Jonathan Lin

Lin was born on May 14, 1977, in Keelung. His parents were politicians Lin Shui-mu [zh] and Hsu Shao-ping [zh].^[1][2] He attended Er Xin High School [zh] in Keelung.^[3]

Lin completed graduate and doctoral studies in the United States. He earned a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from Loyola Marymount University, a Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) from the University of Southern California, and his Doctor of Public Administration (D.P.A.) from the University of La Verne in La Verne, California, in 2009.^[4] His doctoral dissertation was titled, "Revitalizing Keelung Harbor: A study to improve competitiveness of an international port," and was completed under professor Susan Lomeli.^[5][6] After obtaining his doctorate, he conducted postdoctoral research at National Tsing Hua University.

In 2013, Lin considered running for mayor in Keelung,^[7][8] and backed a bid by the Port of Keelung for a Rubber Duck display.^[9] After George Hsieh rejected the Kuomintang nomination for the Keelung mayoralty in 2014,^[10] Lin supported the eventual nominee Hsieh Li-kung.^[11] Lin contested a Kuomintang party primary against Hau Lung-pin prior to the 2016 Taiwanese legislative election, necessitated after George Hsieh additionally declined to run for reelection to the Legislative Yuan.^[12] Lin was elected to the Keelung City Council in 2018, with the largest vote share in his district,^[3][2] and contested the body's deputy speakership election,^[13][14][15] winning the office due to a Kuomintang majority in the council.^[16] He won reelection in 2022, again leading his district in vote share.^[17][18] In July 2023, Lin accepted the Kuomintang's nomination in the Legislative Yuan's Keelung City Constituency, and faced Democratic Progressive Party candidate Cheng Wen-ting in the January 2024 Taiwanese legislative election.^[19] Lin replaced Tsai Shih-ying [zh] in the office.

In his first year as a legislator, Lin has commented on climate change policies,^[20] criticized the Constitutional Court for its 2024 ruling on the death penalty,^[21] urged reform of Taiwan's ship insurance system,^[22] proposed amendments to the All-out Defense Mobilization Readiness Act and the Public Officials Election and Recall Act,^[23][24] and supported a legislative motion stating the Republic of China's opposition to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758.^[25]

In 2025, Lin faced recall for, amongst multiple reasons, inciting parliamentary violence, lambasting civil servants and undermining national security, defaming civil groups that initiated the unseating campaign, and misogynistic behaviour.^[26] In May, Lin controversially said in an online political talk show that he believes the civic groups leading the 2025 Taiwanese mass electoral recall campaigns were "a collection of socially marginalized individuals."^[27] The bid was defeated by a majority of votes against and without reaching the necessary threshold of 75,995.