Chung Shao-ho (Chinese: 鍾紹和; pinyin: Zhōng Shàohé; born 11 January 1956) is a Taiwanese politician who served in the Legislative Yuan from 1999 to 2012.
Chung served five consecutive terms in the legislature from 1999 to 2012, representing Kaohsiung County.[2][3] From 2000 to 2007, Chung was a member of the People First Party.[4][5] In 2001 he was named the PFP candidate for the Kaohsiung County magistracy.[6] Chung then withdrew and retained his legislative seat in a reelection bid after allegations of vote-buying were heard by the Kaohsiung District Court.[7][8] In 2005, Chung again declared his candidacy for the Kaohsiung magistracy, representing the People First Party.[9] In the 2012 legislative elections, while running as a Kuomintang candidate,[10] Chung was investigated for electoral fraud and indicted on charges of bribery.[11][12][13]
Legislative actions and political stances
In 2000, Beijing applied for the 2008 Olympic Games, and, before confirmation of the bid, proposed that Taipei help plan the event, a move Chung supported.[14]
He was involved in two fights on the floor of the Legislative Yuan in November 2003.[15][16] In his second legislative term, Chung led the People First Party caucus.[17][18] He supported a referendum law that barred the consideration of Taiwanese sovereignty.[19] The Referendum Act was passed in December 2003, and the first question put to referendum in March 2004 regarded the state of cross-strait relations.
He rejected a blanket ban on indoor public smoking discussed in November 2006, as he believed such a regulation would harm businesses.[20] In March 2008, Chung was named a co-convenor of the Sanitation, Environment, Social Welfare and Labor Committee alongside Hsu Shao-ping.[21] Chung supported amendments to the Labor Standards Act proposed in April, raising the mandatory retirement age to 65, but also said early retirement could still remain an option for some.[22] Later that month, Chung threatened to sue Citizen Congress Watch for handing him a bad review.[23] He opposed the Executive Yuan's amendment to the Local Government Act in December 2009, which sought to cut down on the number of elected officials in special municipalities.[24] In October 2010, when China proposed military talks with Taiwan, Chung argued for moving Republic of China Armed Forces personnel away from Kinmen and Matsu as a show of goodwill.[25] He was active in legislative discussions about agriculture. Chung supported an increased agricultural subsidy of NT$10,000, over an Executive Yuan-backed NT$316.[26][27][28] Chung opposed economic limits on eligibility for the subsidy, and the Executive Yuan sought to determine that status based on income or real estate value.[29] The agricultural pension amendment was passed eventually, and excluded the value of residential homes in granting subsidies worth NT$7,000.[30]
