication was supportive of the tangwai movement and Democratic Progr ...
'' in July 2001, shortly before the publication released its last issue in October.
Liu represented the Taiwan Solidarity Union in the 2004 legislative elections, but did not win. Afterwards, Liu became director of the TSU's organization department. In August 2005, Liu pushed the Democratic Progressive Party to rescind a mayoral nomination given to
Wang Tuoh
Wang Tuoh (; 9 January 1944 – 9 August 2016) was a Taiwanese writer, public intellectual, literary critic, and politician. He was born in , then a small fishing village near the northern port city of Keelung. His name was originally Wang Hung- ...
in Keelung, stating that if the DPP did not do so, Liu himself would enter the Chiayi mayoral contest to challenge the DPP. Liu did register as a Chiayi mayoral candidate, but withdrew when Wang did the same in Keelung. Liu again challenged the Democratic Progressive Party in 2007, contesting the legislative seat won by
Yu Tian
Yu Tian (; born 18 February 1947), born Yu Tsing-yuan (), is a Taiwanese pop singer in Mandarin and Hokkien. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party, Yu served as a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2008 to 2012, and was reelected to t ...
.
By 2007, Liu had become a deputy secretary-general of the TSU.
From this position, Liu helped the party deliver petitions to the
Control Yuan
The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Prior to constitutional reforms in the 1990s, the Control Yuan, along with National Assembly (electoral college) and the Legislative ...
and the judicial branch. He also announced electoral strategy in 2011 and 2014. Liu defeated
Chen Chien-ming
Chen may refer to:
People
* Chen (surname) (陳 / 陈), a common Chinese surname
* Chen (singer) (born 1992), member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band EXO
* Chen Chen (born 1989), Chinese-American poet
* (), a Hebrew first name or surname: ...
in an April 2016 leadership election, and succeeded
Lin Chih-chia
Lin Chih-chia (; born 31 March 1958) is a Taiwanese politician. He is currently the Secretary-General of Legislative Yuan, having served since 1 February 2016.
References
Living people
1958 births
Kuomintang Members of the Legislative ...
, who was serving as acting chairman of the Taiwan Solidarity Union at the time.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Yi-te
1960 births
Living people
Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Chiayi
Taiwan Solidarity Union chairpersons
Democratic Progressive Party (Taiwan) politicians
National Taiwan University alumni