Yao Ching-ling (; born 23 November 1969), also known by the English name April Yao, is a Taiwanese political scientist and politician who has served as the magistrate of Taitung since 2018. A member of the Kuomintang (KMT), she was previously elected as a member of Taitung County Council in 2005 and became speaker in 2010.
Yao graduated from Fu Jen Catholic University with a bachelor's degree in Chinese literature and earned a master's degree in media literacy from San Jose State University. She then earned her Ph.D. in political science from National Taiwan Normal University in 2005. Her doctoral dissertation was titled, "A comparative study of policies on overseas Chinese affairs in mainland China and Taiwan: Overseas Chinese education" (海峽堩岸æ¨å±ÂÃ¥ÂÂÃ¥ÂÂæ¿çÂÂä¹Âæ¯Âè¼Âç Â究ï¼Âå ¼è«ÂÃ¥ÂÂæÂÂä¹Âæ¯Âè¼Â).
Yao was elected to the Taitung County Council after winning the local election on 3 December 2005, making her the youngest councilor to be elected at the age of 36. In 2010, she was elected as the speaker of the county council.
While serving on the county council, Yao explored bids for higher office, contesting Kuang Li-chen for the Taitung magistracy in 2009, and a seat on the Legislative Yuan in 2012. In 2016, Yao was appointed a deputy secretary-general of the Kuomintang, under chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu.
Yao defeated Liao Kuo-tung in a Kuomintang primary and subsequently received her party's nomination to contest the Taitung magistracy in 2018.
She faced Democratic Progressive Party challenger and three independent candidates, including former county commissioner Kuang Li-chen. Yao won the magisterial election held on 24 November 2018.
In January, Yao led a delegation to China and met with Taiwan Affairs Office head Song Tao, drawing criticism.