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Lii Wen (Chinese: 李問; born 4 March 1989) is a Taiwanese journalist and politician.
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Lii was born on 4 March 1989,[1] to sociologist and National Tsing Hua University professor Lii Ding-tzann,[2][3] and is a Hsinchu native.[1] He earned a bachelor's degree from National Taiwan University and a master's degree at the University of Chicago.[1] As a student within NTU's anthropology department, Lii participated in fieldwork in China, Taiwan, and across Southeast Asia and also worked for the news magazine NTU Consciousness.[4][5]
After finishing his master's degree, Lii gave up dual American citizenship and returned to Taiwan to complete his military service.[6] From 2014 to 2015, Lii wrote for the Taipei Times.[7][8][9] Lii also worked for the Democratic Progressive Party and later the National Security Council, specializing in international outreach and diplomatic policy research.[10][11] He subsequently became a party spokesperson.[12][13] Following the 2018 Taiwanese local elections, the Democratic Progressive Party asked Lii to consider running for any Legislative Yuan seat in Taipei or New Taipei deemed primarily pan-blue. He rejected the suggestion and sought to run in an even more difficult district, the Matsu Islands.[14][15] In September 2019, Lii duly accepted the DPP nomination for the Legislative Yuan in Lienchang County,[16][17] becoming the first Democratic Progressive legislative candidate there since Tsao Cheng-ti in 2008.[14][15] He finished third in the 2020 legislative election, behind incumbent Chen Hsueh-sheng and former lawmaker Tsao Erh-chung. Although he lost, Lii's campaign set a record for DPP-affiliated vote share in a Matsu legislative election at eleven percent.[18][19] Lii's legislative campaign was noted for a slim chance of victory,[20][21] but attracted attention for using military imagery, considered rare for a DPP candidate.[22] He also wore a large balloon advertising his campaign, as well as gloves resembling lobster claws, and a winged mussel costume to draw attention to aquaculture in Lienchang County.[22] In July 2020, he became the founding leader of the DPP chapter in Lienchang County.[15][23] Lii then worked to nominate the first Matsu-based DPP candidates for local political office.[24][25] His campaign for the Lienchang County magistracy in the 2022 local election featured an inflatable fish, representing the yellow croaker.[26][27] Lii, who was the first DPP nominee for the Lienchiang magistracy,[28][29] finished behind two Kuomintang candidates, Wang Chung-ming and Tsao Erh-yuan.[30] Lii launched his second legislative campaign in November 2023, again facing Chen Hsueh-sheng, as well as Taiwan People's Party candidate Tsao Erh-kai.[31][32] Lii garnered 1,382 votes in the January 2024 election, finishing behind Chen Hsueh-sheng (3,116) and ahead of Tsao Erh-kai (1,373).[33][34] In February 2024, Lii was named head of the DPP's international affairs department.[35] With the presidential inauguration of Lai Ching-te in May 2024, Lii joined the Lai administration as spokesperson, responsible for international media relations.[36][37]
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