Zeng Qinghong

Zeng Qinghong was the Vice-President of the People's Republic of China from 2003 to 2008. He became a member of the and member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee during the 2002 16th Party Congress. Although he was formally ranked fifth in the nine PSC members, Zeng's actual power was believed to be second only to President Hu Jintao. Since the retirement of his patron Jiang Zemin, Zeng was the primary force behind the party's organization and personnel.

Early life

A Hakka native of Ji'an, Jiangxi Province, Zeng was born in July 1939. He graduated from Beijing 101 Middle School and the Automatic Control Department, Beijing Institute of Technology. Like the eight other members of the 16th Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee, Zeng is an engineer, a specialist in automatic control systems. He joined the Communist Party of China in April 1960. Zeng belongs to the elite group of China's so-called Communist "Crown Prince Party," the children of veteran revolutionaries.

Zeng spent the early part of his career as a technician in the military defense industry in Beijing. He was sent down to do manual labor on PLA bases in Hunan and Guangdong during the Cultural Revolution. With the opening of the reform era, Zeng joined the State Development and Reform Commission in 1979 and then held a series of management positions in the state petroleum sector.

Climbing the ranks

In 1984, Zeng moved to the Shanghai Municipal Government, where he became a key ally of then-mayor Jiang Zemin. When Jiang was elevated to national leadership in Beijing following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, he brought Zeng Qinghong along as his trusted adviser.

As the Deputy director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee from 1989 to 1993, Zeng guided Jiang, an outsider to national politics, through the inner workings of the party, military and bureaucratic structure in Beijing. He promoted Jiang's leadership and thinking, broadened Jiang's network, and became Jiang's right-hand-man. Over the 1990s, Zeng consolidated control of party organs responsible for the appointment of cadres to important political positions. As head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee from 1999-2002, he strengthened Jiang's position by promoting members of the president's "Shanghai clique" to leading central and regional posts. He also helped advanced Jiang's guiding political philosophy the Three Represents.

Over the next decade, he acquired a fearsome reputation as Jiang's hatchet against rivals. In 1992 he helped bring down the powerful, elder PLA Generals Yang Shangkun and Yang Baibing, who threatened Jiang's support within the military. Then, he used an anti-corruption campaign to orchestrate the downfall of Beijing party secretary and Jiang's foe Chen Xitong.

On July 20, 1999, The Jiang Zemin regime started cracking down Falun Gong. On July 23, 1999, a person in charge of the CCP Organization Department made a statement to a People's Daily reporter and requested that the entire CCP should participate in the movement of persecuting Falun Gong. In January 2001, Zeng Qinghong spoke in the center group meeting of the CCP Organization Department and emphasized that Communist Party branches and departments at all levels should participate in the long-term combat with “Falun Gong”. On April 20, 2001, Zeng Qinghong spoke in the 4th Chinese Countryside "Three Represents" Important Thought Study and Education Conference and requested suppressing Falun Gong and reeducating Falun Gong practitioners. Zeng Qinghong’s speech was documented as the CCP Organization Department’s “Document No. 11 Distributed by the CCP Organization Department” and was sent to everywhere in the country for studying.

National politics

After the 16th Party Congress in 2002, he has been a member of the 16th CPC Central Committee, a member of its Political Bureau and of the , the Party's central decision making body, and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee.

On 6 June 2003, Zeng issued an order "not to play or sing 'The Internationale' in any provincial, city or county level party or party member meetings." The move further characterized China's movement away from the traditional norms of communist doctrine.

Although Jiang stepped down from the powerful Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China to make way for a younger "" of leadership led by Hu Jintao, Jiang will probably continue to wield significant influence with the help of Zeng. Due in large measure to Zeng's efforts, six out of the nine new members of the Standing Committee, including Zeng as well as Wu Bangguo, Jia Qinglin, Huang Ju, Wu Guanzheng, and Li Changchun are linked to Jiang's "Shanghai Clique" and considered his protégés. The 22-member Politburo is elected by the Party's central committee. Real power in Communist China lies with this committee, which works as a kind of inner cabinet and groups together the country’s most influential leaders. At the 2002 16th Party Congress, the Standing Committee was expanded to include nine members.

