Tsai Pi-ru (; born 11 March 1964) is a Taiwanese politician. She was a nurse and colleague of Ko Wen-je at

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 ...

. After Ko was elected Mayor of Taipei in 2014, Tsai began her political career as Ko's chief of staff. In 2019, she became a founding member of the

Taiwan People's Party The Taiwan People's Party is a political party in Taiwan, formally established on 6 August 2019 by Ko Wen-je, who serves as its first and current chairman. Application process The party was proposed in August 2019 by Mayor of Taipei Ko Wen-je ...

led by Ko, and was elected to the

10th Legislative Yuan The 10th Legislative Yuan is the current session of the Legislative Yuan of Taiwan, which began on 1 February 2020. Members were elected in the 2020 legislative election, in which the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) retained majority status ...

via party list proportional representation in 2020. Tsai resigned her legislative seat in 2022, and was replaced by

Cynthia Wu Cynthia Wu (; born 18 May 1978) is a member of the Legislative Yuan, the legislature of Taiwan. Personal life, education, and early career Cynthia Wu was born in the United States on 18 May 1978, and attended Taipei American School, Wellesley Co ...

Early life, education, and career

Tsai was born on 11 March 1964 in

Pingtung County Pingtung County is a county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county seat is Pin ...

. She graduated from Meiho University with a degree in midwifery. Tsai also attended Tamkang University's Management Information System Department on a part-time basis, completing a master's degree in 2019. Tamkang revoked Tsai's degree in 2022. Before pursuing politics, Tsai worked as a nurse at

, including over twenty years alongside surgeon Ko Wen-je.

Political career

After Ko Wen-je was elected mayor of Taipei, Tsai joined his administration as chief of staff. She became an adviser to the

Taipei City Government The Taipei City Government (TCG) is the municipal government of Taipei. History The Taihoku City Government was founded on 10 October 1920 in Taihoku Prefecture during Japanese colonial rule. The original city hall was located at the site of ...

in 2018. Tsai is a founding member of the

, established in August 2019. During the

2020 Taiwanese legislative election The 2020 Taiwanese legislative election was held on 11 January 2020 for all 113 seats to the Legislative Yuan concurrently with the 15th presidential election in Taiwan. The term of the Legislative Yuan began on 1 February 2020. The Democratic ...

cycle, Tsai commented on the TPP party list, but did not confirm her own placement on it. Eventually, Tsai ranked fifth on the party list and was seated to the

. In August 2022,

Wang Hao-yu Wang Hao-yu (; born 29 October 1988) is a Taiwanese politician. In the 2014 Taiwanese local elections, he ran for a seat on the Taoyuan City Council in District 7, which includes Zhongli District, as a candidate for the Green Party. Out of 22 ...

accused Tsai of plagiarizing her master's thesis. Tamkang University concluded an investigation into the allegations in October and revoked her degree. She posted a resignation letter to Facebook on 14 October 2022, and vacated her legislative seat on 17 October. Republished as:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsai, Pi-ru Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Taipei Taiwanese political party founders Taiwan People's Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Living people People involved in plagiarism controversies Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan 1964 births Taiwanese women nurses 21st-century Taiwanese women politicians Members of the 10th Legislative Yuan Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Pingtung County Tamkang University alumni