Lee Yung-te (; born 30 May 1955) is a Taiwanese politician who is the current Minister of Culture. He served as the Minister of the

Hakka Affairs Council The Hakka Affairs Council (HAC; , Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Hak-kâ Vî-yèn-fi) is a cabinet-level unit under the Executive Yuan of the government of Taiwan. Its mission is to revitalize Hakka language and culture, and promoting Hakka cultural research an ...

from March 2005 to March 2008 and was reappointed to the position in April 2016.

Education

Lee obtained his bachelor's degree in politics from

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei. The university is also considered as the earliest public service training facility of the Republic of China. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subs ...

in 1976 and master's degree in communication from Stanford University in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1991.

Political life

Hakka Affairs Council

On 15 March 2005, Lee was appointed as Minister of

. During his tenure, he organized the first

Hakka Language Hakka (, , ) forms a language group of varieties of Chinese, spoken natively by the Hakka people throughout Southern China and Taiwan and throughout the diaspora areas of East Asia, Southeast Asia and in overseas Chinese communities around ...

Certification Exam in Taiwan. He also composed the first Hakka musical, ''My Daughter's Wedding'' and filmed a Hakka movie, ''

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

''. In terms of music, he brought Hakka music into the

National Concert Hall The National Concert Hall (NCH) (An Ceoláras Náisiúnta) is a national cultural institution, sometimes described as "the home of music in Ireland". It comprises the actual concert hall operation, which in various chambers hosts over 1,000 ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

and organized the first Hakka Expo in Taiwan.

Personal life

Lee is of

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

ethnicity. He has two marriages. His second wife is the member of Legislative Yuan from Kaohsiung,

Chiu Yi-ying Chiu Yi-ying (; born 1 June 1971) is a Taiwanese politician. She has served four terms in the Legislative Yuan, one term in the National Assembly, and, from 2005 to 2008, was the deputy minister of the Hakka Affairs Council. Education Chiu earned ...

. Lee and his second wife

registered their marriage in April 2011 and held their wedding banquet on 5 January 2013 in Kaohsiung. He and his first wife from previous marriage have a daughter born in 1988.

References

Taiwanese Ministers of Culture Taiwanese politicians of Hakka descent Deputy mayors of Kaohsiung Living people 1955 births National Chengchi University alumni Stanford University alumni Democratic Progressive Party (Taiwan) politicians {{Taiwan-DPP-politician-stub