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After serving eight months behind bars for libel, Chen Shui-bian is released in February 1987, and enters the fray of a newly-liberalized political landscape. In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party became Taiwan’s first real opposition party, and Chen’s wife is elected to Parliament. Mr. Chen bides his time, and then pounces – first becoming a lawmaker, beating Frank Hsieh to become DPP caucus chief, and then setting his sights on the nation’s capital city. In 1994, direct elections for Taipei mayor are held for the first time, and Chen overcomes Frank Hsieh again to become the DPP nominee. But Chen has a few issues: he isn’t a great speaker and he doesn’t like smiling. Will this plucky lad from a dirt-poor home in Tainan overcome the odds? Find out in this week’s exciting Formosa Files Taiwan history story.
Cover: Chen Shui-bian campaigning to become Taipei Mayor at a vegetable market in Neihu. Prior to 1994, the mayor of Taipei was appointed, not elected. Pic via Thinking Taiwan.
Below: Then-legislator Chen Shui-bian (front left) exchanges views with then-Executive Yuan Mainland Affairs Council deputy chairman Ma Ying-jeou (who would go on, like Chen, to become Taipei mayor and then ROC president. Unlike Chen, Ma would serve two terms as Taipei mayor.) The picture reportedly shows Chen and Ma discussing the content of a draft bill on relations between people across the Taiwan Strait. January 8, 1992. Via United Daily News.
Below: Chen (far left) in a televised debate with the two other candidates for mayor of Taipei in 1994. The "Blue" side was defeated because of a rift in the KMT that led to a breakaway party emerging in 1993 called "The New Party." The founder of the New Party, Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), seen in the center of the stage, ran for mayor in '94, dividing the KMT-leaning vote between himself and the KMT pick, incumbent Mayor Huang Ta-chou (黃大洲), far right. A split KMT vote handed the win to Chen Shui-bian. A similar situation in the year 2000 would see Chen win the presidency. Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) has been a politician, a media personality and entrepreneur. He is still active in Taiwanese politics and unsuccessfully ran for vice-president on the KMT ticket with New Taipei Mayor Ho Yu-ih in 2024. Image via UDN.
Below: Chen's supporters cheered when his paralyzed wife, Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) was brought on stage, but Chen's detractors saw it as manipulative. Via Catalog Digital Archives.
WATCH: "The Wild 1990s" Lawmaker Chen Shui-bian get punched in the face by lawmaker Han Guo-yu (韓國瑜). Han would go on to become Kaohsiung Mayor, but was recalled in a public vote after he "took a leave of absence" to run for president in 2020. Han was solidly defeated by incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen in the 2020 election.
Below: Frank Hsieh (left) with Chen Shui-bian (right) in 1986. Image via BBC Chinese. Chen beat Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) to become DPP caucus chief, and later overcame Frank Hsieh again to become the DPP nominee for Taipei mayor.
In the FINAL episode of this FOUR-PART series, we will tell the tale of the 2000 Taiwan presidential election, and once again, "Ah-bian" would eke out a win. Stay tuned :)
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Check our very first episode, the story of a very white man who showed up in London in 1703... and claimed to be from Formosa. Or try a foodie episode from Season 3. Or, for those who want some harder-core history, hear the tale of the Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh 王錫爵, who became famous for defecting to the PRC by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.
