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Ann Kao

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Ann Kao
Kao Hung-an
MLY
高虹安
Official portrait, 2022
8th Mayor of Hsinchu
Suspended
In office
25 December 2022 – 26 July 2024
DeputyTsai Li-tsing
Andy Chiu
Preceded byChen Chang-hsien [zh] (acting)
Lin Chih-chien
Succeeded byAndy Chiu (acting)
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office
1 February 2020 – 25 December 2022
Succeeded byChen Wan-hui
ConstituencyParty-list (Taiwan People's Party)
Personal details
Born (1984-01-25) 25 January 1984 (age 40)
Neihu, Taipei, Taiwan
NationalityTaiwan
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		Taiwan People's Party (2019–2024)
Alma materNational Taiwan Normal University
National Taiwan University
University of Cincinnati

Ann Kao Hung-an (Chinese: 高虹安; pinyin: Gāo Hóng'ān; born 25 January 1984) is a Taiwanese business executive and politician. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees from National Taiwan Normal University and National Taiwan University, respectively, before working as a researcher for the Institute for Information Industry. The institute subsidized Kao's doctoral study at the University of Cincinnati. She then worked for Foxconn until 2020, when she was elected to the Legislative Yuan as a member of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP). Partway through her legislative term, Kao was elected Mayor of Hsinchu during the 2022 local election cycle. On 26 July 2024, Kao was removed from office and withdrew from the TPP due to corruption allegations.

Early life and career

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Kao was born on 25 January 1984 in Taipei.[1] She completed a bachelor's degree in information and computer education at National Taiwan Normal University before pursuing a master's degree within the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Taiwan University. Kao's doctoral studies in mechanical engineering, undertaken at the University of Cincinnati,[1][2] were partially funded by the Institute for Information Industry (III).[3] While working as a researcher for the III, Kao was also a cofounder and part-time employee of Servtech.[4][5] Immediately prior to running for political office, Kao worked closely with Terry Gou as vice president of Foxconn's Industrial Big Data Office.[6][7][8]

Political career

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Legislative Yuan

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During the 2020 legislative election cycle, Kao ranked third on the Taiwan People's Party list and was elected to the 10th Legislative Yuan via proportional representation.[6][9] During the campaign period, the Central Election Commission reported that Kao held NT$8.77 million in foreign currency deposits.[10] In February 2020, Kao was appointed head of party affairs in the city of Taichung, and the counties of Changhua and Nantou.[11]

Hsinchu mayoral nomination and election

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In July 2022, the Taiwan People's Party nominated Kao as its candidate for the Hsinchu mayoralty.[12][13] Six candidates contested the office,[14] including major party candidates Lin Geng-ren [zh] of the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party's Shen Hui-hung [zh].[15][16] During her mayoral campaign, Mirror Media reported that Kao's doctoral dissertation, authored at the University of Cincinnati, was plagiarized from two studies she had taken part in as a researcher. Both the research and Kao's doctoral study were subsidized by the Institute for Information Industry.[3] She filed a defamation lawsuit against Mirror Media for the publication of the allegations.[17] Institute president Cho Cheng-hung later told the Legislative Yuan that Kao's doctoral thesis had plagiarized 70–80% of the report she had written for the III.[18] On 25 October 2022, the III began legal action against Kao, claiming that she had used copyrighted information in her doctoral thesis.[19]

Separately, Lin Geng-ren accused Kao of violating the Anti-Corruption Act.[20] Lin also claimed that Kao hired her partner Lee Chung-ting and the couple were suspected of payroll deduction fraud.[21][22] The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau duly investigated Kao on these and other charges, including the acceptance of illegal political donations.[23] The day before the 2022 mayoral election, a whistleblower brought attention to an instance of alleged intimidation by a member of Kao's legislative staff toward a former member of the staff.[24] Despite the allegations against Kao, she won the Hsinchu mayoral election, winning 98,121 votes (45%), finishing ahead of Shen (77,764; 35.7%) and Lin (18%).[25] Prior to taking office as mayor, Kao's legislative offices were searched and she was questioned in regards to the allegations against her.[26][27]

