Chen Shui-bian

30-second overview: Chen Shui-bian is the most complex symbol of Taiwan's democratic transition. Born into a tenant farmer family in Tainan, he rose to become a top-tier lawyer through legal talent, entering politics during the Formosa Incident trials. Elected Mayor of Taipei in 1994, he transformed bureaucratic "yamen" into service centers; in 2000, he ended the KMT's 55-year rule with 39.3% of the vote, establishing the legal foundations for the Referendum Act, the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act, and the Gender Equality Education Act; joined the WTO in 2002; and won re-election in 2004 by a margin of 0.22% after the shooting incident. His second term was engulfed by the State Fund and Longtan land purchase scandals. After leaving office in 2008, he became the first former president in the Republic of China's history to be imprisoned and sentenced. Released on medical parole in 2015, he remains so today. He personally made "party alternation is possible" a常态 (norm) of Taiwan's democracy, while also personally driving society into the red-green division that remains unhealed today.

On the night of March 18, 2000, Taipei streets were packed with crowds. A lawyer from a tenant farmer family in rural Tainan, who had completed his law degree at National Taiwan University on scholarships, had just ended the Kuomintang's 55-year rule in Taiwan with 39.3% of the vote. Standing on the stage, Chen Shui-bian shouted, "Taiwan, stand up!" This was not just the end of an election, but for the first time in half a century, Taiwanese people used their ballots to show the world: power can be transferred peacefully.

A Child of a Tenant Farmer Family

On October 12, 1950, in Xizhuang Village, Guantian Township, Tainan County (now Tainan City), Chen Shui-bian was born. His father, Chen Song-gen, was a third-class poor household, surviving as a tenant farmer and laborer. Chen Shui-bian later described his childhood, saying he did homework lying on the floor, borrowing light from the window, because he was too frugal to turn on the lights. ¹

He graduated with excellent grades from Taiwan Provincial Tainan First Senior High School and graduated from the Judicial Department of the College of Law, National Taiwan University, in 1974. In 1973, as a junior, he passed the lawyer qualification exam, standing out under the extremely low acceptance rate at the time. After graduation, he established the Haishang Law Office, serving as a consultant for companies such as Evergreen Marine Corporation, becoming a successful lawyer.

📝 Curator's Note
Chen Shui-bian's legal background made him extremely value "procedure" and "rule of law." This trait later manifested in his administration as rapid revision of regulations—supporters saw efficiency, while critics saw "gaming the system." This tension ran through his entire political career.

The Choice During the Formosa Incident

In late 1979, the Formosa Incident shook the entire island. Extralegal opposition figures held a Human Rights Day rally in Kaohsiung, which was suppressed by military and police. Key figures such as Huang Hsin-chieh were arrested and faced high-pressure trials.

Chen Shui-bian was 29 years old at the time, already a lawyer with a good reputation. When defense lawyer Chang Te-ming approached him, asking if he was willing to join the defense team to represent Huang Hsin-chieh, Chen knew exactly what this meant: standing up for "political prisoners" under martial law meant betting his career and safety.

He chose to join. This decision took him from a legal professional to a political figure, and in the subsequent circle of defense lawyers, he met Hsieh Chang-ting and Su Tseng-chang: they all later became important figures in the democratic movement. Among the 15 lawyers in the defense team at the time, he was not the only core figure, but this shared experience pushed him completely from a "maritime lawyer" into the extralegal opposition movement.

In 1981, Chen Shui-bian was elected as a Taipei City Councilor with the highest number of votes, making his debut. In 1986, he became a founding member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Mayor of Taipei: Turning the Yamen into a Service Hall

In December 1994, Chen Shui-bian defeated the KMT's last appointed mayor, Huang Ta-chou, with 615,090 votes (43.67% of the vote) in the first direct election for Mayor of Taipei, becoming the first elected mayor in Taipei's history and the first DPP mayor. ²

He served for four years. His most concrete legacy was not hardware, but the destructive reshaping of "civil service culture."

At that time, government agencies were known as "yamen" (traditional Chinese administrative offices). The counters in household registration offices were usually over 125 cm high, forcing citizens to stand and even look up at civil servants. Chen Shui-bian ordered the counters to be lowered to 70 cm, realizing "sitting service" where citizens and civil servants sat at the same level, and implemented the "smiling tea service" model. This conceptual shift from "managing people" to "serving people" earned the Taipei City Government ISO international certification and attracted NHK to produce a special report.

