Hsieh Chi-ta
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Hsieh Chi-ta (; born 10 February 1949) is a retired Taiwanese politician who served in 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 ...
from 1993 to 2002.


Early life and legal career

Hsieh was born in
Shangrao Shangrao () is a medium-sized prefecture-level city located in the northeast of Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. The city borders the province of Anhui to the north, the province of Zhejiang to the east, and the province of Fujian to t ...
on 10 February 1949. At the age of eighteen, she became a schoolteacher. Hsieh's legal career began at age 28, after she had focused her legal studies 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 ...
on juvenile delinquency. Hsieh was a judge for eleven years prior to her election 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 ...
, having been appointed to the Yilan and Hsinchu district courts, as well as the Hualien bench of the Taiwan High Court.


Political career

Hsieh represented
Hsinchu district Hsinchu City is represented in the Legislative Yuan since 2008 by one at-large single-member constituency (Hsinchu Constituency,). Current district * Hsinchu City Hsinchu (, Chinese: 新竹, Pinyin: ''Xīnzhú'', Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-c ...
in 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 ...
from 1993 to 1996. She served another two terms in the Legislative Yuan, winning the 1995 and 1998 elections as a representative of
Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...
. During her first term, Hsieh served on the education committee and worked to improve teaching style and curriculum in public schools. Soon after taking office, Hsieh unsuccessfully intervened in the capital punishment case of Liu Huan-jung, a
Bamboo Union The United Bamboo Gang (UBG; ; Bamboo Union triad) is the largest of Taiwan's three main criminal Triads. They are reported to have roughly 10,000 members. The membership consists largely of '' waishengren'' (Mainland Chinese) and has had his ...
gang member who had killed five people and been placed on Taiwan's death row for seven years before his execution. She petitioned for 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 ...
to rule on Article 1089, which stated that if parents were to disagree on a decision pertaining to the rights of a child, the father's decision was final. As written, Article 1089 was found to be unconstitutional. In further support of children's rights, Hsieh sought harsher punishments for child prostitution. In her second term, Hsieh was named a member of the judicial committee. In 1997, Hsieh supported the passage of amendments to the Law Governing the Disposition of Juvenile Cases, making guardians partly responsible for the actions of juvenile delinquents. The next year, she drafted an amendment to the Sexual Violation Prevention Act and Witness Protection Act, subjecting rape allegations to immediate investigation. Hsieh also helped pass an amendment regarding compensation to crime victims. Believing that smaller constituencies would prevent elected officials from accurately reflecting "mainstream public opinion", she opposed a 1998 proposal on electoral district reform. The change from multi-member electoral districts to single-member districts coupled with party-list representation eventually occurred in 2008. Hsieh was a strong advocate for women's rights, and staunchly against the death penalty. By her third term, Hsieh was routinely listed by TVBS Weekly Magazine, the Vision Information Internet Association, and the Social Lawmaking League as one of the best legislators. Yet, in April 2001 the Taiwan Association of University Professors listed Hsieh one of the thirteen worst legislators. During the 2000 presidential election, she led an investigation of
James Soong James Soong Chu-yu (born 16 March 1942) is a Taiwanese politician. He is the founder and current Chairman of the People First Party. Born to a Kuomintang military family of Hunanese origin, Soong began his political career as a secretary to ...
's finances in support of his candidacy. Shortly after the election,
First Lady of the Republic of China The First Lady of the Republic of China refers to the wife of the President of the Republic of China. Since 1949, the position has been based in Taiwan, where they are often called by the title of First Lady of Taiwan, in addition to First Lady ...
Tseng Wen-hui Tseng Wen-hui (; (born 31 March 1926) is a Taiwanese public figure, First Lady of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 1988 to 2000, and widow of former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui. Biography Tseng was born on 31 March 1926 in Sanshi Villa ...
sued Hsieh, Elmer Fung, and
Tai Chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called "shadowboxing", is an neijia, internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and medita ...
for defamation. The three were cleared of charges, but fined upon appeal to the Taiwan High Court. Hsieh refused to pay the fine and was sentenced to three months imprisonment. In her third term, Hsieh opposed the continued operation of the
Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant The Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant (), formerly known as Gongliao and commonly as the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (), is an unfinished nuclear power plant in New Taipei City, Taiwan. It consists of two ABWRs each of 1,300  MWe net. It is owned b ...
and criticized the
Republic of China Navy The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF). The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World Wa ...
for excessive spending. She worked to implement a ban on the selling of life insurance to children under fourteen years of age out of concern that parents could be motivated to kill their children and subsequently file claims. By February 2001, Hsieh had become the New Party caucus leader. In June, Hsieh aided a woman who accused Chen Chao-chuan of raping her. She ran again in the December 2001 legislative election, but lost. Following the electoral defeat, Hsieh resigned her position as New Party caucus leader on 8 December 2001. Before she left office, Hsieh played a large part in the 2002 passage of the Gender Equality Employment Law. Shortly after stepping down from 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 ...
, Hsieh moved to China to teach and run a coffee shop. Upon her return to Taiwan in December 2003, Hsieh served a three-month jail sentence for incidents of defamation that had occurred in 2000 involving Tseng Wen-hui. In 2010, she criticized
Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...
's selection of
Rai Hau-min Rai Hau-min (; born 2 January 1939) in Tō'oku Village, Shinchiku Prefecture, Japanese Taiwan, was the President of the Judicial Yuan of the Republic of China from 2010 to 2016. An attorney by profession, Rai founded the Formosa Transnational At ...
as President of 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 ...
. In July 2013, she began working in 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 ...
, and resigned from her duties in May 2014.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsieh, Chi-ta 1949 births Living people Taiwanese women lawyers Taiwanese schoolteachers Taiwanese women judges National Taiwan University alumni Politicians from Shangrao Taiwanese people from Jiangxi Republic of China politicians from Jiangxi 20th-century Taiwanese women politicians Taichung Members of the Legislative Yuan Hsinchu Members of the Legislative Yuan New Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 2nd Legislative Yuan Members of the 3rd Legislative Yuan Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan 20th-century Taiwanese educators Educators from Jiangxi 20th-century women educators 21st-century Taiwanese women politicians Leaders of the New Party (Taiwan)