Chiang Peng-chien (; 25 April 1940 – 15 December 2000) was a Taiwanese politician who was a co-founder and the first chairperson of the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

. Chiang was elected a member of the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan () is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...

in 1983 and became a member of the

Control Yuan The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of the Republic of China, both during its time in mainland China and Taiwan. Designed as a hybrid of auditor and ombudsman by Taiwanese law, the Control Yuan holds th ...

in 1996.

Early life

Chiang Peng-chien was born April 25, 1940, in Daitōtei,

Taihoku Prefecture Taihoku Prefecture (臺北州; ''Taihoku-shū'') was an administrative division of Taiwan created in 1920, during Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Keelung, New Taipei City, Taipei and Yilan County. Its government office, ...

, Japanese-era Taiwan. His father was a

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or '' cordwainers'' (sometimes misidentified as cobblers, who repair shoes rather than make them). In the 18th cen ...

from

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

, China. In 1955, Chiang entered the

Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School (CKHS; ), also historically known as Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, is a State school, public Secondary school, high school for boys located in Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan. The school was esta ...

. He was then accepted to

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

, majoring in law. After graduation, he passed the

bar examination A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...

in 1964. Chiang began practicing law after earning his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

. Chiang founded the Taiwan Association for Human Rights. On

Human Rights Day Human Rights Day (HRD) is list of minor secular observances#December, celebrated annually around the world on 10 December every year. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December ...

in 1979, members of the

Formosa Magazine ''Formosa Magazine'', also known as Mei-li-tao (), was a magazine created by ''Tangwai'' individuals in Taiwan during the summer of 1979. It opposed the Kuomintang's political monopoly in the Republic of China government. A police raid of the ' ...

and other

Tangwai The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Legi ...

pro-democracy advocates went on a demonstration. Many of the participants were arrested by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

and tried in

military court A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

. Chiang defended

Lin Yi-hsiung Lin Yi-hsiung (; born 24 August 1941) is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer. He was a major leader of the Democracy, democratization movement in Taiwan. He was first exposed to politics in 1976 while serving as attorney for (1908–1985) who sue ...

, one of the Kaohsiung Eight.

Political career

Chiang became involved in politics and supported the

Tangwai movement The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Legis ...

. He was elected a member of the

in 1983. In September 1986, about 130 pro-democracy advocates, including Chiang, gathered at the Grand Hotel in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

to establish the

(DPP). On November 10, 1986, he was elected the first chairperson of the party. In 1994, Chiang was a candidate for the DPP's nomination in the 1994 Taipei mayoral election. He competed against legislators

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian ( zh, t=陳水扁; born 12 October 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician and lawyer who served as the fifth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progres ...

and

Frank Hsieh Frank Hsieh Chang-ting (; born May 18, 1946) is a Taiwanese politician and former defense attorney who served as Ambassador of Taiwan to Japan from 2016 to 2024. A cofounder of the Democratic Progressive Party, he has served on the Taipei City ...

and lost. He returned to the Legislative Yuan in January 1995, replacing David Hou as an at-large legislator on the DPP party list. In 1996, Chiang became a member of the

. He worked to prevent any activities associated with black gold and actively investigated sensitive cases involved with former political oppression.

Death and legacy

Chiang died in December 2000 of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

. His widow Peng Feng-mei donated his writings and books to the Academia Historia for display.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiang, Peng-chien 1940 births 2000 deaths Democratic Progressive Party chairpersons Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan National Taiwan University alumni Taiwanese democracy activists Taiwanese human rights activists Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 1st Legislative Yuan in Taiwan Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Taiwan Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan Taiwanese political party founders Taiwanese members of the Control Yuan Members of the 2nd Legislative Yuan