Wei Yao-chien (; born 5 February 1950) is a Taiwanese politician.

Early life and career

Wei was born on 5 February 1950 in Tainan to a conservative family with strong ties to 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 ...

. He attended the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

and completed further study at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

as well as

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

before he was trained as a dentist. He later earned a master's degree in political science 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 ...

Political career

Wei turned against the Kuomintang after Fang Su-min and

Lin Yi-hsiung Lin Yi-hsiung (; born 24 August 1941) is a politician from Taiwan. He was a major leader of the democratization movement in Taiwan. He graduated from the Department of Law of National Taiwan University. He was first exposed to politics in 1976 ...

's twin daughters were in 1979. His friendship with

Frank Hsieh Frank Hsieh Chang-ting (; born May 18, 1946) is a Taiwanese politician and former defense attorney. A cofounder of the Democratic Progressive Party, he has served on the Taipei City Council, the Legislative Yuan, as the mayor of Kaohsiung Cit ...

also contributed to Wei's political beliefs. Wei represented Tainan for two terms on the Legislative Yuan, from 1990 to 1996, as a member of the Democratic Progressive Party. During his legislative tenure, Wei became known for fighting fellow lawmakers. Wei alluded to his dental practice in describing physical confrontation attempts to "pull the tiger's teeth." Wei left the Democratic Progressive Party to run an independent campaign for the Tainan County magistracy in 2001. Though a July 2001 opinion poll showed that Wei had not garnered much support, a potential split in the

Pan-Green Coalition The pan-Green coalition, pan-Green force or pan-Green groups is a nationalist political coalition in Taiwan (Republic of China), consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), Taiwan Solidarity Union ...

's voter base between Wei and Su Huan-chih was still considered damaging to Su. Wei's campaign was run by former Tainan deputy magistrate Lin Wen-ding. Wei was placed on the Home Party list during the 2008 legislative elections, but not elected to the Legislative Yuan. He contested the Lienchiang County magistracy as an independent in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

Activism

In 2006, Wei served as executive director of the

Million Voices Against Corruption, President Chen Must Go Million Voices against Corruption, President Chen Must Go (百萬人民反貪腐倒扁運動) was a Taiwanese mass campaign led by former Chairman Shih Ming-teh of the Democratic Progressive Party to pressure the Taiwanese then President Chen Sh ...

campaign led by

Shih Ming-teh Shih Ming-teh (; born 15 January 1941) commonly known as Nori Shih, is a statesman and human rights defender in Taiwan and was once a political prisoner for 25-and-a-half years. Arrested at the age of 21 in 1962 and charged with creating the " ...

. In this position, Wei acted as a spokesman and represented the campaign to the Legislative Yuan. In February 2014, Wei founded the Jiawu Regime Change organization alongside fellow former legislators and

Payen Talu Payen Talu (; born 16 December 1951) is an Atayal Taiwanese politician. He represented the Democratic Progressive Party as a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1996 to 2002. Political career A member of the Democratic Progressive Party, Payen T ...

, among others, to advocate Taiwan independence. Wei was in attendance at

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...

's presidential inauguration on 20 May 2016, alongside a group of protestors advocating for the replacement of the

Constitution of the Republic of China The Constitution of the Republic of China is the fifth and current constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), ratified by the Kuomintang during the session on 25 December 1946, in Nanjing, and adopted on 25 December 1947. The constitution, ...

with a Taiwan-centric supreme law. In 2018, Wei and another former legislator, , led a demonstration on the 71st anniversary of the 228 incident, again in support of a rewritten constitution for Taiwan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wei, Yao-chien 1950 births Living people Tainan Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 1st Legislative Yuan in Taiwan Members of the 2nd Legislative Yuan Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Taiwanese dentists Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Taiwan independence activists Alumni of the University of Essex National Taiwan University alumni