Sean Lien

Taiwanese politician

Sean Lien
Lien Sheng-wen

連勝文
Member of the Kuomintang's Central Standing Committee
Personal details
Born| 3 February 1970 (1970-02-03) (age 54)
Taipei, Taiwan
Political party| Kuomintang
Relations| Lien Chan (father)
Fang Yu (mother)
Lien Chen-tung (grandfather)
Lian Heng (great-grandfather)
Arlene Lien (sister)
Education| Fu Jen Catholic University (LLB)
Columbia University (LLM, JD)

In this Chinese name, the family name is  Lien.

Sean Lien or Lien Sheng-wen (traditional Chinese: 連勝文; simplified Chinese: 连胜文; pinyin: Lián Shèngwén; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Liân Sèng-bûn; Taiwanese: Liân sìng-bûn; born February 4, 1970) is a member of the Central Standing Committee of the Kuomintang of the Republic of China (Taiwan). He is co-founder of Evenstar Capital and he previously served as chairman of the Taipei Smart Card Corporation, the company which operates EasyCard.

## Family

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Sean Lien is the eldest son of Lien Fang Yu and Lien Chan, who served as the Chairman of the Kuomintang party and was the Vice President of Taiwan. He is the grandson of Lien Chen-tung,[1] and the great grandson of Lien Heng.[2] He has a brother and two sisters.[3][4] He is married to Patty Tsai.[5]

According to some sources, he was born in the United States of America;[6] others indicate that he was born in Taiwan.[7]

## Education

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Lien received a Bachelor of Laws from Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City, Taiwan.[8] He received a Master of Laws and a Juris Doctor from Columbia University in New York City. He was also an Eisenhower Fellow.[9][10]

## Early career

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Lien served in a senior management position at GE's Asia Pacific Capital Fund II[11][12] and as a vice president with an Investment Banking Group in Taipei. He is co-founder and senior advisor to the Hong Kong investment company Evenstar Capital.[13][14]

## Political career

[edit]

In 2008, Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-pin appointed Lien as chairman of Taipei Smart Card Corporation.[15] Lien resigned as Chairman of EasyCard Corporation at the end of 2009, citing health reasons.[16] Assessments of his performance during this brief tenure differ.[17][18] [19]

During the municipal election on 26 November 2010, Lien was shot in the face at close range while stumping for Chen Hung-yuan, a New Taipei City Council candidate in the Yonghe District of New Taipei City.[20] Lien's wound was minor and he recovered quickly.[21] Lien disagrees with Taiwan judiciary's conclusion that he was shot by mistake.[22]

KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou endorsing Sean Lien for Taipei Mayor in 2014 ROC local election.

On February 24, 2014, Lien announced his campaign for Taipei City mayor election;[citation needed] on April 19, 2014, he won the KMT mayoral primary.[23] On November 29, Lien lost the race to independent candidate Ko Wen-je.[24][25]

2014 Taipei City Mayoralty Election Result

No.  | Candidate  | Party  | Votes  | Percentage  |
1 | Chen Ju-pin (陳汝斌) | Self Help Party | 1,624  | 0.11%  |
2 | Chao Yen-ching (趙衍慶) | Independent | 15,898  | 1.06%  |
3 | Lee Hong-hsin (李宏信) | Independent | 2,621  | 0.18%  |
4 | Yong C. Chen (陳永昌) | Independent | 1,908  | 0.13%  |
5 | Neil Peng | Independent | 8,080  | 0.54%  |
6 | Sean Lien | KMT | 609,932  | 40.82%  |
7 | Ko Wen-je | Independent | 853,983  | 57.16%  |

## See also

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* Lien Chan

## References

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1. ^ Chang, Yun-ping (30 December 2003). "DPP targets the Lien family's wealth". Taipei Times. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
2. ^ Ku, Er-teh (6 February 2004). "The book that built the Lien family". Taipei Times. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
3. ^ Li, Lauly (12 July 2014). "Lien Hui-hsin's prosecution deferred for one year". China Post. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
4. ^ Yiu, Cody (3 June 2004). "DPP steps up pressure on Lien to explain his wealth". Taipei Times. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
5. ^ Shih, Hsiu-chuan; Loa, Lok-sin (13 November 2014). "Sean Lien's wife giving up Canadian citizenship". Taipei Times. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
6. ^ "Editorial: Fathers of the nation? - Taipei Times". 9 March 2000.
7. ^ Wei, Katherine. "Sean Lien embarks on a sacred quest to serve all in his beloved Taipei City". The China Post. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
8. ^ Chang, Rich (18 June 2014). "Sean Lien visited Playboy Mansion, ex-Ma lawyer says". Taipei Times. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
9. ^ Mo, Yan-chih (9 April 2009). "DPP pans EasyCard boss for taking study leave in US". Taipei Times. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
10. ^ Hung, Joe (10 November 2014). "Taipei mayor race has more at stake". China Post. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
11. ^ Hong, Caroline (2 December 2004). "'I do not work with China': Lien Chan". Taipei Times. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
12. ^ Chung, Lawrence (25 October 2014). "Taiwan mayoral challengers take fight for votes to KMT strongholds". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
13. ^ "Legislator disputes Sean Lien claim on leaving Evenstar". Taiwan News. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
14. ^ Sean Lien J.D. "Sean Lien: Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2014-06-23.[dead link‍]
15. ^ "Hau appoints KMT's Sean Lien EasyCard board member - Taipei Times". 22 August 2008.
16. ^ "Sean Lien resigns from EasyCard Corp. Chair - the China Post". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2014-12-14.
17. ^ "Defamation lawsuit filed by Sean Lien over EasyCard issue - Taipei Times". 11 January 2014.
18. ^ "CommonWealth Magazine". english.cw.com.tw. Archived from the original on 2014-12-14.
19. ^ "Sean Lien says he's giving up six weeks pay - the China Post". Archived from the original on 2014-12-14. Retrieved 2014-12-14.
20. ^ Chung, Lawrence (17 December 2010). "Sean Lien shooting not staged, prosecutors say". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
21. ^ Asia Times
22. ^ "Gunman who shot Sean Lien handed life sentence - Taipei Times". 25 October 2012.
23. ^ "Sean Lien wins KMT primary for Taipei mayoral election". Want China Times. Central News Agency. 20 April 2014. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
24. ^ "Taiwan PM quits after election losses". Al Jazeera. Retrieved Nov 30, 2014.
25. ^ "2014 Local Elections". Archived from the original on 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2014-12-24.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sean Lien.

* Sean Lien on Facebook