Shen Pao-yang ( zh, c=沈伯洋, hp=Shěn Bóyáng; born June 7, 1982), also known by his English name Puma Shen, is a Taiwanese

criminologist Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

, lawyer, and politician. As a member of 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 ...

(DPP), he was elected to 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 ...

and became a member on 1 February 2024. His areas of focus include human rights, criminal policy, youth issues, and

information warfare Information warfare (IW) is the battlespace use and management of information and communication technology (ICT) in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. It is different from ''cyberwarfare'' that attacks computers, software, and ...

Early life and education

Puma Shen was born on June 7, 1982, in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. His father, Shen Tu-cheng, runs a

car manufacturing The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, repairing, and modification of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by ...

company, Sicuens International Co., LTD., that was sanctioned by the Chinese government in 2025. After graduating from

Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School (CKHS; ), also historically known as Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, is a State school, public Secondary school, high school for boys located in Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan. The school was esta ...

, Shen studied law at

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

(NTU) and graduated with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(LL.B.) in 2004 as the

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

of his class. He then obtained a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

(LL.M.) in

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

from the NTU Graduate Institute of Law in 2008, completing a master's thesis titled, "Women, Subjectivity, and Criminal Law." In 2009, Shen completed military service in the

Republic of China Armed Forces The Republic of China Armed Forces ( zh, t=中華民國國軍) are the national military forces of the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC), which is now based primarily in the Taiwan Area but Republic of China (1912–1949), formerly governed Mai ...

and was ranked first out of 3,000 soldiers. During his time at NTU, Shen was influenced by his thesis advisor, Professor (). Lee frequently took his students to visit juvenile prisons and correctional institutions, providing post-guidance counseling for troubled youth. Concurrently, Shen began working part-time at a cram school, where he taught

to students preparing for the civil service exams, using the alias "Puma" (transliterated as in Chinese). After being a teacher for several years at the cram school, Shen left Taiwan to complete graduate studies in the United States at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, where he earned a second LL.M. degree from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...

. He then was awarded a full scholarship by the Taiwanese government to study

penology Penology (also penal theory) is a Academic discipline, subfield of criminology that deals with the philosophy and practice of various societies in their attempts to repress crime, criminal activities, and satisfy public opinion via an appropriate ...

at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

, where he also focused on

social ecology Social ecology may refer to: * Social ecology (academic field), the study of relationships between people and their environment, often the interdependence of people, collectives and institutions * Social ecological model, frameworks for depicting ...

urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes based on geographical location. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, city, ...

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

, and

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

. While studying for his doctorate, Shen was a student of economist

Peter Navarro Peter Kent Navarro (born July 15, 1949) is an American economist who has been the senior counselor for trade and manufacturing to U.S. president Donald Trump since January 2025. He previously served in the first Trump administration, first as ...

and historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom. He earned his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from Irvine in "

, law, and society" in 2017 under professors Henry Pontell and Elliott Currie. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "Local Ideologies and Punishment for White-Collar Crime: A Comparison Between the U.S. and China."

Early career

After returning to Taiwan, Shen served as a faculty member at the Institute of Criminology,

National Taipei University National Taipei University (NTPU; ), founded in 1949, is a national university in Taiwan. Before 2000, the university was named the College of Law and Business, National Chung Hsing University (). The university's main campus is in Sanxia Distr ...

(NTPU). He initiated research on China's

and cognitive operations towards Taiwan. He held various positions, including a member of the

Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee (CIPAS; zh, t=不當黨產處理委員會, p=Bùdāng Dǎngchǎn Chǔlǐ Wěiyuánhuì) is an independent government agency of Taiwan established in 2016 by the Act on Promoting Transitional Justic ...

(2018–2020), director of Taiwan's official media Central News Agency, vice chairman of the

Taiwan Association for Human Rights Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of Chin ...

, co-founder of the

civil defense Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: Risk management, prevention, mitigation, prepara ...

education institution Kuma Academy, and the (). To facilitate Taiwan's collaboration with countries worldwide to defend against unfavorable actions from China, Shen developed the ''China Index'', a metric illustrating the depth of influence exerted by the Beijing government on a particular country or region. In 2023, he was elected as a member of the

World Movement for Democracy World Movement for Democracy (WMD) is an international network of individuals and organizations with the stated goal of promoting democracy. History The World Movement was launched in February 1999 when the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) ...

Committee.

Legislative career

In November 2023, Shen was nominated by the Democratic Progressive Party as a candidate on the list of legislators for nationwide and overseas, ranking second. He successfully won the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

on January 13, 2024. He has expressed the necessity of legislative responses to various aspects of China's influence on Taiwan, including international law, propaganda warfare, and the need to address threats from Chinese agents and gray zone activities through legislation and national defense reforms. In May 2024, Shen with help from DPP colleagues climbed on top of a crowd of

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 ...

legislators during a brawl in the Legislative Yuan. He was dragged down by them and fell from the podium, requiring hospitalization. On October 15, 2024, he was sanctioned by the

Taiwan Affairs Office The Taiwan Affairs Office is an administrative agency under the State Council of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is responsible for cross-strait relations and sets and implements guidelines and policies related to Taiwan, which is cl ...

, who included him on a list of "Taiwan independence" diehards.

Personal life

Shen's wife, Tseng Hsin-hui ( zh, t=曾心慧, hp=Zēng Xīnhuì), is a lawyer who also teaches civil law at a cram school, using the pseudonym . The couple has not had biological children but adopted a girl nicknamed "

Mochi A mochi ( ; Japanese ) is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain Japonica rice, japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The steamed rice is pounded into paste and molded into the ...

" ().

References

External links

Puma Shen
Legislative Yuan
Puma Shen
National Taipei University Graduate School of Criminology
撲馬的網站
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shen, Puma 1982 births Living people Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Taipei Academic staff of the National Taipei University Democratic Progressive Party (Taiwan) politicians Criminologists Sociologists of law Taiwanese individuals subject to Chinese sanctions