Mayoralty

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Upon taking office on 25 December 2022, Kao became the first female elected mayor of Hsinchu, and the youngest female county magistrate or mayor in Taiwanese history.[28] She was replaced as a legislator by Chen Wan-hui.[29] Although the Taipei District Prosecutors Office declined to charge her with breach of trust violations due to insufficient evidence in the case, ending the Institute for Information Industry's legal actions against Kao, she was indicted on charges of corruption in August 2023.[30]

In September 2023, the Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office began investigating Kao's ties to a property developer.[31] Shortly thereafter, she "apologize[d] to the general public and citizens for the recent controversies and extensive media coverage that have occupied a significant portion of media space," and declared that Hsinchu City Government employees were barred from having private contact with Lee Chung-ting.[32] Later that same month, the Taiwan People's Party suspended Kao's membership.[33] In July 2024, the Taipei District Court found that Kao had violated both the Anti-Corruption Act and the Criminal Code [zh], and sentenced her to seven years and four months in prison, as well as deprivation of her civil rights for four years.[34][35] Following the ruling, Kao was removed from the Hsinchu mayoralty and announced her resignation from the Taiwan People's Party.[36][37]

Post-mayoralty

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In August 2024 Kao was sentenced to a further 10 months in prison after the Taipei District Court ruled she had made a false accusation of defamation.[38] The charge related to her doctoral thesis, which the Taipei court that made the ruling found contained multiple instances of information duplicated from other published works.

References

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  1. ^ a b "3號 高虹安". Liberty Times (in Chinese). Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Kao Hung-an (10)". Legislative Yuan. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b Lee, I-chia (21 September 2022). "Ann Kao of the TPP rejects accusations of thesis plagiarism". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  4. ^ Pan, Jason (4 November 2022). "Prosecutors, III investigating Kao controversies". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  5. ^ Pan, Jason (20 October 2022). "Former employer mulls lawsuit against Ann Kao". Taipei Times. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b Lee, I-chia (20 November 2019). "JAN. 11 ELECTIONS: TPP unveils legislator-at-large list with 29 names". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  7. ^ Shan, Shelley (7 January 2020). "2020 Elections: Gou not asking people to ditch TPP: Amanda Liu". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  8. ^ Lee, I-chia (2 December 2019). "Ko describes his ideal legislature". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  9. ^ Lee, I-chia (12 January 2020). "2020 Elections: Taiwan People's Party tops among 'third force' parties". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  10. ^ Hetherington, William (1 December 2019). "CEC releases election candidates' asset declarations". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  11. ^ Shen, Pei-yao; Chung, Jake (2 February 2020). "TPP plans online headquarters ahead of local elections". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  12. ^ Kuo, Chien-shen; Kao, Evelyn (11 July 2022). "ELECTIONS 2022/TPP selects Legislator Kao Hung-an for Hsinchu mayoral race". Central News Agency. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  13. ^ Lee, I-chia (12 July 2022). "Ann Kao selected by TPP to run for Hsinchu mayor". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  14. ^ Pan, Jason (23 October 2022). "DPP figures weigh in on TPP scandals in Hsinchu". Taipei Times. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  15. ^ Wang, Flor; Wang, Yang-yu; Lu, Chung-kang (5 September 2022). "ELECTIONS 2022/KMT's Hsinchu mayoral candidate denies plagiarism allegations". Central News Agency. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  16. ^ Yeh, Su-ping; Liu, Kuang-ting; Yeh, Joseph (22 June 2022). "ELECTIONS 2022/DPP, KMT name more candidates for Nov. 26 local elections". Central News Agency. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  17. ^ Pan, Jason (29 September 2022). "'Mirror Media' countersues TPP's Hsinchu candidate". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  18. ^ Cheng, Hung-ta; Kao, Evelyn; Lin, Sean (5 October 2022). "ELECTIONS 2022/Institute may sue TPP lawmaker on copyright issues". Central News Agency. Retrieved 7 October 2022. Pan, Jason (7 October 2022). "DPP, TPP trade barbs over Kao's thesis". Taipei Times. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  19. ^ Su, Ssu-yun; Wang, Cheng-chung; Lin, Sean (26 October 2022). "ELECTIONS 2022/Institute sues TPP lawmaker for copyright infringements". Central News Agency. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  20. ^ Tsai, Chang-sheng; Liu, Tzu-hsuan (8 November 2022). "Hsinchu mayoral candidate accuses rival of corruption". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  21. ^ Pan, Jason (18 November 2022). "Ann Kao, boyfriend suspects in payroll deduction fraud". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  22. ^ Hung, Mei-hsiu; Liu, Tzu-hsuan (2 November 2022). "No laws broken in hiring staff, Ann Kao says". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  23. ^ Pan, Jason (10 November 2022). "Separate probes launched into the TPP's Ann Kao". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  24. ^ Pan, Jason (25 November 2022). "Alleged intimidation takes place in Kao's office in recordings". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  25. ^ Teng, Pei-ju (26 November 2022). "ELECTIONS 2022/TPP wins key Hsinchu mayor race, as Kao Hung-an declares victory". Central News Agency. Retrieved 26 November 2022. Kao finished with 98,121 votes, or 45 percent of the total, with her primary opponent, former Hsinchu Deputy Mayor Shen Hui-hung (沈慧虹) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), receiving 77,764 votes, or 35.7 percent, according to figures from the Central Election Commission (CEC). Hsinchu City Councilor Lin Ken-jeng (林耕仁) of the Kuomintang (KMT), meanwhile, sat a distant third with 18 percent. ... Despite being under investigation by prosecutors in Taipei over the matter, Kao has rejected all the charges, denouncing them as part of a smear campaign against her.
  26. ^ Pan, Jason (16 December 2022). "Ann Kao questioned as investigators search her offices". Taipei Times. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  27. ^ Pan, Jason (17 December 2022). "Ann Kao granted bail in fraud, embezzlement case". Taipei Times. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  28. ^ Hung, Mei-hsiu; Liu, Tzu-hsuan (27 November 2022). "2022 ELECTIONS: Ann Kao wins Hsinchu mayor's seat for TPP". Taipei Times. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  29. ^ Chen, Chun-hua; Kao, Evelyn (26 December 2022). "By-election for Nantou legislative seat scheduled for March 4". Central News Agency. Retrieved 26 December 2022. Republished as: "By-election for Hsu's Nantou seat set for March 4". Taipei Times. 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  30. ^ Lin, Chang-shun; Hsu, Elizabeth; Huang, Frances (14 August 2023). "Mayor of Taiwan's Hsinchu City indicted for corruption". Central News Agency. Retrieved 15 August 2023. and Lin, Chang-shun; Hsu, Elizabeth; Huang, Frances (14 August 2023). "Mayor of Taiwan's Hsinchu City indicted for corruption (update)". Central News Agency. Retrieved 15 August 2023. Republished as: "Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao charged with corruption". Taipei Times. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  31. ^ Kuo, Hsuan-wen; Kao, Evelyn (13 September 2023). "Hsinchu mayor denies corruption allegations as prosecutors launch probe". Central News Agency. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  32. ^ Kuan, Jui-ping; Lee, Hsin-Yin (16 September 2023). "Hsinchu Mayor apologizes over recent controversies". Central News Agency. Retrieved 22 September 2023. (I) apologize to the general public and citizens for the recent controversies and extensive media coverage that have occupied a significant portion of media space," Kao said. She announced that effective immediately, city government officials are prohibited from having private contact with Lee. Any violation will lead to severe punishment, Kao said, adding that she will also hold herself to the same standard. However, Kao stressed that Lee has never intervened in any municipal decision-making and that only a limited number of city officials, who were old acquaintances of Lee, have maintained what she called 'social interactions' with him. "Mr. Lee has never set foot in the mayor's office," she said.
  33. ^ Lin, Sean (19 September 2023). "Hsinchu Mayor Kao's TPP membership rights suspended over alleged graft". Central News Agency. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  34. ^ Wen, Yu-te; Chung, Jake (27 July 2024). "Mayor Anne Kao sentenced on corruption charges". Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  35. ^ Hsieh, Hsin-en; Lin, Chang-shun; Lu, Kang-chun; Ko, Lin (26 July 2024). "Hsinchu mayor receives over 7-year jail sentence for corruption". Central News Agency. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  36. ^ Hsu, Medwin (26 July 2024). "Hsinchu mayor sentenced to 7 years, 4 months for corruption in Taiwan". Taiwan News. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  37. ^ Thomson, Jono (26 July 2024). "Kao Hung-an exits TPP and stripped of mayoralty". Taiwan News.
  38. ^ Thomson, Jono. "Former Hsinchu Taiwan People's Party mayor sentenced to 10 months prison". Taiwan News.
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