You Si-kun (Chinese: 游錫堃; born 25 April 1948[2]), also romanized Yu Shyi-kun, is a Taiwanese politician. He was one of the founding members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and is known to be a strong advocate of Taiwan independence.[3] He led the DPP as chairman from 2006 to 2007 and served as Premier from 2002 to 2005.[4]
At 19, he enrolled in supplementary night school at Lotung Commercial and Vocational High School. He moved to Taipei to enroll in the supplementary Hsihu Commercial and Industrial High School. He studied international commerce at the Chihlee Institute of Technology and public administration at the National Chung Hsing University.[6] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in politics in Tunghai University in 1985 at the age of 37.[2]
Rise in politics
In 1981, he was elected a member of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly for Yilan County. You, Su Tseng-chang, and Hsieh San-sheng [zh] made the so-called "iron triangle" in the Assembly. The three were the only members ever to resign from the Assembly.[7][8]
From 1983 to 1984 he was the Tangwai Secretary-General. He became Convener of Tangwai National Election Backing Committee in 1986. As a founding member of the Democratic Progressive Party, he was a member of its Central Committee from 1984 to 1986 and its Central Standing Committee from 1986 to 1990 when he was elected the Magistrate of Yilan County, during which he was a member of the Educational Reform Committee of the Executive Yuan from 1994 to 1996. In his second term as magistrate, Environmental Protection (環保立縣), Tourism (觀光立縣), Information Promotion (資訊立縣), and Culture (文化立縣) were his four main goals in administration. After the completion of his two terms as magistrate in 1997, he was in 1998 appointed Chairman of the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation by then Mayor Chen Shui-bian. He resigned in 1999 to become Secretary-General of the Democratic Progressive Party.[9]
In July 2000, four construction workers were trapped by the rising floodwaters of Pachang Creek. As local and central government authorities squabbled for three hours over who would send out a rescue helicopter, the men drowned. In the public outrage that ensued, officials up the chain of command, including Premier Tang, tendered their resignations. Vice Premier You, who was also chairman of the Committee of Disaster Relief and Prevention, had his resignation accepted.[11]
Six months later, You rejoined the administration as Secretary-General to the Office of the President and served until his promotion to the premiership on 1 February 2002.[12]
Premiership
As premier, You defended the administration's position on the peace referendum and promoted a NT$610.8 billion arms procurement package in 2004. He caused some minor controversy when he used the designation "Taiwan, ROC" on an official visit to Honduras. Chen later said he preferred "Taiwan." In September 2004, he directed the government to refer to the People's Republic of China in official documents as simply "China" as opposed to "mainland China" or "Communist China" as was previously done in order to highlight a "separate Taiwanese identity." This move was not endorsed by the Presidential Office and the Mainland Affairs Council clarified that it would only apply to internal documents.[13]
You and his cabinet resigned en masse following the pan-Green Coalition failure to gain a majority in the 2004 legislative elections. In the ensuing cabinet shuffle, You was returned to the presidential office as secretary-general and succeeded as premier by Frank Hsieh.[14]
On 15 January 2006 he was elected chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party with 54% of the vote.[15]
You was a candidate for the DPP nomination for the 2008 presidential election, competing against Frank Hsieh, Su Tseng-chang, and Annette Lu. He finished third in the first round of the primary and subsequently withdrew along with the other trailing candidates, paving the way for the leading candidate Hsieh to win the nomination without a need for a second round which would have been based on opinion polling.[16]
Corruption charges and acquittal
On 21 September 2007, You, along with Vice President Annette Lu and National Security Office secretary-general Mark Chen, were separately indicted on charges of corruption by the Supreme Prosecutor's Office of Taiwan.[17] You was accused of embezzlement and special fund abuse of about US$70,000. He resigned his post as chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party later that day.[17] On 2 July 2012, all three were acquitted of all charges.[18]
You reelected to the Legislative Yuan in 2024, again via party list proportional representation, and ran for a second speakership term. He lost the office to Han Kuo-yu and subsequently resigned from the 11th Legislative Yuan.[25]
^"游錫堃委員". 立法院 (in Chinese). Taiwan. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
^甯其遠 (19 August 2021). "水牛伯專訪1／從求學到出社會 游錫堃人生「一直做大水」" (in Chinese). Taiwan. CTWANT. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
^"7號 游錫堃". Liberty Times Net (in Chinese). Taiwan. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
^黃欣柏 (1 February 2020). "昔「省議會三劍客」僅存2人 近40年後分掌立院、政院" (in Chinese). Taiwan. Liberty Times Net. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
^曾盈瑜 (21 November 2019). "澄清與蘇貞昌沒心結 游錫堃：我們在省議會是鐵三角" (in Chinese). Taiwan. Apple Daily. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
^"游錫堃 先生". 行政院全球資訊網 (in Chinese). Taiwan. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
^"游錫堃：八掌溪事件4條人命我就下台了!" (in Chinese). Taiwan News. 4 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
^"副總統主持總統府新任秘書長游錫堃交接典禮". Office of President Republic of China (Taiwan) (in Chinese). Taiwan. 6 October 2000. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
^楊孟瑜 (20 August 2004). "台行政院長"台灣,ROC"言論引發議論" (in Chinese). BBC中文網. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
^楊孟瑜 (24 January 2005). "台灣內閣總辭改組" (in Chinese). BBC中文網. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
^王貝林 (10 April 2006). "《星期人物》政委林錫耀 政院幕後大推手" (in Chinese). Taiwan. Liberty Times Net. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
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