Liao Cheng-hao (; 30 March 1946 – 31 January 2022) was a Taiwanese politician. Liao attended the

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imper ...

College of Law and served as deputy director-general of the

Government Information Office The Government Information Office, Executive Yuan (GIO; ) was a cabinet-level agency of the Executive Yuan of Taiwan (the Republic of China) in charge of promoting government policies and regulating domestic media. History In April 1947, the ...

and

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its leader is the Premier, who is appointed by the President of the Republic of China, and requires confirmation by the Legislative Yuan. Unde ...

before leading the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

's Investigation Bureau, starting in 1995. Lao was the first MJIB leader without experience in intelligence. During his tenure, MJIB solved several high profile cases, such as corruption on the part of . Liao was elevated to justice minister in 1996 and served until 1998. In his two-year tenure, Liao was well-regarded for confronting organized crime. His opposition to organized crime included refusal to attend 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 ...

's judicial committee meetings while

Lo Fu-chu Lo Fu-chu (; born 2 July 1943) is a former Taiwanese legislator and a self-described leader of the "Celestial Alliance" organized crime group. In the late 1990s and early 2000s he was known as the most notorious person involved with organized cr ...

, a lawmaker allegedly associated with gangs, was a committee member. As justice minister, Liao issued an ultimatum for gangs in Taiwan to disband. While Liao led the justice ministry, he pursued former

Chiayi County Council The Chiayi County Council (CYSCC; ) is the elected county council of Chiayi County, Republic of China. The council consists of 37 councilors lastly elected through the 2018 Republic of China local election on 24 November 2018. History The counc ...

speaker on a number of charges. Hsiao began avoiding authorities in 1996, and only agreed to face the police in September 1999, more than a year after Liao had stepped down from the justice ministry. Liao's exit from the Ministry of Justice was later attributed to his interference with the Investigation Bureau. Reflecting on the influence of criminals in Taiwanese politics in 2010, Liao stated that the group gained prominence in the late 1980s, in the waning years of the

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

period, and peaked in the 1990s, when a third of county and municipal councilors had criminal backgrounds. In September 1999, Liao claimed that

Vincent Siew Vincent C. Siew or Siew Wan-chang (; born 3 January 1939) is a Taiwanese politician who served as the Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2008 to 2012. He was the first Taiwanese-born Premier of the Republic of China and former ...

had pressured him to wiretap phones illegally and advocated for the ministry to perform other illegal acts. When

Lien Chan Lien Chan (; born 27 August 1936) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government from 1990 to 1993, Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to ...

and Siew formed the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

ticket for the 2000 presidential election, Liao refused to support the party. Instead, Liao backed independent candidate

James Soong James Soong Chu-yu (born 16 March 1942) is a Taiwanese politician. He is the founder and current Chairman of the People First Party. Born to a Kuomintang military family of Hunanese origin, Soong began his political career as a secretary to ...

. He formally withdrew and became a political independent, but by 2001, both the People First Party and Kuomintang expressed support for Liao to run for Taipei County Magistrate. The

Pan-Blue Coalition The pan-Blue coalition, pan-Blue force or pan-Blue groups is a political coalition in the Republic of China (Taiwan) consisting of the Kuomintang (KMT), People First Party (PFP), New Party (CNP), Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU), and Yo ...

later chose

Wang Chien-shien Wang Chien-shien (; born 7 August 1938) is a Taiwanese politician who is the founder of the New Party. He was finance minister of the Republic of China from 1990 to 1992 and is the chairman of the Chinese Management Association (CMA) (since 199 ...

as a fusion candidate, and he lost to

Su Tseng-chang Hope Su Tseng-chang (; born 28 July 1947) is a Taiwanese politician serving as premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2019, and previously from 2006 to 2007. He was the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in 2005 and from 201 ...

. In April 2005, Liao regained his Kuomintang membership to run in the party primary for Taipei magistrate. The party nominated

Chou Hsi-wei Chou Hsi-wei (, born 11 March 1958) Taiwanese politician. He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1999 to 2005. He then served as Taipei County Magistrate from 2005 to 2010. Chou worked for James Soong and was a member of Soong's People F ...

, who won the magistracy. After withdrawing from politics, Liao established the Tosun Public Interest Foundation to help youth and former prisoners, and advocated for improvement in

Cross-Strait relations Cross-Strait relations (sometimes called Mainland–Taiwan relations, or Taiwan-China relations) are the relations between China (officially the People's Republic of China) and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China). The relationship ...

, focusing on legal and religious aspects. Liao died at in

Beitou Beitou District is the northernmost of the twelve districts of Taipei City, Taiwan. The historical spelling of the district is Peitou. The name originates from the Ketagalan word ''Kipatauw'', meaning witch. Beitou is the most mountainous a ...

, Taipei, on 31 January 2022, at the age of 75.

References

1946 births 2022 deaths National Taiwan University alumni Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Chiayi County Taiwanese Buddhists Taiwanese Ministers of Justice 20th-century Taiwanese politicians Taiwanese founders {{Taiwan-KMT-politician-stub

See also

References