Lin Tzou-yien (; born 28 October 1948) is a Taiwanese physician. He was the deputy Minister of Health and Welfare and served as acting Minister in October 2014 upon the resignation of

Chiu Wen-ta Chiu Wen-ta (; born 21 July 1950) is a Taiwanese physician, public health specialist, and neuroscientist. He was the Minister of Ministry of Health and Welfare (Republic of China), Health and Welfare (formerly the Minister of the Department of H ...

. Upon the appointment of Chiang Been-huang, Lin returned to his previous post until he was promoted again to head the ministry as part of

Lin Chuan Lin Chuan (; born 13 December 1951) is a Taiwanese economist, lawyer, and politician who served as the Premier of the Republic of China from 2016 to 2017. He was the first cabinet head under the Tsai Ing-wen government. Before his premiership ...

's incoming cabinet, which took office on 20 May 2016. Lin was succeeded in office by

Chen Shih-chung Chen Shih-chung (; born December 1952) is a Taiwanese politician. He served as Minister of Health and Welfare from 2017 to 2022, gaining wide recognition in 2020 as the public face of Taiwan's COVID-19 efforts. He was the Democratic Progressiv ...

on 7 February 2017.

Education and medical career

Lin earned his

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

(M.D.) from Taipei Medical College in 1973 and spent the 1980s abroad in the United States, serving fellowships at the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public research university in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. The university was founded in 1846 a ...

and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas. In 1984, he returned to Taiwan and began working for the Chang Gung hospital system. He was the superintendent of Chang Gung Children's Hospital until 2011.

ROC Department of Health Ministry

Later that year, Lin began working as a deputy minister of the Department of Health. In early April 2013 during the H7N9 flu virus outbreak, Lin gave a statement that expressed confidence in Taiwan's ability to develop its own vaccine against the virus without any collaboration with

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 ...

. Speaking at the

Central Epidemic Command Center The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC; ) is an agency of the (NHCC). It has been activated by the Government of the Republic of China, government of Taiwan for several disease outbreaks, such as the 2009 swine flu pandemic and the COVID-19 pan ...

, he further added that the ROC government had prepared a team to produce the vaccine with the collaboration with local manufacturers. After head health minister

resigned on 3 October 2014 to take responsibility for a food scandal involving tainted oil, Lin was named acting minister. He was subsequently replaced by Chiang Been-huang on 22 October. On 7 April 2016,

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 ...

's designated premier

named Lin Tzou-yien the next leader of the health ministry. He took office on 20 May 2016. At the

World Health Assembly The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 World Health Organization#Membership, member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of h ...

On 25 May 2016 in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, Lin delivered the 5-minute speech representing

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

. He called for the sound participation of Chinese Taipei in

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

. The speech was delivered fully in English without mentioning the word ''Taiwan'', although at one point he was referring to the "Taiwanese population".

References

Ministers of health and welfare of Taiwan Living people 1948 births Taipei Medical University alumni University at Buffalo alumni University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center alumni Taiwanese expatriates in the United States Taiwanese hospital administrators 21st-century Taiwanese politicians {{Taiwan-politician-stub