David Chou (; born 13 November 1954) is a Taiwanese politician. He served on the Taipei City Council from 1986 to 1993, when he was seated 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 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel ...

. Chou resigned in 2003, after being convicted on charges of bribery. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment and paroled in 2005.

Education

Chou earned a bachelor's degree in law from Soochow University.

Political career

Chou worked as

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whi ...

's legislative assistant from 1982 to 1985, and managed the successful 1986 electoral bid of Chen's wife

Wu Shu-chen Wu Shu-chen (; born 11 July 1953 in Tainan County, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese politician. She served one term in the Legislative Yuan from 1987 to 1990. As the wife of President Chen Shui-bian, Wu was the First Lady of the Republic of China from 200 ...

. He served in many high-ranking positions within the Democratic Progressive Party and was a member of the

Taipei City Council Taipei City Council () is the city council of Taipei, Taiwan. One of the largest local councils in Taiwan, the city council is currently composed of 63 councillors, all elected lately in the 2018 Taiwanese local elections. Composition ...

for two terms prior to his 1992 election to the Legislative Yuan. Within the DPP, Chou belonged to the New Era Institute faction. Chou was opposed to the selection of

Annette Lu Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as ...

as Chen Shui-bian's running mate for the 2000 presidential elections. During a portion of Chou's third legislative term, he served as DPP caucus convenor.

Controversy

Legal proceedings against Chou began in 1988, when Chen Sheng-hung accused Chou of taking NT$16 million in bribes from Chiaofu Construction Corporation. The case was appealed to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in 2003, which refused to hear the case, upholding a guilty verdict issued by the Taiwan High Court. The Supreme Court additionally placed travel restrictions on Chou to prevent him from leaving Taiwan. He resigned from the Legislative Yuan following the Supreme Court decision. Chou began serving his six-year prison sentence at Hualien Prison in February 2003. Chou's first application for parole was rejected in January 2005. Weeks later, a second application was submitted, and subsequently approved in June 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chou, David 1954 births Living people New Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 2nd Legislative Yuan Members of the 3rd Legislative Yuan Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan Taiwanese politicians convicted of bribery Soochow University (Taiwan) alumni Taipei City Councilors