Justin Huang (; born 6 November 1959) is a Taiwanese politician. Like his father Huang Ching-fong, Justin Huang joined the Kuomintang. He was a member of the National Assembly from 1996 to 2000. Huang was first elected to the Legislative Yuan in 2001. He served two full terms on the Legislative Yuan, and was reelected to a third in 2008. Huang stepped as a legislator in 2009 to run for Taitung County Magistrate. After two terms as county magistrate, Huang left office in 2018.
Education
Huang obtained his bachelor's degree from the Department of International Trade of National Chengchi University. In 1981 he left Taiwan to study at Santa Clara University in the United States, where he completed a Master of Business Administration.
National Assembly
On 23 March 1996, Huang ran for the 1996 Republic of China National Assembly election for Taitung County Constituency in which he and two other Kuomintang (KMT) candidates won and took office on 20 May 1996.
Legislative Yuan
2001 legislative election
On 1 December 2001, Huang ran for the 2001 Republic of China legislative election for Taitung County Constituency in which he won and took office on 1 February 2002 succeeding legislator Hsu Ching-yuan.
2004 legislative election
On 11 December 2004, Huang ran for the 2004 Republic of China legislative election for Taitung County Constituency in which he won again and took office on 1 February 2005.
2008 legislative election
On 12 January 2008, Huang ran for the 2008 Republic of China legislative election for Taitung County Constituency in which he won again.
Taitung County Magistrate
2009 local election
Huang was elected Magistrate of Taitung County after winning the 2009 Republic of China local election under the Kuomintang on 5 December 2009 and assumed office on 20 December 2009. Due to this winning, he had to release his seat as legislator at the Legislative Yuan of Taitung County Constituency. He was succeeded by Lai Kun-cheng (賴坤成) of the Democratic Progressive Party.
2014 local election
He was reelected for a second term in 2014 after winning the 2014 Republic of China local election on 29 November 2014 and took office on 25 December the same year.
Administration goals
In his 'Governor's Column', Justin Huang vowed to “Clean up corruption" in Taitung politics, and “Listen to the people... not lazy bureaucrats” in order to create jobs through development. In his autobiography Huang reflected: “Taitung is the first and only county to have passed the Taitung Autonomous Landscape Regulations Management Act which aims to protect the environment and develop local construction at the same time." The centrepiece of this was a new resort district along the coastal countryside of Taitung.
Huang made 18 trips to Mainland China to promote Taitung as a potential high-volume tourism resource. He promised to “Allow tour buses to freely travel”, while at the same time “Develop culture” and “Support indigenous youth”.
Popularity
Justin Huang received generally high popularity rankings while serving as Taitung Magistrate although discrepancies between different polls are evident. Whereas Global Views Monthly polls described Justin Huang and Hualien Magistrate Fu Kun-chi as “regulars in the ‘five-star club’” during the same period (2015-16), Huang ranked 10th and 8th out of 13 county magistrates in CommonWealth Magazine polls. In the 2018 CommonWealth poll, “Justin Huang (黃健庭) ... ranked second, followed by then-Hualien County commissioner (magistrate) Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁)”
Achievements as Magistrate
During his two terms as County Magistrate, Huang lists his achievements as overseeing the introduction of the Taiwan International Balloon Festival (臺灣國際熱氣球間年華) and the Taitung Open of Surfing, redeveloping the Taitung Station while building a shopping mall and movie theater at the site of the old Taitung train station, pushing for the Puyuma express train to Taitung, and resolving the Taitung incinerator crisis.
Pharmaceutical corruption charges
In 2008, Huang was indicted on charges about accepting bribes or using his position as legislator in relation to the Lotus (美時公司), Fisherman (派頓製藥公司), and I Sheng Pharmaceutical companies (羿盛公司) in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Huang denied the accusations. He was found guilty of violating the Accountancy Act with regard to processing payments from Lotus Pharmaceutical proxies through his charity foundations, and not guilty on all counts of corruption in 2016. He was sentenced to a combined 10 months of jail, later reduced into a fine due to the application of the 'Speedy Trial Act'.