Chiu Tai-san (; born 30 August 1956) is a Taiwanese lawyer and politician. He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1999 to 2004. He then served as the vice minister of the

Mainland Affairs Council The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the cross-strait relations p ...

, and later as deputy mayor of

Kaohsiung City Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of ...

under Chen Chu. After leaving politics for a teaching position, Chiu was named the deputy mayor of Taoyuan City under Cheng Wen-tsan in 2014. He resigned in 2016, and was appointed the minister of Justice later that year. Chiu stepped down from the justice ministry in 2018, and served on the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

until 2019. In 2021, Chiu was appointed minister of the

Education

Chiu studied law at

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(LL.B.), a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

(LL.B.), and earned his Ph.D. in law from the university's National Institute of Development. He then worked as a prosecutor for the district courts of Tainan and Hsinchiu. He later was a

visiting scholar In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Political career

A member of the Democratic Progressive Party's New Tide faction, Chiu began his political career as a secretary for Taichung County Magistrate Liao Yung-lai. He was elected to the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan () is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...

as a representative of

Taichung County Taichung County was a County (Taiwan), county in central Taiwan between 1945 and 2010. The county seat was in Yuanlin Township before 1950 and Fengyuan District, Fongyuan City after 1950. History Taichung County was established on 26 November ...

in the 1998 elections. Reelected in 2001, Chiu stepped down in the middle of his term on 19 May 2004 to become the first vice chairman of the

. He left the MAC in March 2005 and declared his intention to run for the Taichung County magistracy. Chiu was replaced at the MAC by . Chiu was challenged in a party primary by

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

man Lin Feng-hsi. Chiu defeated Lin in first round of the primary, which consisted of telephone surveys run by three separate different companies. Lin claimed that one of the three polls had been subject to a computer hardware error and should be redone. Chiu was eventually reconfirmed as the DPP candidate, and lost the December election to incumbent Huang Chung-sheng. Following the defeat, Chiu was named a deputy mayor of Kaohsiung shortly before Chen Chu took office as mayor in December 2006. After leaving the Kaohsiung City Government, Chiu taught at Asia University, eventually leading its financial and economic law department. He launched another bid for the Taichung County magistracy in 2010, and again lost to Huang Chung-sheng. The

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

considered nominating him as a candidate for a legislative seat in the 2012 elections. However, Chiu did not return to public service until 2014, when Cheng Wen-tsan appointed him deputy mayor of Taoyuan. In March 2016, Chiu resigned his Taoyuan City Government position to serve as a policy advisor to president-elect

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; pinyin: ''Cài Yīngwén''; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician and legal scholar who served as the seventh president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2016 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party ...

. The next month, Chiu was named the Minister of Justice in Lin Chuan's incoming cabinet. He took office on 20 May 2016. Shortly after assuming his post as Minister of Justice, Chiu stated that Taiwan would maintain the death penalty. Chiu supported legislator Tsai Yi-yu's August 2016 proposal to eliminate the Special Investigation Division. Other attempts at reform include a victims' protection initiative and setting up a legal research department to immediately send contentious court cases directly to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. In February 2017, Chiu announced that the general public would be able to participate in committees convened to review the work of prosecutors. He left office in July 2018, and was named to the

. Chiu resigned from the National Security Council on 2 April 2019, shortly after the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office charged him with influence peddling. In December 2019, Chiu was appointed to lead a Democratic Progressive Party task force convened to combat electoral fraud during the January 2020 elections. Chiu later returned to the National Security Council as a consultant, serving until February 2021, when he was named leader of the

. Chiu formally succeeded Chen Ming-tong as minister of the Mainland Affairs Council on 23 February 2021.

Personal

Chu is married to jurist Sung Fu-mei.

Honors

*2024 Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiu, Tai-san 1956 births Living people Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Taichung Members of the Legislative Yuan National Taiwan University alumni Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan 20th-century Taiwanese lawyers Academic staff of Asia University (Taiwan) Ministers of justice of Taiwan Deputy mayors of Kaohsiung Deputy mayors of Taoyuan City Recipients of the Order of Brilliant Star