Yang Fu-mei (; born 1942) is a Taiwanese politician.

Education

Yang, a

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

native, studied pharmacology at

Kaohsiung Medical University The Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU; ) is a private medical school located in Sanmin District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. History The university was originally established as Kaohsiung Medical College in 1954 by the former mayor of Kaohsiung City, Ch ...

before earning a master's degree in nutrition at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in the United States.

Political career

She was a member of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, before serving as a member of 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 ...

, representing overseas Chinese on behalf of the People First Party. During her tenure on the Fifth Legislative Yuan, Yang was critical of

Twu Shiing-jer Twu Shiing-jer (; born 17 June 1951) is a Taiwanese epidemiologist, physician, and politician. He was the minister of the Department of Health from 2002 to 2003 and later served in the Legislative Yuan from 2008 to 2012. He was the Mayor of ...

, and underwent a disciplinary review in 2003 because she was absent for a vote to consider postponement of confirmation for new Justices of the Constitutional Court. Though Yang originally planned to go on a 2004 European junket led by

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 ...

colleagues, to advocate for Taiwan's participation in the

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 ...

, she later chose not make the trip. In 2011, Yang and her husband

Kao Tsu-min Kao Tsu-min (; born 1939) is a Taiwanese physician and politician. Kao is a native of Yunlin County. After graduating from Kaohsiung Medical University, he pursued further study in physiatry at New York University. Kao practiced medicine in the Un ...

led a petition to convince People First Party chairman

James Soong Soong Chu-yu (; born 30 April 1942), also known by his English name James Soong, is a Taiwanese political scientist and politician who is the founder and chairman of the People First Party. Soong was the first and only elected governor of Taiw ...

to run in the

2012 Taiwanese presidential election Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 14 January 2012. The election was held concurrently with 2012 Taiwanese legislative election, legislative elections. It was the fifth direct election for the President of the Republic of China. Prior ...

Controversy

After Twu Shiing-jer was accused of sexual harassment in 2002, he filed a lawsuit against several of the accusers for libel, and attempted to have Yang listed as a defendant. Yang was one of eight incumbent and former legislators indicted on charges of corruption in 2008, for allegedly accepting bribes from the Taiwan Dental Association in her endorsement of the 2003 Oral Healthcare Act. The Taipei District Court ruled in October 2010, that none of the accused were guilty. The decision was reversed by the Taiwan High Court in September 2011, which sentenced Yang to seven years and two months imprisonment, and additionally suspended her civil rights for three years. Upon appeal, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ordered a retrial of the case, which occurred in March 2015. The retrial found six of the eight defendants, including Yang, not guilty, and a further appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed in March 2016. During the 2014 Taipei mayoral election, television host commented on allegations of forced organ harvesting against physician and independent candidate

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 ...

, additionally making statements about Yang and Kao. The former legislators filed a lawsuit against Tsai and network executives in 2015. The first ruling held that there was insufficient evidence for Tsai's comments harming the reputations of Yang or Kao. The Taiwan High Court ordered Tsai to pay compensation to Yang and Kao in 2017, after considering other comments that Tsai had made about them.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Fu-mei 1942 births Living people Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan People First Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan Kaohsiung Medical University alumni Columbia University alumni Taiwanese expatriates in the United States Taiwanese politicians convicted of corruption Taiwanese politicians convicted of bribery 20th-century Taiwanese physicians Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Kaohsiung Spouses of Taiwanese politicians