OCAC Deputy Minister Lee Yen-hui Takes Helm Following Hsu Chia-ching's Graft Resignation: Scandals Unearthed Over 500 Plots of Real Estate, Unexplained Wealth Fined NT$3 Million, and Family Developer Graft

On October 8, 2026 (115th Year of the Republic of China), following the resignation of Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) Minister Hsu Chia-ching over corruption and unlawful profiteering charges, Premier Cho Jung-tai appointed Deputy Minister Lee Yen-hui to serve as acting minister. The appointment instantly ignited intense political outrage and widespread public scrutiny, unearthing Lee's long history of legal infractions, fines, and real estate controversies. First, Lee was sanctioned twice by the Control Yuan for violating the Act on Property Declaration by Public Servants: in 2010 for concealing land, deposits, and stocks resulting in a NT$460,000 fine for intentional false declaration, and in 2017 for an abnormal surge in wealth exceeding her total annual income by more than 100%, for which she failed to provide justification without legitimate reason, incurring the statutory maximum penalty of NT$3 million. Second, Lee's husband, Yang Sheng-hsiang, and father-in-law, Yang Yu-chuan, lead Hsinchu's largest property conglomerate, the Chang-Yi Development Group; together, Lee and her spouse hold and trust over 500 plots of prime real estate worth billions of NT dollars. Despite this enormous property hoard, Lee acted as DPP spokesperson in the 2024 presidential campaign attacking opponents for agricultural land speculation, drawing fierce accusations of hypocrisy and double standards. Third, Chang-Yi Group has been embroiled in multiple criminal probes, including Yang Yu-chuan's fraud indictment for marketing commercial zones as residential units and bribery scandals involving former Construction and Planning Agency officials. Fourth, during the 2022 plagiarism scandal involving Lin Chih-chien, Lee acted concurrently as DPP spokesperson and board chair of Chung Hua University, creating a severe conflict of interest before resigning under mounting public pressure. The appointment of an official with no diplomatic credentials and deep ties to land speculation to replace a disgraced minister was widely condemned as political cronyism.