Chen Shui-bian

President of the Republic of China

12 October 1950 Guantian District, Tainan County, Taiwan

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May 20, 2000 – May 20, 2008

Former president of Taiwan In this article, the surname is Chen (陳). This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can. (December 2010 ) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. Find sources: "Chen Shui-bian" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2013 ) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Chen Shui-bian陳水扁 President of the Republic of ChinaIn office May 20, 2000 – May 20, 2008PremierTang Fei Chang Chun-hsiung (1st) Yu Shyi-kun Frank Hsieh Su Tseng-chang Chang Chun-hsiung (2nd)Vice President Annette LuPreceded by Lee Teng-huiSucceeded by Ma Ying-jeouChairman of the Democratic Progressive PartyIn office October 15, 2007 – January 12, 2008Preceded by Chai Trong-rong (acting)Succeeded by Frank Hsieh (acting)In office July 21, 2002 – December 11, 2004Preceded by Frank HsiehSucceeded by Ker Chien-ming (acting)Mayor of TaipeiIn office December 25, 1994 – December 25, 1998Preceded by Huang Ta-chouSucceeded by Ma Ying-jeouMember of the Legislative YuanIn office February 1, 1990 – December 25, 1994ConstituencyTaipei Personal detailsBorn (1950-10-12 ) 12 October 1950 (age 70) Guantian District, Tainan County, Taiwan (modern-day Tainan)NationalityRepublic of ChinaPolitical partyDemocratic Progressive (1987–2008, since 2013) Other political affiliationsIndependent (1979–1987, 2008–2013) Taiwan Action Party Alliance (2019-2020) Spouse(s)Wu Shu-chen ​(m. 1975)​ResidenceGushan District, KaohsiungAlma materNational Taiwan University (LL.B.)OccupationLawyer politician writerSignatureChinese nameTraditional Chinese陳水扁 Simplified Chinese陈水扁 TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinChén Shuǐbiǎn Wade–GilesChen2 Shui3-pien3 IPA Southern MinHokkien POJTân Chúi-píⁿ Chen Shui-bian (Chinese: 陳水扁 ; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the fifth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen is the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which ended the Kuomintang's (KMT) 55 years of continuous rule in Taiwan. He is colloquially referred to as A-Bian (阿扁). A lawyer, Chen entered politics in 1980 during the Kaohsiung Incident as a member of the Tangwai movement and was elected to the Taipei City Council in 1981. He was jailed in 1985 for libel as the editor of the weekly pro-democracy magazine Neo-Formosa, following publication of an article critical of Elmer Fung, a college philosophy professor who was later elected a Kuomintang legislator. After being released, Chen helped found the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 1986 and was elected a member of the Legislative Yuan in 1989, and Mayor of Taipei in 1994. Chen won the 2000 presidential election on March 18 with 39% of the vote as a result of a split of factions within the Kuomintang, when James Soong ran for the presidency as an independent against the party nominee Lien Chan, becoming the first non-member of the Kuomintang to hold the office of president. Although Chen received high approval ratings during the first few weeks of his term, his popularity sharply dropped due to alleged corruption within his administration and the inability to pass legislation against the opposition KMT, who controlled the Legislative Yuan. In 2004, he won reelection by a narrow margin after surviving a shooting while campaigning the day before the election. Opponents suspected him of staging the incident for political purposes. However, the case was officially closed in 2005 with all evidence pointing to a single deceased suspect, Chen Yi-hsiung. In 2009, Chen and his wife Wu Shu-chen were convicted on two bribery charges. Chen was sentenced to 19 years in Taipei Prison, reduced from a life sentence on appeal, but was granted medical parole on January 5, 2015. Since then, Chen has been de facto released, but he is still prohibited from public speaking under the guise of "undergoing medical treatment." Chen's supporters have claimed that his trial and sentencing was politically motivated retribution by the Kuomintang for his years in power.