Justin Chou

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Justin Chou, born August 27, 1966 in Taipei, is a Taiwanese politician and filmmaker known in English as Justin Chou. He served in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan from 2005 to 2012, representing Taipei’s 2nd district for the Kuomintang (KMT).

Education
Chou attended Chiehso and Yan Ping High Schools in Taipei, then earned a BA from Shih Hsin University, an MA in mass media from Emerson College, and a PhD in policy analysis and administration from Cornell University.

Political career
Chou began as a spokesman for the Kuomintang and for its Culture and Communications Affairs Committee, later becoming assistant director. He was first elected to the Legislative Yuan in 2004. In his early term, he pressed for tighter oversight of foreign aid, highlighted infrastructure problems, and pointed out violations of the School Health Act, including cases of schools not employing enough nutritionists. He also led forgery allegations against a university president in 2005.

In 2006, Chou ran for the leadership of the KMT Youth Corps but lost. He publicly supported Ma Ying-jeou, who was later found not guilty in a 2007 corruption trial. Chou was reelected in 2008 while Ma ran for president, and he earned strong ratings from Citizen Congress Watch in his second term. He held roles such as deputy secretary-general of the KMT caucus and led the Foreign Relations and National Defense Committee with Chang Hsien-yao. Chou traveled to Nicaragua in 2009 as part of a government delegation. He supported Chang in the Kaohsiung mayoral race in 2010. That year, the Weng Chi-nan murder case led to Chou being approached by a suspect to help arrange surrender terms. In 2012, after a party primary in which Chen Yu-mei briefly contested, Chou lost the general election to Pasuya Yao. As a legislator, his focuses included education, Taiwan’s foreign relations, immigration, and public safety, and he repeatedly criticized China’s suppression of Taiwan on the international stage.

Career in entertainment
Chou is also active as a singer and film director. He helped promote Wei Te-sheng’s film Seediq Bale (2011) by coordinating with Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense to allow aboriginal servicemen to take time off to participate in the film.

Personal
He is married to television presenter Wang Yung-ho. Wang was nominated to the National Communications Commission in 2012, but the nomination faced delays in the legislature.