Tsai Pi-ru (; born 11 March 1964) is a Taiwanese politician. She was a nurse and colleague of

Ko Wen-je Ko Wen-je ( zh, c=柯文哲; born 6 August 1959), also known by his nickname, Ko P, is a Taiwanese politician and physician who served as the Mayor of Taipei, mayor of Taipei from 2014 to 2022. He founded the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) in 201 ...

National Taiwan University Hospital The National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH; ) is a medical facility located in the Zhongzheng District of Taipei, Taiwan. It started operations under Japanese rule in Daitōtei (today's Dadaocheng) on 18 June 1895, and moved to its present ...

. After Ko was elected

Mayor of Taipei The mayor of Taipei is the head of the Taipei City Government and is elected to a four-year term. Until the election of Tsai Ing-wen, the office was seen as a stepping stone to the President of the Republic of China, presidency: presidents Lee Ten ...

in 2014, Tsai began her political career as Ko's chief of staff. In 2019, she became a founding member of the

Taiwan People's Party The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) is a centre-left political party in Taiwan. It was formally established on 6 August 2019 by Ko Wen-je, who served as its first chairman. The party considers itself as an alternative third party to both the De ...

led by Ko, and was elected to the 10th Legislative Yuan via party list proportional representation in 2020. Tsai resigned her legislative seat in 2022, and was replaced by

Cynthia Wu Cynthia Wu ( zh, t=吳欣盈, p=Wú Xīnyíng; also Wu Hsin-ying; born 18 May 1978) is a Taiwanese business executive and politician. She worked for subsidiaries of Merrill Lynch in the United Kingdom and the Shin Kong Group in Taiwan before s ...

Early life, education, and career

Tsai was born on 11 March 1964 in

Pingtung County Pingtung () is a County (Taiwan), county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county ...

. She graduated from

Meiho University Meiho University (MU; ) is an accredited, private university in Neipu Township, Pingtung County, Taiwan. It has nearly 8,000 students. MU is known for its nursing program. Meiho University offers undergraduate and graduate programs across a wid ...

with a degree in midwifery. Tsai also attended

Tamkang University Tamkang University (TKU; ) is a private university in Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It was founded in 1950 as a junior college of English. Today it is a comprehensive university with 11 colleges that serves nearly 25,000 students ...

's Management Information System Department on a part-time basis, completing a master's degree in 2019. Tamkang revoked Tsai's degree in 2022. Before pursuing politics, Tsai worked as a nurse at

, including over twenty years alongside surgeon

Political career

After Ko Wen-je was elected

mayor of Taipei The mayor of Taipei is the head of the Taipei City Government and is elected to a four-year term. Until the election of Tsai Ing-wen, the office was seen as a stepping stone to the President of the Republic of China, presidency: presidents Lee Ten ...

, Tsai joined his administration as chief of staff. She became an adviser to the

Taipei City Government The Taipei City Government is the municipal government of Taipei. History Taipei was known as Taihoku during Japan's rule of Taiwan, which started in 1895. Initially, the city was directly controlled by the Governor-General of Taiwan. In ...

in 2018. Tsai is a founding member of the

, established in August 2019. During the

2020 Taiwanese legislative election Legislative elections were held in Taiwan on 11 January 2020 to elect the 113 members of the Legislative Yuan. The elections were held concurrently with presidential elections. The term of the Legislative Yuan began on 1 February 2020. The Dem ...

cycle, Tsai commented on the TPP party list, but did not confirm her own placement on it. Eventually, Tsai ranked fifth on the party list and was seated to the 10th Legislative Yuan. In August 2022, Wang Hao-yu accused Tsai of plagiarizing her master's thesis. Tamkang University concluded an investigation into the allegations in October and revoked her degree. She posted a resignation letter to Facebook on 14 October 2022, and vacated her legislative seat on 17 October. Tsai was nominated by the Taiwan People's Party for the Taichung City Constituency I seat held by

Tsai Chi-chang Tsai Chi-chang (; born 16 April 1969) is a Taiwanese politician and member of the Legislative Yuan. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), he was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 2012 and served as deputy speaker from 2016 to 2024 ...

in the 2024 legislative election. Her legislative campaign was also supported by the Kuomintang. After Tsai Pi-ru lost the election, she was appointed an advisor to

Mayor of Taichung The Mayor of Taichung is the head of the Taichung City Government, Taiwan and is elected to a four-year term. The current mayor is Lu Shiow-yen of the Kuomintang since 25 December 2018. Titles of the Mayor List of mayors This list includes o ...

Lu Shiow-yen Lu Shiow-yen (; born 31 August 1961) is a Taiwanese politician and former television presenter. She is the incumbent mayor of Taichung since 25 December 2018. Education and early career Lu earned a bachelor's degree from National Chengchi Univ ...

, and resigned the position in December 2024 to run for the TPP central committee. Following Ko Wen-je's resignation as TPP chair on 1 January 2025, Tsai ran for party chair, but lost in a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

to acting chair Huang Kuo-chang, who won 8,903 votes against Tsai's 360 votes. Republished as:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsai, Pi-ru Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Taipei Taiwanese political party founders Taiwan People's Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Living people Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan 1964 births Taiwanese women nurses Taiwanese nurses 21st-century Taiwanese women politicians Members of the 10th Legislative Yuan Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Pingtung County Tamkang University alumni