Yen Kuan-heng
Taiwanese politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yen Kuan-heng (Chinese: 顏寬恆; pinyin: Yán Kuānhéng; born 14 September 1977) is a Taiwanese politician. He was elected to the Legislative Yuan from Taichung in 2013, to replace his father Yen Ching-piao in office. Yen lost reelection to Chen Po-wei in 2020, and returned to office in 2024.
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Yen Kuan-heng | |
|---|---|
顏寬恆 | |
Yen in 2025 | |
| Member of the Legislative Yuan | |
| Assumed office 1 February 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Lin Ching-yi |
| Constituency | Taichung II |
| In office 1 February 2013 – 31 January 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Yen Ching-piao |
| Succeeded by | Chen Po-wei |
| Constituency | Taichung II |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 September 1977 |
| Party | Kuomintang (since 2012) |
| Parent | Yen Ching-piao (father) |
| Relatives | Yen Li-ming (sister) |
| Education | Chienkuo Technology University (BS) Chung Hua University (MPA) Dominican University of California (MBA) |
Education
Yen graduated from Chienkuo Technology University and earned a Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) from Chung Hua University. He then completed graduate studies in the United States at the Dominican University of California, where he earned a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.).[1]
Political career
Yen Kuan-heng helped run his father's first legislative campaign in 2001,[2] and worked as the elder Yen's legislative assistant.[3] Yen Ching-piao was sentenced to prison in November 2012 and expelled from the Legislative Yuan, necessitating a by-election for Taichung 2.[4][5] Chen Shih-kai was named the Democratic Progressive Party candidate days before the Kuomintang announced its support of Yen Kuan-heng.[6][7] The by-election was held on 26 January 2013, with Yen winning by 1,138 votes.[8][9] The Kuomintang nominated Yen for a second term over fellow party member Chi Kuo-tung in the 2016 legislative elections, and Yen won again.[10] In March 2016, Yen joined the Parliamentary Transparency Alliance, a smaller group of Kuomintang legislators within the Ninth Legislative Yuan.[11] Yen narrowly lost reelection to Taiwan Statebuilding Party candidate Chen Po-wei in 2020.[12] Following a successful bid to recall Chen from office in October 2021, a by-election was scheduled for 9 January 2022.[13] The Kuomintang formally nominated Yen as its candidate for the by-election on 9 November 2021.[14] French-born Taiwanese director Jean-Robert Thomann filmed the documentary Taiwan, Chronicle of a Threatened Democracy, about the by-election, which Yen lost to Lin Ching-yi.[15] Yen unseated Lin in the 2024 legislative election.[16]
During the 2021 by-election, Yen was investigated by the Taichung District Prosecutor’s Office, which found that his house in Shalu District was illegally built on state-owned land.[17] The resulting probe additionally discovered that Yen had illicitly received NT$1.08 million in public funds, by having Lin Chin-fu claim to be Yen's legislative aide.[18] In July 2024, the Taichung District Court found that Yen violated Article V of the Anti-Corruption Act, and was guilty of forgery, and sentenced him to a combined prison term of eight years and four months.[19] The Taichung High Court ruled on Yen's appeal in September 2025, and upheld his sentence.[20][21]
