VZCZCXRO0084
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHIN #1387/01 1710052
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 200052Z JUN 07
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5702
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6929
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 8870
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 1175
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1961
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5929
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0351
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 8183
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 001387
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AIT/W, EAP/TC, INR/EAP
FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL TW
SUBJECT: RESULTS OF DPP LEGISLATIVE PRIMARY IN SOUTHERN TAIWAN
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY
1. (SBU) Summary. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has
recently completed primaries in southern Taiwan for the legislative
election set for January 12, 2008. Multiple candidates competed for
a chance to represent their party in six of the eight southern
Taiwan counties or cities. Taitung and Penghu Counties did not hold
primaries because no candidates registered there, but the DPP plans
to recruit candidates later in the year. Under the new
"single-member district, two vote system" to be introduced in the
upcoming legislative election, political parties will find it to
their advantage to ensure they run a candidate even in "difficult"
districts to increase their share of the party representation vote.
The following is a list of the DPP candidates for each district in
southern Taiwan. End Summary.
Chiayi County - Two Districts
-----------------------------
2. (SBU) First District: TSAI Chi-fang (M), 53 years old, is a high
school graduate. Tsai is an incumbent legislator first elected in
2001, currently serving his second term. He previously served as a
township mayor.
Second District: Chang Hwa-kuang (F), 52 years old, has a Bachelors
Degree in Business Administration from National Chung Hsing
University. Chang is an incumbent legislator first elected in 2001,
currently serving her second term. She is a close associate of
incumbent Chiayi Magistrate Chen Ming-wen (DPP). Her husband was a
former KMT Legislator who served from 1992 to 2001.
Chiayi City - One District
-------------------------------
3. (SBU) Chuang Ho-tze (F), 62 years old, has a Bachelors Degree in
Nursing from Chung Shan Medical College. She is an incumbent
at-large legislator serving the Overseas-Chinese. She has lived in
California for many years.
Tainan City - Two Districts
---------------------------
4. (SBU) First District: Chen Ting-fei (F), 33 years old, has a
Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Chang Jung
Christian University. She is an incumbent Tainan City Council
Member elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. She was former DPP
Tainan City Chairman from 2004 to 2006.
Second District: Lai Ching-te (M), 48 years old, has a Masters
Degree in Public Health from Harvard University. Lai, an incumbent
legislator first elected in 1999, is serving his third term. He was
a medical doctor before entering politics.
Tainan County - Three Districts
-------------------------------
5. (SBU) First District: Yeh Yi-jin (F), 47 years old, has a Masters
Degree in music from University of Bridgeport, CT. An incumbent
legislator first elected in 1999, she is serving her third term.
She was a former Taiwan Provincial Assembly member from 1994 to
1998. She may be the next DPP candidate running for the position of
Tainan Magistrate in 2009.
Second District: Huang Wei-tze (M), 44 years old, has a Masters
Degree in Public Administration from Yale University. He is an
incumbent legislator elected in 2004. He was a former Tainan County
Councilor from 2001 to 2004.
Third District: Lee Chun-yi (M), 48 years old, has a Masters Degree
in Public Administration from National Cheng Chi University. He is
an incumbent legislator first elected in 1995, currently serving his
fourth term. Lee is affiliated with the DPP presidential candidate
Frank Hsieh and often defends Hsieh on political talk shows.
Kaohsiung City - Five Districts
-------------------------------
6. (SBU) First District: Yao Wen-chih (M), 42 years old, has a
Masters Degree in Political Science from National Cheng Chi
University. He was formerly the Director-General of Taiwan's
Government Information Office in 2005 when Frank Hsieh was the
Premier. He also served in the Kaohsiung City government as Deputy
Secretary General (2001-2003) and Director of the Information Office
SIPDIS
(1998-2001) when Frank Hsieh was the Kaohsiung Mayor. Yao has been
Frank Hsieh's close aide since 1995, when Hsieh served as a
legislator.
