Ker Chien-ming (; born 8 September 1951) is a Taiwanese politician and former dentist who serves as minority leader in 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 ...

. From 2016 to February 2024, he was the majority leader, after 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 ...

won a majority of seats in the Legislative Yuan for the first time.

Early life and education

Ker was born in

Hsinchu Hsinchu (, ), officially Hsinchu City, is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan that is not a special municipality, with estimated 450,655 inhabitants. Hsinchu is a coastal city bordering the Taiwan ...

. His father, Ke Ziyu (1917–2010), was a scholar of Chinese poetry in the city. After graduating from National Hsinchu Senior High School, Ker studied

dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...

at Chung Shan Medical University and graduated with his bachelor's degree in dental science. He later earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

(M.B.A.) from National Chiao Tung University.

Political career

Ker is a founding member of the

and was first elected to the

in 1992. He represented Hsinchu district from 1993 to 2008, and again starting in 2016. From 2008 to 2016 and again from 2020, Ker was elected via

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

. On 17 August 2022, in the aftermath of then

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United ...

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

's visit to Taiwan on 2–3 August, China blacklisted seven Taiwanese officials including Ker due to their alleged support for

Taiwanese independence The Taiwan independence movement is a political movement which advocates the formal declaration of an Independence, independent and Sovereign state, sovereign Taiwanese state, as opposed to Chinese unification or the status quo in Cross-Stra ...

. The blacklist bans them from entering

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

and the Special Administrative Regions of

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

, and restricts them from working with Chinese officials. Chinese state-run tabloid ''

Global Times The ''Global Times'' is a daily Chinese Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the ''People's Daily'', commenting on international issues from a Chinese nationalistic pers ...

'' labelled Ker and the six officials as "diehard secessionists".

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ker, Chien-Ming 1951 births Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Living people Tamkang University alumni Members of the 8th Legislative Yuan Members of the 9th Legislative Yuan Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan Hsinchu 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 Members of the 6th Legislative Yuan Members of the 7th Legislative Yuan Chung Shan Medical University alumni Taiwanese individuals subject to Chinese sanctions