To eradicate the malpractice of laziness and skipping work, he personally led the media on "surprise inspections" of various city government units, strictly assessing "rice bugs" (slackers) caught drinking tea, reading newspapers, or being absent. The concept that "civil servants are public servants" was implemented concretely for the first time.

📝 Main Achievements of the Mayor of Taipei Term (1994–1998)

Transportation and Construction: The Taipei Metro Muzha Line opened in March 1996, becoming the first metro line to open in Taiwan. The Taipei 101 building established the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) development model during his term, marking the first major case of the BOT system in Taiwan.

Municipal Reform: Promoted mandatory garbage classification and recycling; swept special industries; ISO-certified service-oriented bureaucratic reform; dressed up as Superman, Michael Jackson, and Peter Pan for political cosplay, opening a new era of Taiwan's political marketing.

Political Brand: The 1998 "Bian Hat" merchandise turned political support into a fashion trend, a turning point in Taiwan's election culture.

Social Welfare Innovation: Promoted welfare services for vulnerable groups, including local service programs for the elderly and people with disabilities.

In 1998, Chen Shui-bian sought re-election with an 80% citizen satisfaction rate but lost to challenger Ma Ying-jeou with 45.91% of the vote. Under normal election logic, a mayor with 80% satisfaction should not lose. Political scholars' later analysis pointed to the structural blue-green gap in Taipei voters: it was not that his administration was poor, but that the structure was inherently so.

Losing Taipei did not stop him from winning all of Taiwan two years later.

2000: The First Time in Fifty-Five Years

The 2000 Presidential Election was the most dramatic election in Taiwan's democratic history.

The KMT internal split: The party-nominated Lien Chan and the defector Song Chu-yu ran separately, splitting the pan-blue vote. Chen Shui-bian, paired with Vice Presidential candidate Annette Lu, won with 39.3% of the vote in a three-way struggle. From founding to governing, the DPP took only 14 years. ³

📊 2000 Presidential Election Results

Candidate	Party	Votes	Vote Share
Chen Shui-bian	Democratic Progressive Party	4,977,697	39.30%
Song Chu-yu	Independent	4,664,972	36.84%
Lien Chan	Kuomintang	2,925,513	23.10%

Source: Central Election Commission

In his inaugural address, Chen Shui-bian proposed the "Four Noes and One Without":

1. No declaration of independence
2. No change of the national title
3. No promotion of the "two-state theory" into the Constitution
4. No promotion of a unification or independence referendum
5. No issue of abolishing the National Unification Council

This was a cautious opening, attempting to find a starting point in a highly polarized political atmosphere.

This party alternation was defined by later political scientists as a key moment of Taiwan's democratic consolidation: although elections had been open before, party alternation had never occurred. After 2000, "parties can alternate" became a concrete fact of Taiwan's democracy.

First Term: Foundation of Human Rights and Democratic Legislation

Chen Shui-bian's first term faced a "small government, large opposition" legislature: the DPP did not hold a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so policy advancement relied on cross-party negotiation. Nevertheless, these four years left several important legislations in Taiwan's legal history.

In 2002, Taiwan joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Completed under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu," it strengthened Taiwan's position under global trade rules and provided a legal framework for connecting Taiwan's industries to international supply chains.

In 2003, the Referendum Act was passed. This was the first referendum act in Taiwan's history, establishing the legal foundation for direct democracy. Taiwan had never had any citizen referendum system before. The passage of the Referendum Act allowed the mechanism for people to directly express their will on major policies to enter the law for the first time, viewed by democratization researchers as the starting point of Taiwan's direct democracy institutionalization. ⁴

In 2004, the Gender Equality Education Act was passed. Required all levels of schools to establish gender equality education mechanisms, prohibited gender discrimination, and established complaint systems. This was a milestone in the legalization of gender equality in Taiwan's campuses.