As Jiang Zemin reached the end of his term, many observers speculated that Jiang preferred Zeng Qinghong over Hu Jintao as his successor. But Hu prevailed in succeeding Jiang. Zeng subsequently became Vice-President in March 2003. During the SARS outbreak, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao took very strong and assertive action while Zeng and other Jiang loyalists receded to the background. Zeng was also expected to succeed Hu as Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission as a condition of Jiang's resignation from the chairmanship in favor of Hu. However, when Jiang stepped down on September 19, 2004, Xu Caihou and not Zeng replaced Hu.

Although known as a Jiang loyalist, most observers speculate that Zeng is more liberal than his mentor, and interested in political reform to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of party and state operations. Zeng remains an important figure within the highest ranks of party leadership. After the death of Zhao Ziyang, the former party secretary who lost power following the Tiananmen Square protests, Zeng worked as the intermediary between the Zhao's family and the senior party leadership. Zeng Qinghong has the head of the Ministry of State Security, known as China's top intelligence gathering bureau, report directly to him as his father was the former director of this agency. When Shanghai party chief Chen Liangyu was dismissed in September 2006, Zeng led the anti-corruption task force against the staunch Jiang ally. The move was seen as a mild rebuke to his links with Jiang.

In August 2007, Zeng headed a delegation of several high-ranking Central Government representatives at the celebrations at the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

During the Zeng was removed from the , making him ineligible for election to the . His removal, which is seen as his retirement because of age, means he will no longer serve on the Communist Party's secretariat and no longer oversee the party's organization. His Vice-presidency ended in March 2008 at the 2008 National People's Congress. Before his retirement, however, Zeng used his political strength to secure the elevation of Xi Jinping into the Politburo Standing Committee. Xi is now one of the two main candidates to succeed current president Hu Jintao.

Yu Shyi-kun

Yu Shyi-kun , a politician of the Democratic Progressive Party, is the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan. He previously served as Premier of the Republic of China from 2002 to 2005. As one of the founding members of the DPP, he is seen as a loyalist of President Chen Shui-bian.

Personal Background

Born in Taihe Village , , Yilan County, Yu was raised in a poor tenant farming family. When he was 13, his house was destroyed by flood waters during Typhoon Pamela, and his father died of tuberculosis in the same year. He quit junior high school to work full-time on his family farm.

At 19, he studied at the supplementary night school of the Lotung Commercial High School. He moved to Taipei to enroll in the supplementary school of the Hsihu Commercial and Industrial High School. He studied international commerce at the Chihlee Institute of Technology and public administration at the National Chunghsing 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. Yu, Su Tseng-chang, and Hsieh San-sheng 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 a Magistrate of Ilan County, during which he was a member of the Educational Reform Committee of the Executive Yuan from 1994 to 1996. In his second term of magistrate, Environmental Protection , Tourism , Information Promotion , and Culture were his four main goals in administration. The successful planning and execution let him ranked the first one of 27 mayors/magistrates in Taiwan. 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 . With Chen Shui-bian's election to the , 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 Yu, who was also chairman of the Committee of Disaster Relief and Prevention, had his resignation accepted.

Six months later, Yu rejoined the administration as Secretary-General to the Office of the President and served until his promotion to the premiership on February 1, 2002.

Premiership

As premier, Yu defended the administration's position on the 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.

Yu and his cabinet resigned ''en masse'' following the pan-Green Coalition failure to gain a majority in the . In the ensuing cabinet shuffle, Yu was returned to the presidential office as secretary-general and succeeded as premier by Frank Hsieh.

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

Yu was a candidate for the DPP nomination for the . But he could win only 22,211 of the 140,720 votes, and declared his withdrawal in favor of former premier Frank Hsieh, who won 62,849 votes.

Yu is the founder of ''Kavalan Journal'' , which is named after the Taiwanese aborigines. With Yang Pao-yu, whom he married in 1978, he has two sons.

Alleged corruption charges

On September 21, 2007, Yu was indicted on charges of corruption by the Supreme Prosecutor's Office of Taiwan. Yu faces charges of embezzlement and of using false receipts to write-off expenses totaling over US$70,000 from a special governmental account. He resigned his post as chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party later that same day. Vice President Annette Lu and National Security Office secretary-general Mark Chen were also indicted on corruption charges on the same day.

