The Mainland Affairs Council of the Republic of China (Taiwan) announced that the major fugitive Chen Youhao has been living abroad for a long time and holds household registration in mainland China. The authorities have legally revoked his household registration in Taiwan, causing Chen Youhao to lose his Taiwanese residency status with immediate effect.
Chen Youhao, former head of the Tuntex Group, is implicated in multiple embezzlement cases. He fled overseas in 2002 and was once listed as one of the top ten wanted criminals by the judicial authorities of the Republic of China. Chen Youhao previously served as a standing committee member of the Kuomintang (KMT) in Taiwan and left behind debts of over NT$60 billion (approximately US$1.97 billion) in bank loans and over NT$432 million (approximately US$14 million) in unpaid taxes.
After fleeing to mainland China, Chen Youhao founded the Xianglu Tenglong Group in Fujian in 2000, hiring Yu Xinchang, the former boss of Jiang Mianheng, son of the former leader of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin, as the CEO. Despite owing substantial taxes in Taiwan, Chen Youhao became a major taxpayer in mainland China. However, in 2015, two petrochemical plants invested in by Chen Youhao suffered two years of shutdown due to industrial accidents, leading to a debt crisis in his Xianglu Petrochemical Company.
According to information from the Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of China, Chen Youhao and his wife Lin Fumei embezzled funds from the company and fled, facing charges of breach of trust, among others. They were wanted by the Taipei District Court in Taiwan on October 27, 2006.
The Mainland Affairs Council of the Republic of China stated today (4th) that the major fugitive Chen Youhao has been on the run for nearly 22 years since fleeing abroad in 2002. Upon investigation, it was found that Chen Youhao holds household registration in mainland China. The authorities have “legally revoked Chen Youhao’s household registration in Taiwan starting today.”
The Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan mentioned that after losing his Taiwanese residency status, should Chen Youhao wish to enter Taiwan in the future, he must apply with his mainland Chinese residency status and obtain approval after a review process. The government will be vigilant and prevent Chen Youhao from sneaking into Taiwan under a third-country nationality.
The Mainland Affairs Council emphasized that during Chen Youhao’s fugitive period in mainland China, they had repeatedly requested the mainland authorities to repatriate him to Taiwan under the cross-strait crime-fighting and judicial cooperation agreement, but received no positive response, leading to regret on their part.
The Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan underscored that the government fully understands the public’s fervent desire for the apprehension and return of major economic fugitives to achieve judicial justice. The council urged the mainland authorities to “value our society’s sentiment, not shield Taiwanese criminals, and promptly assist in repatriating the wanted fugitives hiding in mainland China back to Taiwan, in mutual safeguarding of the rights and interests of people on both sides of the strait and ensuring public welfare.”
The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of China published a list of major tax defaulters on July 1. In the Taipei National Tax Bureau’s 113 (2024) tax default cases, the founder of the Tuntex Group, Chen Youhao, who fled overseas, ranked seventh, owing over NT$432 million in comprehensive income tax. The Yilan branch of the Executive Yuan of the Ministry of Justice auctioned off a total of 317 properties belonging to Chen Youhao in the Seven Star District of Keelung City and the Rueifang, Shuangxi, and Wanli districts of New Taipei City at the end of September.