In 2005, the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act was passed. It is the most important foundational legislation in Taiwan for protecting indigenous peoples' rights. It established the legal status of indigenous peoples' traditional territories, guaranteed collective autonomy of language, culture, and education, and provided a legal framework for Taiwan's indigenous policies, completing legislation after years of advocacy. ⁵

📝 Important Human Rights Legislation of the First Term (2000–2004)

The legislation passed during Chen Shui-bian's first term laid several foundations in Taiwan's legal history:

• 2003 Referendum Act: Taiwan's first referendum act, establishing a direct democracy mechanism
• 2004 Gender Equality Education Act: Legal foundation for campus gender equality systems
• 2005 Indigenous Peoples Basic Act: Fundamental law establishing collective rights of indigenous peoples
• 2007 Amendment of the Indigenous Peoples Education Act: Strengthened educational guarantees for indigenous languages and culture

Plus broader WTO accession (2002), militarization of the military, government information disclosure, history curriculum adjustment, and multi-language policies—the focus of this term's administration was "completing Taiwan's institutional framework from a semi-finished product at the end of authoritarianism to what a democratic country should look like."

The promotion of military nationalization and civilian leadership was a less mentioned but extremely important contribution to democratic consolidation in Chen Shui-bian's administration. Before him, the KMT's influence penetrated every level of the military command chain. After him, the term "party army" completely exited public discourse.

Taiwan Naming Movement

Starting in 2003, the Chen Shui-bian government promoted a series of "Taiwan Naming Movements," changing the names of some state-owned institutions:

• "China Post" renamed "Taiwan Post"
• "Chung Cheng International Airport" renamed "Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport"
• Passport cover "TAIWAN" text enlarged

Supporters believed this was a necessary step to make Taiwan clearly identifiable internationally. Opponents believed the renaming actions provoked Beijing and exacerbated Cross-Strait tensions. Some of these naming changes were continued by subsequent governments, while others were changed again.

During his eight years in office, the percentage of people identifying as Taiwanese rose from about 30% to 70%. Chen Shui-bian personally promoted these identity projects, making the perception that "Taiwan is a sovereign state" mainstream: this also plunged Taiwanese society into a stance division that remains difficult to heal today.

Cross-Strait Discourse: One Taiwan, One China

In 2002, Chen Shui-bian proposed "Taiwan, China, one Taiwan, one China" in a video speech, explicitly declaring that Taiwan and China are two different countries. This discourse contrasted with the cautious wording of his "Four Noes and One Without" inauguration, triggering a strong reaction from Beijing and causing concern in the United States regarding the situation in the Taiwan Strait.

In the later part of his second term, he further proposed the "Four Wants and One Without": want independence, want naming, want a new constitution, want development, without the issue of left-right ideology. He simultaneously promoted the "Taiwan into the UN Referendum." Diplomatically, there were controversies over "lost flight diplomacy" that went around, and arrangements for transit in the United States became tense with Washington.

His Cross-Strait approach, centered on Taiwan's subjectivity and emphasizing Taiwan's independent existence internationally, contrasts sharply with his successor Ma Ying-jeou's "Nine-Point Consensus" approach. Different voters have completely different evaluations of this history, reflecting the reality that Taiwanese society has not yet fully consolidated a consensus on the fundamental question of "what Taiwan is."

2004 Re-election: Gunshots Before the Vote

On March 19, 2004, the day before voting, Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu were shot while canvassing in Tainan, both sustaining minor injuries. The next day, Chen Shui-bian won re-election with 50.11% of the vote, a margin of 0.22%. ⁶

The investigation process of the shooting incident was full of controversies and has not been fully clarified to this day. The opposition questioned whether the incident affected the election results and demanded a recount. Supporters viewed it as an attempted political assassination. Taiwanese society's interpretation of this event remains divided along political lines, making it one of the few political events in modern Taiwan's history whose truth is still controversial.

Second Term: Political Storm

2006 was the turning point of the second term. The use of the State Fund was questioned, and scandals involving close associates emerged (including the SOGO case and the Longtan land purchase case). Former DPP Chairman Shih Ming-te launched the "Million People Anti-Chen" demonstration movement, gathering on Ketagalan Boulevard for weeks, demanding Chen Shui-bian's resignation.

This political storm almost brought Chen Shui-bian's administration to a standstill and left a deep mark of social opposition in Taiwan. The Peace Hospital quarantine incident during the 2003 SARS epidemic was another cross-term crisis management mark.

