Lin Yang-kang

Lin Yang-kang (Chinese: 林洋港; pinyin: Lín Yánggǎng; June 10, 1927 – April 13, 2013) was a Taiwanese politiican. He was born at Sun Moon Lake during the Japanese rule of Taiwan. Some thought he might be Chiang Ching-kuo's successor as head of the Kuomintang (KMT), but after failing to win the KMT's nomination for president in 1996, he became an independent. Lin rejoined the party in 2005, and died in 2013.

Lin was born in Niitaka District, Taichū Prefecture (modern-day Nantou County) Taiwan and graduated from National Taiwan University with a bachelor of science degree.

Lin was married to Chen Ho (陳閤) and had one son and three daughters.

On April 13, 2013, Lin died at home in Taichung, of intestinal obstruction and organ failure, aged 87.

Lin began his political career in the 1960s. By 1990, he was a vice-chairman of the Kuomintang. Aligned with the "non-mainstream faction" that aimed to be less confrontational with the People's Republic of China than Lee Teng-hui, Lin tried to replace Lee in the 1990 presidential election, with Chiang Wei-kuo as his running mate.

He resigned his position as the head of the Judicial Yuan on 1 September 1994 to become a presidential advisor to Lee Teng-hui. Upon taking the appointment, Lin again declared his candidacy for Taiwan's first direct presidential elections, scheduled for 1996. However, he was not chosen as the Kuomintang nominee. Lin and Chen Li-an resisted calls to join forces and run as the New Party ticket, choosing instead to run separately as independents. After considering Chang Feng-shu as a running mate, Lin eventually chose former premier Hau Pei-tsun, believing that Hau's background might attract more mainlanders' votes for him. However, Lin's pro-China and pro-reunification views during the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis caused many Taishang to vote against him, and the Lin–Hau ticket finished third with 14.9% of the vote. Chen ran with Wang Ching-feng. Both Chen and Lin were later expelled from the Kuomintang. He retired from political affairs and secluded himself in Taichung after this defeat. Lin resumed membership in the KMT in 2005.

1996 Republic of China Presidential Election Result
President Candidate	Vice President Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Lee Teng-hui	Lien Chan	Kuomintang	5,813,699	54.0
Peng Ming-min	Frank Hsieh	Democratic Progressive Party	2,274,586	21.1
Lin Yang-kang	Hau Pei-tsun	Independent	1,603,790	14.9
Chen Li-an	Wang Ching-feng	Independent	1,074,044	9.9
Invalid/blank votes			117,160
Total			10,883,279	100