Hou Yu-ih

Hou Yu-ih (; born 7 June 1957) is a Taiwanese politician, criminologist, and former police officer who has served as the mayor of New Taipei since 25 December 2018. Previously, he served as Director-General of the National Police Agency from 2006 to 2008 and as acting mayor of New Taipei City from October 2015 to January 2016. He was the Kuomintang's official candidate for the 2024 Taiwanese presidential elections. He first joined the party during the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek.

Early life and education Hou was born on 7 June 1957, in Puzi, Chiayi County, where his family owned a pork stall. As a child, Hou aided the family business by catching and butchering wild pigs. He later recalled this his mother, Lyu Hsiu-lan, came from "simple and honest family" and "invested all her energy into her children." His father was a Taiwanese benshengren who was conscripted to work as an aircraft mechanic in Japan during World War II and then served in the Republic of China Navy alongside Lee Teng-hui. The senior Hou then fought in the Chinese Civil War for the Kuomintang before returning to Taiwan from Shanghai.

After graduating from National Chiayi Senior High School, Hou decided to pursue a career in law enforcement as a member of the Taiwanese police force. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "A study on sexual assault and homicide crimes in Taiwan" (Chinese: 台灣地區性侵害殺人犯罪之研究). It examined 42 sexual assault and murder cases in Taiwan from 1995 to 2004, and was completed under Tsai Dehui, the president of the university, and Huang Fuyuan, the dean of academic affairs.

Law enforcement career Upon his graduation from the undergraduate police academy, Hou was sent to the Taipei City Police Department. Hou obtained his first leadership role, as captain of the Taipei criminal police, in 1980. In 1998 Hou was named second in command of the CIB. He was given the concurrent post of Taoyuan County police chief in 2001 and promoted within the NPA in 2003, becoming the leader of the CIB. The next year, Hou was tasked with investigating the March 19 shooting incident, an assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian, a longtime friend.

Hou was named the director-general of the NPA in 2006, becoming the youngest leader of the police force at the time of his appointment. During his tenure, the NPA was criticized for its inadequate response to the 2006 protests led by Shih Ming-teh. Multiple Kuomintang politicians also wanted Hou to reopen the investigation on the 3-19 shooting incident. Arms dealer Tang Shou-yi, who had fled to Mainland China by August 2006, had recanted his confession, stating that it was coerced and therefore untrue. Hou was named the president of Central Police University in 2008 and was replaced at the NPA by .

Early political career

Hou originally joined the Kuomintang in 1974, but allowed his membership to lapse during his law enforcement career. Hou was recruited to join the Democratic Progressive Party in 2002. Eric Chu asked Hou to serve as deputy mayor of New Taipei City in 2010, and Hou rejoined the Kuomintang in 2013. Later, Chen Shen-hsien was appointed to the deputy mayorship. Hou was promoted from his previous position as deputy mayor on 20 October 2015, as Chu prepared for the 2016 presidential election. Chu lost the election to Tsai Ing-wen, and resumed mayoral duties on 18 January 2016.

Mayor of New Taipei (2018–)

Elections

2018 Hou resigned from the deputy mayorship on 28 February 2018, stating that he would contest the Kuomintang mayoral primary. On 6 April 2018, the KMT announced that Hou had won the primary.

2018 Kuomintang New Taipei City mayoral primary results Candidates Place Results Hou Yu-ih 55.596% Chou Hsi-wei 2nd 34.210% Ching Chieh-shou 3rd 10.194%Hou emerged as the winner of the 2018 New Taipei mayoral elections.

2022 On August 17, 2022, Hou confirmed that he would run for a second term as mayor of New Taipei.

2024 presidential election Prior to the 2024 presidential election, Hou was considered the favorite for the Kuomintang presidential primary. He was drafted by the Kuomintang on 17 May 2023 to be its nominee for the presidency.

On 15 November 2023, KMT and Taiwan People's Party leadership announced that they would field a single joint presidential ticket made up of Hou and TPP chairman Ko Wen-je. The order was to be determined by opinion polls and publicly announced on 18 November, but the parties were unable to reach an agreement on that date. Hou officially registered his candidacy with running mate Jaw Shaw-kong on 24 November 2023, ending the possibility of a joint ticket. Hou conceded the presidential election to Lai Ching-te on 13 January 2024. Shortly after Hou lost the presidential election, netizens began efforts to recall him from the New Taipei mayoralty.

Personal life Hou's firstborn son Hou Ni-wei died on 15 May 1992, in a tour bus fire, which killed 23 people. He and his wife Jen Mei-ling raised three daughters: Hou Yu-fan, Hou Ni-chia, and Hou Yu-chia.