Ma Wen-chun (; born 1 December 1965) is a Taiwanese politician. A member of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

, she has served 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 ...

since 2009.

Education

Ma received her bachelor's degree in pharmacy from

Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science (CNU; ) is a private university in Rende District, Tainan City, Taiwan. Its mission is to prepare professionals in the fields of pharmacy, health and management. Currently, there are 28 departments ...

and master's degree in management development from

Feng Chia University Feng Chia University (FCU; ) is a private research university in Taiwan, located in Taichung. It was named after Chiu Feng-Chia, one of the leaders of the military resistance against the Japanese invasion of Taiwan in 1895. Feng Chia Univer ...

Career

Ma has served in the

since 2009. She is on the legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee since 2020.

Controversies

In October 2023, she was publicly accused of attempting to hinder Taiwan's domestic submarine program by outing foreign individuals involved in the program and providing classified information on the program to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. After the head of the submarine program commented that an unspecified legislator had interfered with the program, Ma said on Facebook, "If you name me, I'll have to sue you"; she was then named by her legislative colleagues. DPP legislative candidate Justin Wu and political commentator Lee Zheng-hao filed suit against Ma, accusing her of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

, at the High Prosecutors' Office. Ma previously confirmed in a public post that her office mailed materials relating to the submarine program to the

Korean Mission in Taipei The Korean Mission in Taipei (; ) is the representative office of South Korea in Taiwan, functioning as a ''de facto'' embassy in the absence of diplomatic relations. Its counterpart is the Taipei Mission in Korea in Seoul. Unlike American In ...

in January 2022, but said she also passed them along to the

Ministry of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divide ...

and the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Investigation Bureau. If convicted, Ma could face a sentence of "not less than three years but not more than ten years." In December 2023, Ma was accused of illegally building a residential villa on protected farmland in Puli that is intended for agricultural use.

References

Living people Kuomintang Members of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan 1965 births Members of the 7th Legislative Yuan Members of the 8th Legislative Yuan Members of the 9th Legislative Yuan Nantou County Members of the Legislative Yuan 21st-century Taiwanese women politicians Members of the 10th Legislative Yuan Members of the 11th Legislative Yuan {{Taiwan-KMT-politician-stub