Cheng Li-wun

Cheng Li-wun (Chinese: 鄭麗文; born November 12, 1969) is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer. She sat in the National Assembly and Legislative Yuan for several terms between 1996 and 2024 for the Democratic Progressive Party (until 2000) and the Kuomintang (after 2005).

Cheng Li-wun MLY
鄭麗文
Official portrait, 2020
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office 1 February 2020 – 1 February 2024
Constituency	Party-list
In office 1 February 2008 – 31 January 2012
Constituency	Party-list
2nd Spokesperson of the Executive Yuan
In office 23 October 2012 – 17 February 2014
Prime Minister	Sean Chen Jiang Yi-huah
Preceded by	Huang Min-kung (acting)
Succeeded by	Sun Lih-chyun
Member of the National Assembly
Mission based 30 May 2005 – 7 June 2005
Constituency	Nationwide and Oversea
In office 20 May 1996 – 19 May 2000
Constituency	Taipei 1st
Personal details
Born	(1969-11-12) 12 November 1969 (age 55) Yunlin, Taiwan
Political party	Kuomintang (after 2005) Democratic Progressive Party (1988–2002) Independent (2002–2005)
Education	National Taiwan University (LLB) Temple University (LLM) University of Cambridge (MSc)

Early life and education

Cheng was born in Yunlin on November 12, 1969. Her ancestral home is in Yunnan.^[1] After graduating from Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School, she attended law school at National Taiwan University and received her Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree. She then studied law in the United States at Temple University and earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in international law from its Beasley School of Law.^[2] She completed further graduate studies in England, earning a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in international relations from the University of Cambridge,^[3] where she was also a doctoral Ph.D. candidate in international relations.^[2]

Career

After graduating from Cambridge, Cheng became a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), serving in the National Assembly as a representative from Taipei from 1996 to 2000 and in the party's youth organization afterwards. She was suspended (or, according to Cheng herself, resigned) from the party in 2002 in the wake of Diane Lee's accusations that Twu Shiing-jer had sexually harassed ("ear-licked") a male restauranteur.^[4]

Cheng left the Legislative Yuan following her departure from the DPP, but rumors that she now was aligned with the Pan-Blue Coalition were confirmed by her appearance at a March 2004 Kuomintang rally protesting the 2004 presidential election. Following her failed campaign to be elected as an independent candidate for Kaohsiung, she officially joined the Kuomintang (KMT) in 2005. She was quickly promoted within the party, and was elected as a party-list member of the Legislative Yuan in 2008. She was not reelected upon her run for a Taichung seat 2012, losing to Ho Hsin-chun. After her defeat, she served as Spokesperson of the Executive Yuan for two years, being replaced by Sun Lih-chyun.^[4] From her departure from the Executive Yuan to September 2015, she hosted a talk show on TVBS. She served as deputy secretary-general of the KMT between August and November 2018. She returned to the Legislative Yuan in 2020 and served as secretary-general of the KMT caucus in the Yuan in 2021. On October 12, 2021, she had a heated argument with DPP legislator Su Tseng-chang regarding the 2002 "ear-licking" case.^[5] She left the Yuan at the conclusion of her term in February 2024.

On June 11, 2025, Cheng, Julian Kuo, Chen Pei-jer, Holger Chen, and others announced the foundation of the "Opposition Alliance", a party intended to "revive the spirit" of the tangwai movement and combat the DPP's "green terror".^[6]

Personal life

Cheng's family stems from Yunnan Province.^[4] Cheng married her long-time boyfriend Luo Wu-chang in 2011.