Lai Chin-lin (; born 27 January 1962) is a Taiwanese politician. He was elected to the National Assembly in 1991 and served until 1999, when he took office as a member of 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 v ...

. He left the Legislative Yuan in 2004 and became vice minister of the

Council of Labor Affairs The Ministry of Labor (MOL; ) is a ministry of the Republic of China (Taiwan) representing opinions of employees, political and academic circles to review labor policies, laws and regulations, as well as related projects and programs in Taiwan. MO ...

Activism

Lai earned a bachelor's degree in political science from National Taiwan University, where he met Liu Yi-te and

Lee Wen-chung Lee Wen-chung (; born 20 June 1958) is a Taiwanese politician who served in the National Assembly (Republic of China), National Assembly from 1992 to 1999, then in the Legislative Yuan until his resignation in 2006. Early life Lee was born to a p ...

. The trio advocated for direct elections for student body president and the end of censorship in school publications, forming a student association that was later suspended by administrators. After graduating from NTU, Lai contributed to the labor and tangwai movements.

Political career

In interviews, Lin credited the end of official relations between Taiwan and the United States and the Kaohsiung Incident, both of which occurred in 1979, for increasing his interest in politics. Lee was elected to the National Assembly twice in 1991 and 1996, representing the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...

. He subsequently ran for a seat on the

in 1998, and won. During his first term on the Legislative Yuan, Lai took an active role in proposing relief measures following the

1999 Jiji earthquake The Chi-Chi earthquake (later also known as the Jiji earthquake) (), also known as the great earthquake of September 21 (), was a 7.3 ML or 7.7 Mw earthquake which occurred in Jiji (Chi-Chi), Nantou County, Taiwan on Tuesday, 21 Se ...

, and called for attention to the mental health of earthquake survivors. While serving on the Legislative Yuan, Lai was also president of the Taiwan Children's Rights Association. As a lawmaker and president of the association, he pushed the Executive Yuan to report on children's rights, child abuse, and child welfare. Lai frequently supported a range of environmental causes, and was known for his opposition to nuclear energy. Lai often spoke out against the

Longmen Nuclear Power Plant The Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant (), formerly known as Gongliao and commonly as the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (), is an unfinished nuclear power plant in New Taipei City, Taiwan. It consists of two ABWRs each of 1,300 MWe net. It is owned by ...

project. In 2000, Lai co-authored a report advising against the use of nuclear energy, and, later that year, discussed with American scientists the risks of nuclear technology. Lai was nominated for a second term on the Legislative Yuan in 2001, and won reelection as a DPP candidate. In 2002, Lai co-founded the Taiwan Renewable Energy Industry Promotion Association to advocate for use and research into sources of renewable energy. During Lai's second term, Lai helped write the Mass Layoff Protection Law. He also supported stronger ties between Liberia and Taiwan. Lai ended his 2004 legislative campaign during the party primary stage, and in June was named vice minister of the

, where he served through the end of 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lai, Chin-lin 1962 births Living people Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Yunlin County New Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan National Taiwan University alumni Taiwanese anti–nuclear power activists Taiwanese environmentalists Children's rights activists Government ministers of Taiwan