Chien Tung-ming

Chien Tung-ming (Chinese: 簡東明; pinyin: Jiǎn Dōngmíng; born 4 June 1951) is a Taiwanese Paiwan politician. Also known by the Paiwan-language name Uliw Qaljupayare,[1] he represented the Highland Aborigine district from 2008 to 2020, alongside Kao Chin Su-mei and Kung Wen-chi.

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chien.

Chien Tung-ming MLY
簡東明
Chien as a member of the Eighth Legislative Yuan
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office 1 February 2008 – 1 February 2020
Preceded by	Tseng Hua-te
Succeeded by	Wu Li-hua
Constituency	Highland Aborigine
Personal details
Born	(1951-06-04) 4 June 1951 Pingtung County, Taiwan
Nationality	Republic of China
Political party	Kuomintang
Spouse(s)	Tai Chin-hua (戴錦花)
Alma mater	National Pingtung University of Education National Chung Hsing University
Occupation	Politician

Early life and education

Chien graduated from Fang Liao High School in Pingtung County before attending National Pingtung University of Education. He earned a master's degree in public administration and policy at National Chung Hsing University and taught at multiple elementary schools.[2]

Political career

Chen served Shizi Township as mayor for two terms from 1990 to 1998. He was elected to the Pingtung County Council later that year and stepped down in 2007 to prepare for a legislative campaign.[3]

Electoral controversies

Chien was first elected to the Legislative Yuan in 2008 with 26.86% of the vote in the three-member Highland Aborigine district.[4] Prosecutors in Kaohsiung sued Chien in February 2012 as part of a vote-buying probe related to the 2008 elections,[5][6] and three of his staff were imprisoned, but Chien himself was cleared in 2013.[7] More vote-buying allegations against Chien, this time in his native Pingtung County, surfaced during the 2016 legislative elections.[7][8] The 2016 case was taken to Taichung District Court, where prosecutors sought an annulment of Chien's election victory.[9] Chien and 57 others, including some of his campaign staff and a number of Pingtung County residents, were indicted in March.[10] The Pingtung District Court issued the first ruling on the case in June 2017, sentencing Chien to five and a half years imprisonment.[11] As a result of the guilty verdict, Chien became the first Taiwanese legislator be suspended from his duties due to court proceedings.[12] Upon appeal in January 2019, Chien's penalty was reduced, and he was acquitted in April of that year by the Kaohsiung branch of the Taiwan High Court.[13] Chien did not run in the 2020 legislative elections, and was succeeded in office by Wu Li-hua in 2020, who contested the seat on behalf of the Democratic Progressive Party.[14]

Legislative actions

Chien coauthored an amendment to the Mountain Slope Conservation and Utilization Act in 2012 that led to criticism from many aboriginal rights groups. The act contained a clause that mandated how long an aborigine was to keep their land before legally selling it. Chin, Kung, and Chien, along with Sra Kacaw, Liao Kuo-tung, and Lin Cheng-er, all aborigines, believed that the five-year ownership period mandated in the law was discriminatory and irrelevant, as the law already stated that all aboriginal land could only be sold to another aborigine.[15] Chien authored another law related to aboriginal land reform in 2015, making it legal for aborigines to receive monetary compensation on land they own within conservation areas because they are barred from developing land marked as protected territory.[16]

Political stances

Chien has often criticized the Council of Indigenous Peoples for not supporting aboriginal people adequately.[17][18] To give aboriginals more influence in the parliament, he advocated the reestablishment of an aboriginal caucus during his first term in office.[19] In his first term as legislator, Chien opposed a proposal to remove the distinction between highland and lowland districts.[20] Since then, he has proposed that both nationwide aboriginal districts, currently divided by tribal groupings, be divided instead into three separate constituencies based on geography.[21]

Chien has described the Aboriginal Basic Act as ineffective.[22] The law, passed in 2005, mandates that other bills relating to aboriginal affairs should have been passed by 2008. The Democratic Progressive Party administration in power at the time had proposed many initiatives, but most had been stalled in the legislature. Additionally, the Council of Indigenous Peoples had shut down four of the amendments proposed by the deadline.[23]

Though Chien backs marriage between aboriginals and Han Taiwanese,[24] he opposes the legalization of same-sex marriage.[25]

Personal life

He is married to Tai Chin-hua.[26]

References

1. "Movie trailer criticized as denigrating to Aborigines". Taipei Times. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
2. "Who's Who in the ROC: Members of the Eighth Legislative Yuan" (PDF). Executive Yuan. October 2012. p. 7. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
3. "Who's Who in the ROC" (PDF). 2008. Executive Yuan. p. 181. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
4. "Legislative Elections and Referendums" (PDF). Taipei Times. 13 January 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
5. Loa, Iok-sin (12 January 2012). "2012 ELECTIONS: Activists urge boycott of vote-buying candidates". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
6. "Prosecutors file lawsuits". Taipei Times. 18 February 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
7. Pan, Jason (21 January 2016). "Bunun people taken in for questioning over vote-buying". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
8. Pan, Jason (22 January 2016). "Two held in vote-buying probe". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
9. Pan, Jason (20 February 2016). "Election annulment sought". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
10. Pan, Jason (17 March 2016). "Pingtung indicts 58 after election probe". Taipei Times. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
11. Hsieh, Chia-jen; Ko, Lin (12 June 2017). "KMT legislator found guilty of vote-buying, sentenced to jail". Central News Agency. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
12. Pan, Jason (14 June 2017). "KMT legislator, officials convicted of vote buying". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
13. Pan, Jason (8 May 2019). "Pingtung prosecutors appeal vote-buying acquittals". Taipei Times. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
14. "出身教育界 伍麗華成為民進黨第1席山原立委" (in Chinese). Yahoo! Taiwan. Central News Agency. 11 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
15. Loa, Iok-sin (8 June 2012). "Aboriginal rights activists protest proposed land bill". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
16. "The final hours of the eighth Legislative Yuan". China Post. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
17. Loa, Iok-sin (27 March 2009). "Lawmakers grill CIP minister over lack of performance". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
18. Loa, Iok-sin (15 March 2012). "CIP not protecting rights of Aborigines: lawmakers". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
19. Loa, Iok-sin (21 May 2009). "Pan-blue Aboriginal lawmakers planning to revive caucus". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
20. Loa, Iok-sin (26 December 2008). "Aboriginal political rights at risk: critics". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
21. Loa, Iok-sin (1 May 2012). "Aboriginal electoral districts criticized for inequalities". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
22. Loa, Iok-sin (26 August 2011). "Aborigines bemoan century of pain". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
23. Loa, Iok-sin (23 September 2008). "Indigenous peoples council attacked for lack of proposals". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
24. Shih, Hsiao-kuang; Peng, Hsien-chun (15 May 2011). "KMT official's suggestion of ethnic purity lambasted". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
25. Loa, Iok-sin (30 November 2013). "Ministers urge support for change". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
26. Kuo, Chu-chen; Hsu, Elizabeth (17 March 2016). "KMT lawmaker, wife indicted for alleged vote-buying". Central News Agency. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016 – via China Post.