Chiu Tai-san (; born 30 August 1956) is a Taiwanese lawyer and politician. He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1999 to 2004. He then served the

Mainland Affairs Council The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China in Taiwan. The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the cross-strait relations ...

as a vice chairman, and later as deputy mayor of Kaohsiung under

Chen Chu Chen Chu or Kiku Chen (; born 10 June 1950) is the current President of the Control Yuan and Chair of the National Human Rights Commission. Before assuming her current post, Chen had served as Secretary-General to the President from 2018 to ...

. After leaving politics for a teaching position, Chiu was named the deputy mayor of Taoyuan under Cheng Wen-tsan in 2014. He resigned in 2016, and was appointed the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

later that year. Chiu stepped down from the justice ministry in 2018, and served on the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

until 2019. In 2021, Chiu was appointed minister of the

Legal career

Chiu studied law at National Taiwan University and worked as a prosecutor for the district courts of Tainan and Hsinchiu.

Political career

A member of the Democratic Progressive Party's

New Tide faction The New Tide faction () was the centrist and largest faction of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan before the party voted to dissolve all factions in 2006. Though dissolved, it remains as the largest faction in the DPP. The faction i ...

, Chiu began his political career as a secretary for Taichung County Magistrate Liao Yung-lai. He was elected 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 ...

as a representative of

Taichung County Taichung County was a county in central Taiwan between 1945 and 2010. The county seat was in Yuanlin Township before 1950 and Fongyuan City after 1950. History Taichung County was established on 26 November 1945 on the territory of Taich ...

in the 1998 elections. Reelected in 2001, Chiu stepped down in the middle of his term on 19 May 2004 to become the first vice chairman of the

. He left the MAC in March 2005 and declared his intention to run for the Taichung County magistracy. Chiu was replaced at the MAC by . Chiu was challenged in a party primary by

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 r ...

man Lin Feng-hsi. Chiu defeated Lin in first round of the primary, which consisted of telephone surveys run by three separate different companies. Lin claimed that one of the three polls had been subject to a computer hardware error and should be redone. Chiu was eventually reconfirmed as the DPP candidate, and lost the December election to incumbent Huang Chung-sheng. Following the defeat, Chiu was named a deputy mayor of Kaohsiung shortly before

took office as mayor in December 2006. After leaving the Kaohsiung City Government, Chiu taught at Asia University, eventually leading its financial and economic law department. He launched another bid for the Taichung County magistracy in 2010, and again lost to Huang Chung-sheng. 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 majorit ...

considered nominating him as a candidate for a legislative seat in the 2012 elections. However, Chiu did not return to public service until 2014, when Cheng Wen-tsan appointed him deputy mayor of Taoyuan. In March 2016, Chiu resigned his

Taoyuan City Government The Taoyuan City Government (TYCG; ) is the municipal government of Taoyuan, Taiwan. History Originally established as Taoyuan County, the county was upgraded to Taoyuan City on 25 December 2014. Organization * Department of Civil Affairs * De ...

position to serve as a policy advisor to president-elect

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 ...

. The next month, Chiu was named the

in Lin Chuan's incoming cabinet. He took office on 20 May 2016. Shortly after assuming his post as Minister of Justice, Chiu stated that Taiwan would maintain the death penalty. Chiu supported legislator Tsai Yi-yu's August 2016 proposal to eliminate the Special Investigation Division. Other attempts at reform include a victims' protection initiative and setting up a legal research department to immediately send contentious court cases directly to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. In February 2017, Chiu announced that the general public would be able to participate in committees convened to review the work of prosecutors. He left office in July 2018, and was named to the

. Chiu resigned from the National Security Council on 2 April 2019, shortly after the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office charged him with influence peddling. In December 2019, Chiu was appointed to lead a Democratic Progressive Party task force convened to combat electoral fraud during the January 2020 elections. Chiu later returned to the National Security Council as a consultant, serving until February 2021, when he was named leader of the

. Chiu formally succeeded

Chen Ming-tong Chen Ming-tong (; born 25 November 1955) is a Taiwanese politician and currently the Director-General of the National Security Bureau. He was the Minister of the Mainland Affairs Council from 2018 to 2021 and 2007 to 2008. Academic career Chen ...

as minister of the Mainland Affairs Council on 23 February 2021.

Personal

Chu is married to jurist Sung Fu-mei.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiu, Tai-san 1956 births Living people Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Taichung Members of the Legislative Yuan National Taiwan University alumni Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan 20th-century Taiwanese lawyers Asia University (Taiwan) faculty Taiwanese Ministers of Justice Deputy mayors of Kaohsiung Deputy mayors of Taoyuan City