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Lee Ying-yuan

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Lee Ying-yuan
MLY
李應元
Official portrait, 2020
Representative of Taiwan to Thailand
In office
13 August 2020 – 31 August 2021
PresidentTsai Ing-wen
MOFA MinisterJoseph Wu
Preceded byTung Chen-yuan [zh]
Succeeded byChuang Suo-hang
12th Minister of Environmental Protection Administration
In office
20 May 2016 – 1 December 2018
Prime MinisterLin Chuan
William Lai
Deputy
See list
Preceded byWei Kuo-yen
Succeeded byTsai Hung-teh (acting)
Chang Tzi-chin
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office
1 February 2012 – 20 May 2016
Succeeded byShih Yi-fang
ConstituencyParty-list
In office
1 February 1996 – August 2000
ConstituencyTaipei County
Acting Magistrate of Yunlin
In office
5 November 2008 – 17 November 2008
Preceded bySu Chih-fen
Succeeded bySu Chih-fen
Deputy Magistrate of Yunlin
In office
July 2008 – July 2009
Magistrate
See list
11th Secretary-General of the Democratic Progressive Party
In office
15 January 2008 – 15 May 2008
ChairmanChen Shui-bian
Preceded byCho Jung-tai
Succeeded byWang Tuoh
7th Minister of the Council of Labor Affairs
In office
19 September 2005 – 20 May 2007
Prime MinisterFrank Hsieh
Su Tseng-chang
Preceded byChen Chu
Succeeded byLu Tien-ling
21st and 24th Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan
In office
1 February 2005 – 19 September 2005
Prime MinisterFrank Hsieh
Preceded byArthur Iap
Succeeded byCho Jung-tai
In office
1 February 2002 – 1 July 2002
Prime MinisterYu Shyi-kun
Preceded byChiou I-jen
Succeeded byLiu Shyh-fang
Deputy Representative of Taiwan to the United States
In office
September 2000 – 21 January 2002
Serving with Shen Lyu-shun
Representative
See list
Succeeded byMichael Tsai
Personal details
Born(1953-03-16)16 March 1953
Yunlin County, Taiwan
Died11 November 2021(2021-11-11) (aged 68)
Zhongzheng, Taipei, Taiwan
Political partyDemocratic Progressive Party
SpouseHuang Yue-kui
EducationNational Taiwan University (BS)
Harvard University (MPH)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (PhD)

Lee Ying-yuan (Chinese: 李應元; pinyin: Lǐ Yìngyuán; Wade–Giles: Li3 Ying4-yüen2; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lí Èng-goân; 16 March 1953 – 11 November 2021) was a Taiwanese politician and health economist. He was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1995 and stepped down in 2000. In 2005, Lee was appointed the Minister of Council of Labor Affairs, which he led until 2007. Lee has also served as Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan and the Democratic Progressive Party, and was reelected to the Legislative Yuan in 2012. He was appointed the Minister of Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in 2016. He left the EPA in 2018, and subsequently served as Taiwan's representative to Thailand from 2020 to 2021.

Early life and education

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Lee Ying-yuan was born into a family of farmers in 1953. He studied public health at National Taiwan University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), and then pursued graduate studies in the United States. He earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Harvard University then earned his Ph.D. in health economics in 1988 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[2]

Career

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Upon Lee's graduation, he was slated to teach at NTU, but was placed on a blacklist and barred from returning to Taiwan by the Kuomintang-led government, stemming from his pro-democracy activities in the Formosa Incident during Taiwan's martial law period. During Lee's time as a student in the United States, he was also an active member of the World United Formosans for Independence, which attracted more of the KMT's attention.[3]

Return to Taiwan

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After returning to Taiwan through illegal channels and avoiding intelligence agents for fourteen months, Lee was arrested in September 1991, and charged with violation of Article 100 [zh] of the Criminal Code [zh]. He was released in May 1992, after would-be colleagues at National Taiwan University intervened on his behalf. Revisions to Article 100 were also passed that month, and meant that evidence of possible threats had to be submitted to the Commission of Violence prior to indictment or arrest.[4][5]

Political career

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Lee was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1995.[6] He then became the youngest convener of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus in the legislature. Following DPP’s successful presidential election in 2000, Lee was appointed by President Chen Shui-bian to be the Deputy Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the U.S. and then Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan.[3] He was then named the DPP candidate for Taipei City's 2002 mayoral election, losing to incumbent mayor Ma Ying-jeou in a landslide.[7]

