Peter Lin or Lin Chin-hsing () is a Taiwanese physician and politician. He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2002 to 2008, and faced legal action throughout his time in office, which twice led to his expulsion from the Democratic Progressive Party. Lin was a DPP candidate for Kaohsiung City Council in the 2014 Taiwanese local elections, but was not elected.
Education and early career
Lin earned bachelor's degrees in medical science and pharmaceutics at Kaohsiung Medical University before pursuing two master's degrees in the United States. He studied epidemiology at Yale University, then enrolled at Johns Hopkins University. After Lin finished his master's in computer science at JHU, he remained at the university and completed a doctorate in medical policy. Prior to his political career, Lin operated his own clinic, where he offered free medical care to the poor.
Political career
During his first legislative campaign in 2001, Lin helped many Kuomintang members who had left the party and considered joining the Democratic Progressive Party, following the KMT's decision to expel its former chairman Lee Teng-hui. He also led a group of DPP members to gather outside the chamber of the Kaohsiung City Council in support of mayor Frank Hsieh, after hearing about a disagreement between Hsieh and council speaker Huang Chi-chuan.
While running for reelection in 2004, Lin campaigned alongside Kuan Bi-ling, , and , utilizing a vote allocation scheme that saw all four candidates win.
Prior to the 2008 legislative election, Lin was due to receive the Democratic Progressive Party's nomination for Kaohsiung 3, by virtue of leading Lee Kun-tse in opinion polls, but the decision to confirm Lin's nomination was delayed, as he was indicted for health insurance fraud. Lee eventually defeated Tseng Tsahn-deng in an inter-party opinion poll and obtained the DPP's formal backing. Lin chose to contest the legislative election as a political independent, and the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, an LGBT rights organization, placed him on a list of candidates to boycott.
During the 2012 presidential election, Lin was a member of the Tsai Ing-wen campaign staff based in Kaohsiung.
Lin ran as a Democratic Progressive Party candidate for Kaohsiung City Council, but was critical of the Kaohsiung City Government's handling of the , as well as companies headquartered in Kaohsiung during the 2014 Taiwan food scandal. He received 4.56% of the vote, and was not seated to the city council.
Lin aided Chen Chi-mai's campaign during the 2020 Kaohsiung mayoral by-election.
Controversy
After Lin's legislative colleagues Diane Lee and Yang Fu-mei falsely accused Twu Shiing-jer of assaulting a restaurateur in 2002, Lin initiated proceedings to discipline the pair.
In April 2003, Lin was one of forty people indicted as part of an investigation into voting buying during the December 2002 election of the Kaohsiung City Council speaker and deputy speaker. Shortly after his indictment, Lin was expelled from the Democratic Progressive Party. Lin's ex-wife Chang Wen-hsiu stood accused of accepting a NT$5 million bribe from , and Lin was indicted as an accomplice because he was present when the transaction took place. Prosecutors sought a one-year prison sentence for Lin. The Kaohsiung District Court gave Lin and Chang identical prison sentences of eighteen months. Upon appeal to the Taiwan High Court, Lin was acquitted of bribery, and announced his intention to rejoin the DPP. Su Hui-chen claimed in 2004 that Lin and Hsueh Ling were involved in vote buying during the 2001 legislative elections. The Democratic Progressive Party formed a task force to probe the allegations.