Yong Teck Lee

Datuk Yong Teck Lee is a former Sabah Chief Minister. He is currently the president of the Sabah Progressive Party, one of the component parties that make up the ruling Barisan Nasional government coalition in Malaysia. He is currenly married to Datin Stella Kong Yin Kiun and they have four children.

Political History

He is a lawyer by profession and entered politics in 1985, by joining the Parti Bersatu Sabah . He rose quickly to become party assistant information chief and Housing and Local Government Assistant Minister in the same year. He also served as Likas State Assemblyman before being appointed Assistant State Finance Minister and party deputy president in 1989.

He was soon made Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and MInister for Industrial Development one year later. In 1994, Yong resigned from PBS after a fallout with party president Joseph Pairin Kitingan over the selection of candidates for the general election that year.

One day after his resignation, Yong formed the Sabah Progressive Party , together with PBS dissidents including Geoffrey Yee Lung Fook, Tham Nyip Shen, Au Kam Wah, Tan Kit Sher, Joseph Chia Swee Chung and Philip Yong Chiew Lip. In 1996, Yong became Sabah's . He was appointed as such under the rotation system introduced by the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed. He held the post until 1998, where the post was taken over by Bernard Dompok, also under the rotation system. In 1999, Yong stood for election for the Gaya Parliamentary seat and won with a 4,117 vote majority. He garnered 156,315 votes to defeat Goh Chin Lok @ Johnny Goh of PBS and Hamzah Haji Abdullah of PAS.

However Yong was charged by the Elections Court in 2002 with commiting corrupt practices in the 1999 state elections, of which he subsequently lost his Likas state seat and Gaya parliamentary seat. It was found by the High Court in 1999 that the electoral roll for the state assembly district of Likas tainted with illegal voters. The results of that election was declared void. Following this, Yong served a five year ban for an election offence, but tried to make a comeback in the 2008 general election, but failed to wrangle the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat held by Parti Bersatu Sabah.

No-confidence vote against Prime Minister

On June 19, 2008, Yong Teck Lee declared that his party had lost confidence in Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He claimed that the party's two members of Parliament would support a motion for a vote of no confidence against the prime minister in the coming Parliament. Speculation is rife that the party will pull out of the Barisan Nasional coalition and defect to the Pakatan Rakyat alliance.

The Anti-Corruption Agency is currently investigating SAPP chief Datuk Yong Teck Lee over the alleged payment of RM5mil, from the sale of shares belonging to a state-owned company to his agents in 1996 when he was Sabah chief minister.

Yong Pung How

Yong Pung How, . He was the former Chief Justice of Singapore, serving from 1990 to 2006. Prior to his judicial career, he was a lawyer, banker and senior government official.

Early career

A Hakka, Yong received early education at the Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur, and at the Downing College, Cambridge, where he developed close friendships with two of his Singaporean schoolmates, Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his wife, Kwa Geok Choo. He was made an , and an Associate Fellow in his college years. Yong did exceptionally well, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1949, and with a Bachelor of Law in 1950. In 1970 he furthered his education with the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.

Upon graduation, he was called to the English Bar by the Inner Temple in 1951. He returned to his hometown as an an Advocate and Solicitor of Malaya in 1952, practising law as a partner at , a law firm founded by his late father until his retirement from practice in 1970.
During this period he also served in 1953 as the Arbitrator appointed by the Governor of Singapore to resolve the dispute between the Government and the General Clerical Services and Telecommunications workers. He was also admitted into the Singapore Bar in 1964 and appointed the role as Chairman of the Public Services Arbitration Tribunal in Malaya from 1955 to 1960, and as a Chairman of the Industrial Court in Malaysia between 1961 to 1967. He also had commercial powers invested upon him as as Chairman of the now-defunct Malaysia-Singapore Airlines between 1964 and 1969, and as Deputy Chairman, between 1966 and 1971.

Career as a banker

In 1971, Yong switched from law to finance, and formed Singapore International Merchant Bankers Limited and the Malaysian International Merchant Bankers in Malaysia serving as Chairman and Managing Director of both companies. At the same time he also served as a member of the Singapore Securities Industry Council from 1972 to 1981. He announced his retirement from the SIMBL and MIMB offices in 1976. That same year, Yong was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation .

He was seconded in 1982 by the Singapore Government to form and head the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation , and the Monetary Authority of Singapore as well. His experience in commercial banking proved to be invaluable to GIC as he effectively re-organized and streamlined the use of Singapore's foreign reserves.
He was also made Deputy Chairman of the Currency Commissioners, and Alternate Governor for Singapore of the International Monetary Fund.

In 1988, Yong became the first Chairman of the newly-formed , and established the Regional Speakers Programme which saw prominent speakers and intellectuals from around the region to share their understanding of the culture and politics of the countries in the region. This initiative greatly helped with the development of Singapore governance.

In Yong returned to the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation in 1983, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer before returning to law as a judge in 1989.

Chief Justice

On 28 September 1990, Yong was appointed the Chief Justice of Singapore, replacing Wee Chong Jin. During his first speech at the opening of the legal year, he announced the abolition of the traditional worn by judges and laywers, and the use of archaic terms of address for judges of the Supreme Court such as "My Lord" or "Your Lordship". He also made the move faster in processing cases during his tenure by introducing cutting-edge technology into the courtroom.

In 1991, there were about 2,000 lawsuits to be heard at the . A lawsuit could take several years to be heard. Some measures were introduced to resolve the problems which he described as an "embarrassing" state of affairs. When he left, it took only six months for the High Court to conclude a hearing.

Chief Justice Yong instituted the Night Courts in the Subordinate Courts, eliminating the need for members of the public to take time off work to attend court to answer to summonses for regulatory and minor offences. He also initiated the Justices' Law Clerk scheme, under which top law graduates from leading universities in the United Kingdom and the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law were actively recruited to the Singapore Legal Service.

He was succeeded by the Honourable Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, formerly Attorney-General of Singapore.

Honours

Yong was conferred conferred the in 1989 and the the Order of Temasek on 9 August 1999 - with a citation stating that “as Chief Justice since 28 September 1990, Justice Yong Pung How has made the Singapore Judiciary world class”.

On 14 July 2007, Yong was awarded the honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the Singapore Management University , in recognition of his contribution to Singapore's legal sector. Yong was appointed as the chairman of SMU School of Law's advisory board in March 2007.

Personal life

Yong married his wife, Wei Woo who is a graduate from the London School of Economics and they have a daughter Yong Ying-I, who is a Permanent Secretary at the .

Yong Nyuk Lin

Yong Nyuk Lin is a Singaporean politician. He was born in Seremban, Negri Sembilan, Malaysia and studied in Singapore. He was the general manager of Overseas Assurance Company when he resigned to stand for elections in 1959. He became the Member of Parliament for Geylang West. He was in Singapore's first cabinet and served as a minister from 1959 to 1976. His portfolios included , and Communications.

Yong Mun Sen

Yong Mun Sen . Born Yong Yen Lang in Kuching, Sarawak. He changed his name to Yong Mun Sen in 1922.

He is widely known as the Father of Malaysian Painting.

Yeh Chu-lan

Yeh Chu-lan , born 1949, is a politician and the former acting mayor of Kaohsiung.

Rise in politics

Yeh entered politics after her husband, Cheng Nan-jung, a dissident, chose to commit suicide rather than be arrested in 1989.

In 1992, she was the deputy convener of the Democratic Progressive Party Caucus in Legislative Yuan, and convener in 1995. From 2000 to 2002, Yeh was third in the Cabinet in her position as Minister of Transportation and Communications. She was Chairperson of the Council for Hakka Affairs from 2002 to 2004. In 2004 she was named Vice Premier, as well as Minister of Consumer Protection and Minister responsible for the Council for Economic Planning and Development. In late 2005, she became the first female acting mayor of Kaohsiung when then-mayor Frank Hsieh was appointed .

Yeh was amongst the frontrunners to serve as DPP Frank Hsieh's vice-presidential running mate, however former Premier and DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang was eventually chosen for the role. Yeh is still likely to play a prominent role in the government should Hsieh be elected, with speculation that she would be named as Premier in a Hsieh administration.

Yeh, who worked in advertising for 17 years before becoming a lawmaker, is a graduate of Fu Jen Catholic University.