Ker Chien-ming

Ker Chien-ming (Chinese: 柯建銘; pinyin: Kē Jiànmíng; Wade–Giles: Ke¹ Chien⁴-ming²; born 8 September 1951) is a Taiwanese politician and former dentist who serves as minority leader in the Legislative Yuan. From 2016 to February 2024, he was the majority leader, after the Democratic Progressive Party won a majority of seats in the Legislative Yuan for the first time.

Ker was born in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on September 8, 1951.^[1] He has two brothers.^[2] His father, Ker Tzu-yu (柯子余; 1917–2010), was a prominent orator in the city.^[3] Tzu-yu was also the founder of an incense shop.^[2]

As a child, Ker contracted and recovered from tuberculosis in elementary school; the illness inspired him to attend medical school.^[4] He graduated from National Hsinchu Senior High School in 1960.^[5] As a high school student, he registered as a member of the Kuomintang (KMT) at the request of a military instructor.^[6]

After high school, Ker attended medical school at Chung Shan Medical University and graduated with a degree in dental science.^[7] He then studied abroad in the United States and Japan, obtained his dental license in the U.S., and opened his own dental practice in Hsinchu in 1981.^[4] He was an active dentist from 1976 until 1992, during which period he became the president of a Hsinchu dentists' association.^[4] He later earned a master's degree in management science from Tamkang University and a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degree from National Chiao Tung University.^[7]

Ker is a founding member of the Democratic Progressive Party and was first elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. He represented Hsinchu district from 1993 to 2008, and again starting in 2016. From 2008 to 2016 and again from 2020, Ker was elected via proportional representation.^[8][9][10]

On 17 August 2022, in the aftermath of then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan on 2–3 August, China blacklisted seven Taiwanese officials including Ker as "diehard "Taiwan independence" separatists" due to their support for Taiwan independence. The blacklist bans them from entering mainland China and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and restricts them from working with Chinese officials. Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times labelled Ker and the six officials as "diehard secessionists".^[11]

On 11 July 2025, during a dispute in the Legislative Yuan, Ker invoked Article 100 of the Criminal Code, stating: "Article 100 of the Criminal Code still exists." (Article 100 of the Criminal Code stipulates penalties for those "intending to undermine the state," with offenders subject to up to five years' imprisonment, which has led critics to regard it as a form of thought crime.) In response, KMT legislator Wu Tsung-hsien also remarked that the DPP had previously advocated abolishing Article 100, and its current attempt to revive it constituted "a betrayal of Taiwanese democracy." Ker countered that Article 100 had not been abolished but was revised and remained in effect. He emphasized that it serves to protect national security and that acts of violence or coercion within the legislature should be prosecuted according to the law.^[12] The Kuomintang heavily publicized Ker's remarks, with KMT legislator Ling Tao claiming that Lai Ching-te and Ker would "imitate Yoon Suk-yeol next week by declaring martial law."^[13]