By 6pm on Jan. 2, newly elected legislator Yen Ching-piao's (
He had been detained for more than 300 days for corruption, attempted murder and firearms charges before he was finally sentenced to 11 years and released on NT$5 million bail on Jan. 2 pending an appeal.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Yen, an independent legislator-elect from Taichung County, is the first politician in Taiwan to run a political campaign from behind bars and win.
For Yen, his supporters and his family, who ran the legislative campaign for him, his release is a gift from the goddess Matsu.
Following a visit to his ill mother, Yen led his family to the Chen Lan Temple (
Yen will join other legislators-elect and take the oath of office in the Legislative Yuan on Feb. 1.
Political analysts and Yen's family said that Yen's triumph in the Dec. 1 election was thanks to Yen's efforts in his constituency and his innocent image, despite the criminal charges.
"Yen has done a lot of work in his constituency in Shalu and Lungching," said Wang Yeh-li (王業立), a political scientist at Taichung's Tunghai University. "Although he is a controversial figure, we expected that he would receive a lot of votes even before the result was announced."
Yen's son, Yen Kuan-heng (
"President Chen Shui-bian (
"President Chen's remark enhanced the impression that my father was being persecuted, which really helped us in the election."
Yen Kuan-heng filled out his father's registration papers and campaigned on his behalf while Yen's case wound its way through the legal system during the campaign.
"I don't understand why my father is adored by his supporters, especially as he is a controversial figure," Yen said. "But I have seen something specific about him -- he can make friends with individuals from all kinds of backgrounds."
However, DPP legislator Chiu Tai-san (
"The Dec. 1 election was a crucial battle for the KMT's black faction," Chiu said. "Since Yen was the only candidate who could coordinate all the faction's supporters, the faction tried its best to help Yen."
Yen, who married at 17, was nicknamed "Wintermelon Piao" by his grandfather for his short and stout figure.
After a government crackdown on organized crime in 1986, Yen spent three-and-a-half years in Green Island's maximum-security prison. His participation in local politics began soon after his release.
As a member of the KMT's black faction in Taichung County, Yen worked as a borough warden (
Yen was elected chairman of the board of the Chen Lan Temple in Taichung County in January 1999.
His attempts to lead Matsu followers on a pilgrimage to China via Kinmen to worship the goddess Matsu in June 2000 made him more popular than ever.
Yen engaged in various bus-inesses, including gravel plants, cement factories and restaurants and became associated with gangsters and inter-faction rivalry.
Yen's secretary, Liu Shu-mei (
"Many of my friends have asked me why I want to work for a gangster, but he is really not the kind of person the media have portrayed," Liu said.
"I became involved when he decided which candidate to support in the presidential election, and his decision to support James Soong (
Liu said the KMT tried very hard to attract Yen's support for its candidates, but Yen finally turned down the KMT's request because of his cooperation with James Soong in the Taiwan Provincial Government.
"He is not well-educated, but he is an accommodating individual," Liu said. "He always tries his best to fight for the public interest. Most of those who criticized him have no idea about him at all."
The DPP's Chiu, however, holds a different view.
"He does a lot for his constituency, but what a legislator needs to do is not this kind of thing," Chiu said.
"He is just not professional enough for policymaking and debate, which are what legislators really need to do."
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
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