James Tsai, also known as Tsai Jen-chien (; born 27 October 1952) is a Taiwanese politician who served as mayor of

Hsinchu Hsinchu (, Chinese: 新竹, Pinyin: ''Xīnzhú'', Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-chu²'') is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan Province not among the special municipalities, with estimated 450,655 inhabi ...

from 1997 to 2001.

Political career

A cofounder of 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 ...

, Tsai served on 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 ...

from 1992 to 1997, and was the DPP caucus leader throughout his term. The legislative body elected its first speaker and deputy speaker during its 1996 session. Tsai was nominated as the DPP candidate for the deputy speakership, and lost to Shieh Lung-sheng. Tsai was elected mayor of Hsinchu in the 1997 local elections. In October 2000, he became the first elected local government leader from Taiwan to visit China. The next year, Tsai lost his bid for reelection. He attempted to run for the position again in 2014, without the backing of the DPP, which expelled him for mounting an independent campaign.

Controversy

During his mayoral term, Tsai was one of many mayors accused of corruption, as he had charged

United Microelectronics Corporation United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC; ) is a Taiwanese company based in Hsinchu, Taiwan. It was founded as Taiwan's first semiconductor company in 1980 as a spin-off of the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) ...

a "township chief tax" for community development funds. Soon after leaving office, Tsai was caught in the

Chu Mei-feng Chu Mei-feng (; born 5 August 1966) is a Taiwanese TV journalist, former Taipei City Councillor, and former director of Hsinchu City's Bureau of Cultural Affairs. Early life Chu graduated from Xinheguomin Primary School, followed by Taipei Mun ...

sex scandal, during which he was represented by attorney Hsu Wen-bin. Tsai and Chu had dated for four years, before the relationship ended in February 2001. Later that year, a sex tape of Chu and married businessman Tseng Chung-ming was released. Prosecutors believed that Tsai and spiritual advisor Kuo Yu-ling asked a detective agency about hidden cameras. Tsai was questioned by the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office in January 2002, and indicted on 7 February. However, Chu chose to drop the case against Tsai in June.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsai, James 1952 births Living people Mayors of Hsinchu Expelled members of the Democratic Progressive Party (Taiwan) Taiwanese political party founders