Born in present-dayBade District,Taoyuan City, Cheng grew up with 6 siblings and took an after-school job in neighboringYingge. His father was a civil servant in the Taoyuan government.[1]
After attendingTaipei Municipal Jianguo High School, Cheng graduated fromNational Taiwan University (NTU) with a bachelor's degree insociology and a master's degree innational development.[2] However, his master's degree was later rescinded due to plagiarism allegations. During his time at NTU, he was founding president of NTU Student Press (臺大學生報社) and was elected vice president of the student association.[3]
In 1998, Cheng was elected into the Taoyuan County legislature at the age of 30,[5] receiving the most votes out of all candidates.
In the early 2000s, Cheng worked for the DPP's Information and Culture Department.[6] From January 2006 to April 2007, he served as minister of theGovernment Information Office as part of thefirst cabinet led bySu Tseng-chang.[7] Cheng resigned from the GIO in April 2007, after vice premierTsai Ing-wen concluded an investigation into Cheng's influence during a sale of shares in a media company.[8]
Cheng was elected mayor of Taoyuan City after winning the2014 mayoral election held on 29 November 2014, defeating incumbentKuomintang (KMT) magistrate John Wu, to whom Cheng lost in 2009.[10][11] Following the election, Cheng appointedChiu Tai-san andWang Ming-teh as deputy mayors of Taoyuan.[12]
In April 2017, Cheng's rib was fractured after he was attacked by protesters outsideLegislative Yuan who opposed a pension system reform bill.[13] Cheng did not press charges against the perpetrator citing his belief in democratic politics.[14]
In the2018 elections, Cheng defeated KMT contenderApollo Chen and three independent candidates to win a second term as mayor of Taoyuan.[15]
In October 2022,New Party city council candidate publicly alleged that Cheng had committed plagiarism or hired a ghostwriter to write his master's thesis at NTU. After an investigation by the university, Cheng's thesis was revoked and master's degree rescinded.[3][16]
In July 2024, Taiwanese authorities announced an investigation into Cheng on suspicion of bribery.[19] Cheng stepped down as chairman of theStraits Exchange Foundation on 7 July,[20] withRock Hsu [zh] succeeding Cheng in an acting capacity.[21]
After a series of bail hearings,[22] Cheng was detained for two months without visitation rights for a period of two months on July 12.[23][24] TheDemocratic Progressive Party, of which Cheng is a member, suspended him from holding public office for three years.[25] The Taoyuan District Prosecutors' Office indicted Cheng on charges of corruption on 27 August 2024.[26] He was released on bail of NT$28 million the following day.[27]
^邱俊欽 (5 December 2009)."吳志揚贏得不輕鬆 桃園藍綠板塊拉近".Taiwan News (in Chinese). Central News Agency.Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved2 July 2022.
