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You Si-kunMLY
游錫堃
Official portrait, 2023
12th President of the Legislative Yuan
In office 1 February 2020 – 1 February 2024
Vice President	Tsai Chi-chang
Preceded by	Su Jia-chyuan
Succeeded by	Han Kuo-yu
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office 1 February 2020 – 2 February 2024
Succeeded by	Wang Cheng-hsu
Constituency	Party-list
11th Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party
In office 15 January 2006 – 21 September 2007
Secretary General	Lin Chia-lung
Preceded by	Annette Lu (acting)
Succeeded by	Chen Shui-bian
18th Premier of Taiwan
In office 1 February 2002 – 1 February 2005
President	Chen Shui-bian
Vice Premier	Lin Hsin-yi Yeh Chu-lan
Preceded by	Chang Chun-hsiung
Succeeded by	Frank Hsieh
20th Vice Premier of Taiwan
In office 20 May 2000 – 27 July 2000
Premier	Tang Fei
Preceded by	Liu Chao-shiuan
Succeeded by	Chang Chun-hsiung
7th Magistrate of Yilan
In office 20 December 1989 – 20 December 1997
Preceded by	Chen Ding-nan
Succeeded by	Liu Shou-ch'eng
Member of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly
In office 20 December 1981 – 20 December 1989
Constituency	Yilan County
Personal details
Born	(1948-04-25) 25 April 1948 (age 76) Dongshan, Taipei County, Taiwan
Political party	Democratic Progressive Party (1986–present)
Other political affiliations	Chinese Youth Party (1966–1975)
Spouse	Yang Pao-yu
Education	National Chung Hsing University Tunghai University (BA)

You Si-kun (Chinese: 游錫堃; born 25 April 1948), 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. He led the DPP as chairman from 2006 to 2007 and served as Premier from 2002 to 2005.

Personal background

Born in Taihe Village (太和村), Dongshan Township, Yilan County, You was raised in a poor tenant farming family. While he was a 13-year-old student at Taiwan Provincial Yilan High School, his house was destroyed by flood waters during typhoon Pamela and his father died of tuberculosis in the same year. As a result, he quit junior high school to work full-time on his family farm.

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. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in politics in Tunghai University in 1985 at the age of 37.

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.

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.

He was the chief spokesman for the DPP campaign in the 2000 presidential election. With Chen Shui-bian's election to the presidency, he was appointed Vice Premier under Premier Tang Fei.

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.

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.

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.

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.

On 15 January 2006 he was elected chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party with 54% of the vote.

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.

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. 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. On 2 July 2012, all three were acquitted of all charges.

2014 New Taipei City mayoralty election

On 29 November 2014, You lost the New Taipei City mayoralty election to his opponent Eric Chu of the Kuomintang.

2014 New Taipei City Mayoral Election Result
No.	Candidate	Party	Votes	Percentage
1	You Si-kun	DPP	934,774	48.78%
2	Li Chin-shun (李進順)	Independent	22,207	1.16%
3	Eric Chu	KMT	959,302	50.06%

Later political career

You was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 2020, securing an at-large seat on behalf of the Democratic Progressive Party. He was elected President of the Legislative Yuan on February 1, 2020, defeating Kuomintang lawmaker Lai Shyh-bao and succeeding Su Jia-chyuan. Speaking at the 2020 Taipei Traditional Chinese Medicine International Forum on July 5, 2020, You Si-kun suggested renaming Chinese medicine as "Taiwanese".

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.

Personal life

You is the founder of Kavalan Journal (噶瑪蘭雜誌), which is named after the Kavalan Taiwanese aborigines.

He married Yang Pao-yu in 1978, with whom he has two sons. His mother, Huang Shou-chu, died in December 2002.

Notes

1. Acting by Chai Trong-rong from 14 March 2007 to 8 May 2007

References

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v t e Heads of government of the Republic of China
Premiers of Cabinet	Tang Shaoyi Lu Zhengxiang Zhao Bingjun Duan Qirui* Xiong Xiling Sun Baoqi*
Secretaries of State	Xu Shichang Lu Zhengxiang*
Premiers of State Council	Duan Qirui Wu Tingfang* Li Jingxi
Premiers of State Council	Duan Qirui Wang Daxie* Wang Shizhen* Qian Nengxun* Gong Xinzhan* Jin Yunpeng Sa Zhenbing Yan Huiqing* Liang Shiyi Zhou Ziqi* Wang Chonghui* Wang Zhengting* Zhang Shaozeng Gao Lingwei Sun Baoqi Vi Kyuin Wellington Koo* Huang Fu* Xu Shiying Jia Deyao* Hu Weide* Du Xigui* Pan Fu
Presidents of Executive Yuan (Mainland China)	Tan Yankai T. V. Soong Chiang Kai-shek Chen Mingshu Sun Fo Wang Jingwei H. H. Kung Zhang Qun Weng Wenhao He Yingqin
Presidents of Executive Yuan (Taiwan)	Yan Xishan Chen Cheng Yu Hung-chun Yen Chia-kan Chiang Ching-kuo Sun Yun-suan Yu Kuo-hwa Lee Huan Hau Pei-tsun Lien Chan Vincent Siew Tang Fei Chang Chun-hsiung Yu Shyi-kun Frank Hsieh Su Tseng-chang Liu Chao-shiuan Wu Den-yih Sean Chen Jiang Yi-huah Mao Chi-kuo Chang San-cheng Lin Chuan Lai Ching-te Su Tseng-chang Chen Chien-jen Cho Jung-tai
*acting

v t e Vice premiers (vice presidents of Executive Yuan) of the Republic of China
Feng Yuxiang T. V. Soong Chen Mingshu T. V. Soong H. H. Kung Chang Ch'ün H. H. Kung Weng Wenhao Wang Yun-wu Ku Meng-yu Chang Li-sheng Wu Tiecheng Chia Ching-teh Zhu Jiahua Chang Li-sheng Huang Shao-ku Wang Yun-wu Yu Ching-tang Huang Shao-ku Chiang Ching-kuo Hsu Ching-chung Chiu Chuang-huan Lin Yang-kang Lien Chan Shih Chi-yang Hsu Li-teh Chiang Hsiao-yen Liu Chao-shiuan Yu Shyi-kun Chang Chun-hsiung Lai In-jaw Lin Hsin-i Yeh Chu-lan Wu Rong-i Tsai Ing-wen Chiou I-jen Chang Chun-hsiung* Paul Chiu Eric Chu Li-luan Sean Chen Jiang Yi-huah Mao Chi-kuo Chang San-cheng Woody Duh Lin Hsi-yao Shih Jun-ji Chen Chi-mai Shen Jong-chin Cheng Wen-tsan Cheng Li-chun
* acting

• 20th-century Taiwanese politicians
• 1948 births
• Taiwanese political party founders
• Living people
• Democratic Progressive Party chairpersons
• Premiers of the Republic of China on Taiwan
• Vice premiers of the Republic of China on Taiwan
• Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent
• Tunghai University alumni
• Magistrates of Yilan County, Taiwan
• Recipients of the Order of Brilliant Star
• Heads of government who were later imprisoned
• Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan
• Members of the 10th Legislative Yuan
• Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan