| James Tsai Tsai Jen-chien | |
| Native Name Lang: | zh-tw |
| Smallimage: | Hsin Chu Mayor James Tsai.png |
| Order: | Mayor of Hsinchu |
| Deputy: | Yang Tzu-pao Lin Cheng-chieh |
| Term Start: | 20 December 1997 |
| Term End: | 20 December 2001 |
| Predecessor: | Tong Shen-nan |
| Successor: | Lin Junq-tzer |
| Order1: | Member of the National Assembly |
| Term Start1: | 1992 |
| Term End1: | 1997 |
| Birth Date: | 1952 10, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Hsinchu, Taiwan |
| Party: | Independent |
| Nationality: | Taiwanese |
| Occupation: | Politician |
James Tsai, also known as Tsai Jen-chien (; born 27 October 1952) is a Taiwanese politician who served as mayor of Hsinchu from 1997 to 2001.
A cofounder of the Democratic Progressive Party,[1] Tsai served on the National Assembly from 1992 to 1997, and was the DPP caucus leader throughout his term.[2] [3] The legislative body elected its first speaker and deputy speaker during its 1996 session. Tsai was nominated as the DPP candidate for the deputy speakership, and lost to Shieh Lung-sheng.[4] Tsai was elected mayor of Hsinchu in the 1997 local elections. In October 2000, he became the first elected local government leader from Taiwan to visit China.[5] The next year, Tsai lost his bid for reelection.[6] [7] He attempted to run for the position again in 2014, without the backing of the DPP, which expelled him for mounting an independent campaign.[8] [9]
| 2014 Hsinchu City Mayoralty Election Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=35 | No. | width=180 | Candidate | width=120 | Party | width=75 | Votes | width=75 | Percentage | width=49 | |
| 1 | Liu Cheng-hsing (劉正幸) | Independent | 1,914 | 0.96% | |||||||
| 2 | Hsu Ming-tsai | KMT | 75,564 | 37.85% | |||||||
| 3 | James Tsai | Independent | 40,480 | 20.28% | |||||||
| 4 | Lin Chih-chien | DPP | 76,578 | 38.36% | |||||||
| 5 | Wu Shu-min (吳淑敏) | Independent | 5101 | 2.56% | |||||||
During his mayoral term, Tsai was one of many mayors accused of corruption, as he had charged United Microelectronics Corporation a "township chief tax" for community development funds.[10] [11]
Soon after leaving office, Tsai was caught in the Chu Mei-feng sex scandal, during which he was represented by attorney Hsu Wen-bin.[12] Tsai and Chu had dated for four years,[13] before the relationship ended in February 2001.[14] Later that year, a sex tape of Chu and married businessman Tseng Chung-ming was released.[15] Prosecutors believed that Tsai and spiritual advisor Kuo Yu-ling asked a detective agency about hidden cameras.[16] [17] Tsai was questioned by the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office in January 2002,[18] [19] and indicted on 7 February.[20] However, Chu chose to drop the case against Tsai in June.[21]