2002 Taipei City mayoral election result
Party # Candidate Votes Percentage
Democratic Progressive Party 1 Lee Ying-yuan 488,811 35.89%
Kuomintang 2 Ma Ying-jeou 873,102 64.11%
Total 1,374,862 100.00%
Voter turnout 70.61%

He was named the head of the Council of Labor Affairs in 2005, and stayed on in the Su Tseng-chang cabinet.[8] Under his leadership, the CLA sought to decrease the number of job-related deaths and injuries causing disabilities.[9][10] In 2008, Lee was named the Secretary-General of the Democratic Progressive Party and deputy Yunlin County magistrate under Su Chih-fen. He resigned the deputy magistracy to run in a legislative-by election caused by the annulment of Chang Sho-wen's election. However, Lee lost a primary to Liu Chien-kuo.[11] He was re-elected to the Legislative Yuan in 2012.[12]

During the summer of 2015, Lee accompanied DPP chairperson and presidential nominee Tsai Ing-wen on her visit to the United States, along with DPP General Secretary Joseph Wu.[13] Lee was named Tsai's Environmental Protection Administration minister after she won the 2016 election. He stated that his goal was to transform the EPA into a full-fledged ministry within 18 months of taking office.[14] On 1 December 2018, Lee stepped down from the EPA.[15]

In June 2020, Lee was appointed representative of Taiwan to Thailand, succeeding Tung Chen-yuan [zh], and formally took office on 13 August 2020.[16][17] Lee's resignation from the position was approved on 4 August 2021, and took effect on 1 September 2021.[17]

Personal life

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Lee was married to Laura Huang (黃月桂).[18]

Death

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Lee died of pancreatic cancer on 11 November 2021, at the age of 68 in National Taiwan University Hospital.[19][20]

References

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  1. ^ "Additional future Cabinet members announced by DPP – Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ Chang, Yun-ping (16 May 2003). "Lee Ying-yuan faults response at Hoping Hospital". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  3. ^ a b Chu, Monique (4 September 2000). "Lee Ying-yuan: the dissident who became a diplomat". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  4. ^ Snyder, Charles (19 February 2001). "DPP looks to a new era of relations with the US". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  5. ^ Lee, Shyu-tu; Williams, Jack F. (2014). Taiwan's Struggle: Voices of the Taiwanese. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 53–54. ISBN 9781442221437.
  6. ^ "Lee Ying-yuan". Former Legislators, the 3rd Legislative Yuan (in Chinese (Taiwan)). The Legislative Yuan. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Lee is down but not out after defeat". The China Post. 8 December 2002. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  8. ^ "The New Cabinet". Taiwan Today. 1 March 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  9. ^ Shan, Shelley (20 February 2006). "Labor council seeks to lower job fatality and disability rates by 20 percent each". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  10. ^ Tsai, June (3 March 2006). "Council of Labor Affairs sets target of 20% fewer job-related accidents". Taiwan Info. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  11. ^ "DPP to nominate Liu in legislative by-election". Taiwan Today. 13 July 2009. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016. Alt URL
  12. ^ "Lee Ying-yuan". Former Legislators, the 9th Legislative Yuan (in Chinese (Taiwan)). The Legislative Yuan. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  13. ^ Strong, Matthew (28 May 2015). "Tsai adds Facebook and Cisco to US trip". Taiwan News. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  14. ^ Chen, Wei-han (7 June 2016). "EPA's Lee to turn agency into full-fledged ministry". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  15. ^ Lu, Hsin-huei; Lee, Hsin-Yin (1 December 2018). "3 ministers resign in wake of DPP's landslide election loss". Central News Agency. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  16. ^ "Foreign envoys announced". Taipei Times. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  17. ^ a b Chung, Yu-chen; Lu, Hsin-hui; Yeh, Joseph (4 August 2021). "Taiwan's top envoy to Thailand resigns citing health reasons". Central News Agency. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  18. ^ Tsai, Ting-i (11 September 2002). "Annie Lee supports Lee Ying-yuan for Taipei mayoral post". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  19. ^ "Taiwan's former top envoy to Thailand dies at 68". Central News Agency. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  20. ^ "駐泰前代表李應元病逝 享壽68歲". United Daily News (in Chinese). 11 November 2021.
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