Liu Sung-pan | |
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劉松藩 | |
Member of the Legislative Yuan | |
In office 1 February 2002 – 8 September 2004 | |
Succeeded by | Alfred Chen |
Constituency | Republic of China (People First Party list) |
In office 1 February 1999 – 31 January 2002 | |
Constituency | Taichung County |
In office 1 February 1996 – 31 January 1999 | |
Constituency | Republic of China (Kuomintang party list) |
In office 1 February 1993 – 31 January 1996 | |
Constituency | Taichung County |
In office 1 February 1990 – 31 January 1993 | |
Constituency | Taiwan 6th ( Taichung County) |
In office 1 February 1973 – 31 January 1990 | |
Constituency | Taiwan 3rd ( Taichung City, Taichung County, Changhua County, Nantou County) |
Vice President of the Legislative Yuan | |
In office 2 December 1990 – 31 December 1991 | |
Preceded by | Liang Su-yung |
Succeeded by | Shen Shih-hsiung |
President of the Legislative Yuan | |
In office 17 January 1992 – 1 February 1999 | |
Preceded by | Liang Su-yung |
Succeeded by | Wang Jin-pyng |
Personal details | |
Born | Taikō, Taikō, Taichū Prefecture, Taiwan, Empire of Japan | 3 December 1931
Died | 18 November 2016 Los Angeles, California, United States | (aged 84)
Nationality | Taiwanese |
Political party | Independent (since 2004) |
Other political affiliations |
Kuomintang (until 1999) People First Party (2000–04) |
Occupation | Politician |
Liu Sung-pan ( Chinese: 劉松藩; pinyin: Liú Sōngfán; Wade–Giles: Liú Sūng-fán; 3 December 1931 — 18 November 2016) was a Taiwanese politician. He served as the President of the Legislative Yuan from 1992 to 1999. He was the Legislative Yuan's first Taiwan-born speaker and presided over a legislature entirely elected by residents of the Taiwan Area (after the retirement of the elderly mainland representatives in December 1991).
Liu founded a committee seeking Taiwan–United States relations in 1987. The group counted members of the US Congress and Legislative Yuan among its number. [1] [2] He was elected to the speakership of the Legislative Yuan in January 1992. Upon his confirmation, Liu became the first native Taiwanese to lead the legislature. [3] He was also the first to head a parliament entirely elected by residents of the Taiwan Area, as the elderly mainland representatives retired en masse at the end of 1991. [4] In 1998, during his tenure as legislative speaker, Liu used his status as the former chairman of Taichung Commercial Bank to broker a NT$1.5 billion loan to the Kuangsan Group, and in return he received a bribe of NT$150 million. [5] During the subsequent investigation, Liu's house was raided. [6] [7]
He left the Kuomintang in 1999, after having served two full elected terms as President of the Yuan. Liu then allied himself with James Soong's independent 2000 presidential campaign. [8] [9] After Soong's loss, Liu was named the leader of the New Taiwanese Service Team, an exploratory committee that preceded the formation of the People First Party. [10] After the end of Liu's speakership, he continued to lead Taiwan in negotiations with China and advocated for the nation to obtain membership in the World Health Organization. [11] [12] [13] Liu also backed the democratization of Myanmar and promoted United States–Taiwan relations. [14] [15]
The Taichung District Court convicted Liu for his role in the Kuangsan Group scandal in July 2003, sentencing him to five years imprisonment and NT$30 million fine. [16] [17] His final appeal was heard by the Taiwan High Court in September 2004. The THC handed Liu a four-year prison sentence and a NT$30 million fine. After the High Court's verdict was announced, Liu resigned his legislative seat. [18] At the time, Liu was at the Republican National Convention in the United States. While there, he suffered a heart attack and was not medically cleared to fly to Taiwan. [19] Though Liu had relinquished his PFP membership a day after his resignation from the Legislative Yuan, [20] the party offered to help him find medical treatment if he would serve his sentence in Taiwan. [21] Liu never acknowledged the proposal, and was subsequently listed as a fugitive in February 2007. [22] In the early 2010s, Liu was reported to have fled to China. [23] [24] [25] Later, he returned to the United States, and died in Los Angeles on 18 November 2016, aged 84. [26] [27] [28]