Shen Pao-yang (; born June 7, 1982), also known by his English name Puma Shen, is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer who has served as a member of the Legislative Yuan since 2024. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), he is the DPP nominee in the Taipei mayoral election in 2026.
As an academic at National Taipei University, he focused on criminology and information warfare. He co-founded the civil defense organization Kuma Academy to combat disinformation from China.
In 2023, he was nominated as a party-list candidate in the 2024 Taiwanese legislative election and won a seat.
Early life and education Shen was born on June 7, 1982, in Taipei, Taiwan. His father, Shen Tu-cheng, became the owner of a car manufacturing company, Sicuens International Co., LTD., which was sanctioned by the Chinese government in 2025.
After graduating from Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School, Shen earned his Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from National Taiwan University (NTU), where he was the valedictorian of his class in 2004. He then earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in criminal law from the university in 2008, writing a master's thesis titled, "Women, Subjectivity, and Criminal Law". As a student at NTU, Shen was influenced by his thesis advisor, Professor (). He concurrently began working part-time at a cram school, where he taught criminal law to students preparing for the civil service exams, using the alias "Puma" (). In 2009, Shen completed military service in the Republic of China Armed Forces.
After working as a cram school teacher for several years, Shen pursued graduate studies in the U.S. at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he earned a second LL.M. degree in 2007. He then received a full government scholarship to study penology at the University of California, Irvine. As a doctoral student, he was a student of economist Peter Navarro and historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom. He earned his Ph.D. from the university in criminology, law, and society in 2017 under professors Henry Pontell and Elliott Currie. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "Local Ideologies and Punishment for White-Collar Crime: A Comparison Between the U.S. and China".
Academic career and activism After returning to Taiwan, Shen served as a faculty member at the Institute of Criminology, National Taipei University (NTPU). He initiated research on China's information warfare and cognitive operations towards Taiwan. He held various positions, including a member of the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee (2018–2020), director of Taiwan's official media Central News Agency, vice chairman of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, co-founder of the civil defense education institution Kuma Academy, and the ().
To facilitate Taiwan's collaboration with countries worldwide to defend against unfavorable actions from China, Shen developed the China Index, a metric illustrating the depth of influence exerted by the Beijing government on a particular country or region. In 2023, he was elected as a member of the World Movement for Democracy Committee.
Political career
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In November 2023, Shen was nominated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as a candidate on the party-list of legislators for nationwide and overseas, ranking second. He successfully won the election on January 13, 2024. He has expressed the necessity of legislative responses to various aspects of China's influence on Taiwan, including international law, propaganda warfare, and the need to address threats from Chinese agents and gray zone activities through legislation and national defense reforms.
In May 2024, Shen, with help from DPP colleagues, climbed on top of a crowd of Kuomintang legislators during a brawl in the Legislative Yuan. He was dragged down by them and fell from the podium, requiring hospitalization.
On 14 May 2026, DPP announced the nomination of Shen as the candidate for the mayor of Taipei for the election at the end of the year.
Transnational repression
On October 15, 2024, Shen was sanctioned by China's Taiwan Affairs Office, which included him on a list of "diehard "Taiwan independence" separatists". In October 2025, China's Xinhua News Agency announced that the Chongqing public security bureau was investigating Shen for "secession-related" activities under the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. Taiwanese officials stated that the investigation was meant to "create the illusion of long-arm jurisdiction over Taiwan" and "sow divisions and instill fear." Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) called for the issuance of an Interpol notice, which the Mainland Affairs Council referred to as "transnational repression."
Personal life Shen's wife, Tseng Hsin-hui (), is a lawyer who also teaches civil law at a cram school, using the pseudonym . The couple has no biological children but adopted a girl nicknamed "Mochi" ().
References
External links
Puma Shen, Legislative Yuan Puma Shen, National Taipei University Graduate School of Criminology 撲馬的網站