Keven Yu Beichen (Chinese: 于北辰, Wade–Giles:Yu Pei-chen; born 2 January 1968) is a former major general in the Republic of China Army and currently a Taiwanese non-partisan politician. His personnel background in the military was from the fraction of General Kao Hua-chu and General Lee Hsiang-chou. He was involved in Taiwanese politics after his retirement and currently runs his own YouTube channel, and was owned the nickname of the “Donated-General”.[1]
Keven Yu Yu Beichen | |
|---|---|
| 于北辰 | |
 Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Taoyuan City Councillor | |
| Assumed office 25 December 2022 | |
| Constituency | Taoyuan I |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 2, 1968 Wenshan, Taipei, Taiwan |
| Political party | Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (2022–) |
| Other political affiliations | Kuomintang (1985–31 December 2021) |
| Spouse | Hsu Hsiaofeng (徐小鳳) |
| Nickname | Donate General (抖內將軍) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  Taiwan |
| Service |  Republic of China Army |
| Years of service | 1990-2015 |
| Rank |  Major General |
| Unit | 542 Armor Brigade |
Personal life
editYu Beichen was born on January 2, 1968, in Taipei. His ancestry goes back to China's Shandong province.
Military career
editHe joined the military in 1990. He moved up the ranks and was a major general at the time of his retirement in 2015. In 2015, citing concerns relating to his health and work-related stress, he retired from the military.[2]
Political career
editHe was a member of the Kuomintang party in Taiwan from 1985 to 2021. After his retirement from the military, he served as chairman of Huangfuxing's Taoyuan Kuomintang party headquarters, as well as the vice-chairman of the KMT's Taoyuan city party headquarters. He was dismissed from these roles in 2020. Later, at the end of 2021, he publicly announced that he was quitting the Kuomintang party over disagreements regarding the party's direction, including disagreement about a lack of strength in standing up to China.[3]
In January 2022, he announced his councilorship campaign for the 2022 Taiwanese local elections at the Taoyuan District constituency in Taoyuan City as an independent candidate and was successfully elected in November.
In 2024, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China added Yu into the sanctions list for being a "Taiwan independence diehard." He described it as a medal of honor.[4]
Commentator
editHe currently has his own YouTube channel with over 100,000 subscribers as of May 2022. He has appeared in political talk shows in Taiwan. In May 2022, he criticized Chen Ming-tong; the director-general of the National Security Bureau of Taiwan for publicly revealing specific intelligence regarding Chinese plans for invading Taiwan and the makeup of Xi Jinping's cabinet following the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.[5]
Controversy
editOn August 4, 2022, Yu Beichen said on a TV program: "Usually, the interception rate of the Tiangong missile is about 70%, so if I launch three to intercept one, it will be 210%, how could it not be intercepted?" He also claimed that "it must be three, using a method of trigonometric functions to intercept," stating that if it can't be intercepted in this way, National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology can close down. This statement has sparked ridicule from netizens on both sides of the strait.[6][7]
References
edit- ^ "北極星說故事 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
- ^ "台湾陆军旅长因身体原因报请退伍 疑因压力过大_军事_中国台湾网". www.taiwan.cn. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
- ^ "不知情下「被停權」！于北辰退出國民黨喊「不如歸去」！不滿中共打壓「黨卻不敢抗議」！". www.fountmedia.io. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
- ^ 秦宛萱 (2024-05-15). "「中國人吃不起茶葉蛋」惹禍？國台辦點名「制裁」劉寶傑、于北辰等5名嘴". 信傳媒. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ "台湾情报首长"蔡政府任内不会有事"报告：关注要点背后的关键要素". BBC News 中文 (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 2022-05-15.
- ^ "【新聞挖挖哇】台灣命運終點戰！關鍵三天致勝命脈曝光！裴洛西旋風訪台！台海危機最大引爆點！ 20220804｜來賓：于北辰、相振為、陳敏鳳、姚惠珍、何博文", 新聞挖挖哇！YouTube (in Traditional Chinese), 2022-08-04, archived from the original on 2022-08-28, retrieved 2022-08-17
- ^ "台退役将领称三枚导弹齐发拦截率210%被网民群嘲". 早报 (in Simplified Chinese). 2022-08-14. Archived from the original on 2022-08-26. Retrieved 2022-08-17.