Yao Li-ming

Yao Li-ming
Diêu lập minh
Official portrait, 1996
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office 1 February 1996 – 31 January 2000
Constituency	Kaohsiung County
Personal details
Born	(1952-01-15)15 January 1952 Taipei,Taiwan
Nationality	Taiwan
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	New Party(1993–1997) Home Party(2007–2014)

Yao Li-ming(Chinese:Diêu lập minh;born 15 January 1952) is aTaiwanesepolitical scientist, politician, and political commentator.

Life and career

Yao is ofMainland Chinesedescent.He attended theAffiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal Universitybefore studying law atFu Jen Catholic University,and subsequently earned a doctorate in the subject atBielefeld University.Prior to serving in the Third Legislative Yuan, Yao hosted a political talk show for thePublic Television Serviceand was an adjunct instructor atNational Sun Yat-sen University.He represented Kaohsiung County in theLegislative Yuanfrom 1996 to 1999.After Yao withdrew from theNew Partyduring his legislative term,he remained in office as a political independent.Subsequently, Lin joined theChinese Culture Universityfaculty as a political scientist and professor of administrative management.Aside from academia, Yao resumed his media career as a political commentator.Later, Yao served as secretary-general of theHome Party,and was ranked second on the Home Party party list for the January 2008 legislative elections, but was not elected to the Legislative Yuan.He was also on the board of the Congress Watch Foundation.He later became chairman of the Congress Watch Foundation.Yao and former legislative colleagueChien Taled a commemoration of the1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacreheld atChiang Kai-shek Memorial Hallin June 2009.Yao was a founding board member of the Thinking Taiwan Foundation, established byTsai Ing-wenin 2012.Independent mayoral candidateKo Wen-jeoffered Yao the position of campaign director before the 2014 Taipei mayoral election,which Yao accepted.In his role as campaign manager, Yao filed a lawsuit againstLo Shu-leifor defamation, as Lo had claimed that Ko was involved in corruption, tax evasion, and money laundering while working as a physician atNational Taiwan University Hospital.Ko's campaign later alleged that opposing candidateSean Lien's campaign had wiretapped Ko's campaign office. In response, Lien's campaign managerAlex Tsaifiled a lawsuit against Yao and other members of Ko's campaign staff.After Ko won the Taipei mayoralty, Yao again returned to political commentary.Yao later appeared alongside Ko in a February 2015 rally organized to supportTsai's recall as a legislator.Prior to the 2018 Taipei City Council election, Yao opined that there were many swing voters in Taipei, negating the city as aKuomintangstronghold.Yao Li-ming split with Ko, and offered his support and services as a campaign manager toPasuya Yaoinstead.