But even amidst the storm, major public construction was completed or launched during this term:

• Xueshan Tunnel (opened in 2006)
• Taiwan High Speed Rail (fully opened in 2007)
• Development of the Central Taiwan Science Park
• Keelung River remediation
• Kaohsiung Metro

📝 Curator's Note
Chen Shui-bian's second term is a typical case in Taiwan's public discussion where "evaluation cannot be separated": the same term had the strongest Cross-Strait identity discourse, the most serious corruption scandal storm, and the largest scale of infrastructure delivery. Any single framework (success/failure, progress/corruption) would miss half the truth of this term.

Post-Presidency Judicial Cases

On May 20, 2008, Chen Shui-bian left office. Two months later, prosecutors launched an investigation. In 2009, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the first instance for corruption, money laundering, and other charges. The case was finally settled in the third instance regarding the Longtan land purchase case: Chen Shui-bian became the first former president in the Republic of China's history to be imprisoned and sentenced. The case involved members of the First Family (Wu Shu-zhen, Chao Chien-ming, etc.) and has long been a focal point in discussions of Taiwan's judicial independence and political intervention.

In January 2015, he was granted medical parole on health grounds, remaining in medical parole status since then.

His supporters have always argued that the judicial process was flawed and that the case was mixed with political persecution factors. Critics believe the court's judgment was the normal operation of Taiwan's rule of law. This case has become a continuously cited example in discussions of Taiwan's judicial independence.

"Bian-style Vitality" in the Digital Age: Meme Interaction on Threads

In recent years, Chen Shui-bian has shown amazing digital adaptability. He interacts very frequently with netizens on Threads, being called a "presidential-level hell meme king" by netizens.

In April 2026, he responded to a netizen's question about "the most awesome thing in life" by stating directly, "I became a mayor before 50 and a president before 50, despite being from a third-class poor household," attracting massive interaction in a short time. When a netizen jokingly asked if the account was operated by a staff member, he directly showed his phone and self-deprecated about his past of being "smeared": this "self-contained meme" style unexpectedly attracted a large number of young generations who had not experienced his administration. ⁷

From the counterattack of a third-class poor household, to the challenger of the authoritarian era, to the prisoner深陷 scandals, and finally to a meme symbol in the social media era: his trajectory compresses all the twists and turns of Taiwan's democratic transition into one body.

What Remains

Evaluating Chen Shui-bian, people from different stances will reach completely different conclusions. But there are several things that are specifically verifiable:

A Referendum Act gave people a legal tool for direct democracy. An Indigenous Peoples Basic Act gave a marginalized ethnic group for centuries the first legal guarantee of collective rights. A Gender Equality Education Act gave clear norms for campus gender equality. The Taipei Metro Muzha Line opened during his mayoral term. Taiwan joined the WTO during his administration. The Xueshan Tunnel and Taiwan High Speed Rail opened during his presidential term. Military nationalization became a fact during his term.

More fundamentally, what he established in 2000 is this: in Taiwan, a party that had ruled for 55 years could be voted out of office.

That year, Taiwanese people knew for the first time that this was true.

Further Reading

• Su Tseng-chang — Formosa Incident trial defense team partner, later Premier
• Hsieh Chang-ting — Formosa Incident trial defense team partner, later Premier
• Annette Lu — Vice President in 2000/2004
• Shih Ming-te — Key figure of the Formosa Incident, later DPP Chairman, initiator of the 2006 Anti-Chen movement
• Ma Ying-jeou — Defeated Chen Shui-bian in 1998 to become Mayor of Taipei, succeeded as President in 2008
• Formosa Incident — 1979 trial spawned a new generation of politics
• Democratic Progressive Party — Founding member, first ruling party president
• Taiwan Democratization Process — Party alternation as a key node of democratic consolidation

References

⚠️ This article's footnotes need subsequent fine-tuning: The original PR submission version contained 20 root URLs (e.g., drnh.gov.tw / gov.taipei / nhk.or.jp) that did not point to specific pages, replaced by the 7 verified sources of the existing version. The next round of polish should add: (1) specific reporting sources for the Bazlan River incident / Nuclear Fourth Power suspension / First Financial Reform; (2) specific Taipei City Government or news report pages for the "smiling tea service + 70 cm counters + ISO + NHK" reform; (3) court judgment citations for the State Fund / SOGO case / Longtan land purchase case; (4) specific post URLs and news sources for the Threads interaction section.