TAIPEI 00001387 002 OF 003
Second District: Kuan Bi-ling (F), 52 years old, has a Ph.D. in
Political Science from National Taiwan University. She is an
incumbent legislator elected in 2004 with strong support from Frank
Hsieh. She served in Kaohsiung City Government as Director of the
Cultural Bureau (2002-2004) and Director of the Information Office
(2001-2002) when Frank Hsieh was the Kaohsiung Mayor.
Third District: Lin Chin-hsing (M), 54 years old, has a Ph.D. in
Medicine from John Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
He is a medical doctor and owns a clinic. Lin is an incumbent
legislator, first elected in 2001 and re-elected in 2004. He was
expelled by the DPP in April 2006 because he was indicted for
corruption after faking medical records to claim insurance
reimbursement. In January 2007 the DPP accepted his application to
re-join the DPP.
Fourth District: Huang Chao-hui (M), 61 years old, has a Masters
Degree in Theology from Tainan Theological College. Huang is an
incumbent legislator elected in 2004, who also served as a
legislator from 1992 to 1995. He was Deputy General-Secretary of
the DPP Central Office from 1995 to 1997.
Fifth District: Kuo Wen-cheng (M), 52 years old, is a high-school
graduate. Kuo is an incumbent legislator first elected in 2001 and
re-elected in 2004. Before he was elected to the legislature, he
served as a Kaohsiung City Councilor from 1989 to 2001 for three
terms. His wife is an incumbent City Councilor.
Kaohsiung County - Four Districts
---------------------------------
7. (SBU) First District: Yen Wen-chung (M), 61 years old, is a
high-school graduate. Yen is an incumbent legislator elected in
2004. Before being elected to the legislature, he served as
Kaohsiung County Councilor from 2002 to 2004. Yen owns a local
underground radio station and is a long-time advocate for Taiwan's
independence.
Second District: Yu Cheng-hsien (M), 48 years old, has a Bachelors
Degree in International Trade from Feng Chia University. He is the
incumbent president of the state-run Tai Sugar Corp. Yu was the
former Minister of Interior (2002-2004), Kaohsiung County Magistrate
(1993-2001), and Legislator (1986-1993). Yu's family founded a
local political faction in Kaohsiung in the 1980's.
Third District: Chen Chi-yu (M), 43 years old, has a Bachelors
Degree in Sociology from National Taiwan University. He is
affiliated with former Magistrate Yu Cheng-hsien (who is also a DPP
candidate running in the second district). Under Yu's support, he
may run for Kaohsiung County Magistrate in 2009.
Fourth District: Lin Tai-hua (F), 35 years old, has a Masters Degree
in Mass Communications from the University of Wisconsin, U.S. She
is an incumbent legislator first elected in 2001 and re-elected in
2004. She was the first legislator who called for the President's
resignation if the First Lady was indicted for corruption.
Pingtung County - Three Districts
---------------------------------
8. (SBU) First District: Su Chen-ching (M), 42 years old, with a
Masters Degree in Agricultural Administration from National Pingtung
University of Science and Technology. He is an incumbent Pingtung
County Councilor first elected in 2001 and re-elected in 2005. He is
a nephew of Su Chia-chuan, incumbent Chairman of Taiwan's Council of
Agriculture and also former Pingtung County Magistrate (1997-2004).
Second District: Lee Shih-bin (M), 45 years old, has a Masters
Degree in Public Policy from National Sun Yet-sen University. He is
an incumbent Pingtung County Councilor first elected in 2001 and
re-elected in 2005. He is also the incumbent Chairman of the DPP
Pingtung County Office.
Third District: Pan Meng-an (M), 44 years old, has an EMBA from
Honolulu University in Hawaii. He is an incumbent legislator
elected in 2004 and served as a Pingtung County Councilor from 1998
to 2004.
9. (SBU) There were no DPP candidates registered for the Taitung
County and Penghu County primaries. The DPP will recruit candidates
later to run in these legislative elections.
TAIPEI 00001387 003 OF 003
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