Chen Chwen-jing (; born January 2, 1956), also known by his English name Jonathan Chen, is a Taiwanese

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

and academic. He served as the Deputy

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

between March 2014 to May 2016, and previously served in the Ministry of Transportation and Communications from 2013 to 2014.

Early life and education

Chen was born on January 2, 1956, in

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

. After graduating from

Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Senior High School Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Senior High School (KSHS; ) is a high school in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Formerly a Single-sex education, boys' school, the school has offered music, gymnastics and science classes since it became Mixed-sex education, co ...

in 1974, he studied agricultural engineering at

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 ...

(NTU) and received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

(B.S.) in 1979. He then completed two years of military service in the

Republic of China Army The Republic of China Army ( Chinese, 中華民國陸軍) also known as the ROC Army (ROCA); colloquially the Taiwanese Army ( Chinese, 台湾陆军) by western or mainland Chinese media, or commonly referred as the National Military Army ( Chi ...

as a second lieutenant platoon commander in the engineering corps and later earned a master's degree from

Soochow University Soochow University or Suzhou University may refer to: *Soochow University (1900–1952) (), a university in Suzhou (Soochow), Jiangsu, China *Soochow University (Taiwan) (, 1951–present), a university in Taipei, Taiwan, founded by faculty from th ...

. Upon finishing his military service, Chen worked as a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, research institute, or privately held organization to provide assistance in academic or private research endeavors. Research assistants work under ...

at the NTU Hydraulic Research Laboratory. In 1982, he went to complete graduate studies in the United States, where he earned a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

(M.S.) in 1983 and his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

construction management Construction management (CM) aims to control the quality of a construction project's scope, time, and cost (sometimes referred to as a project management triangle or "triple constraints") to maximize the project owner's satisfaction. It uses pro ...

and

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

in 1987 from

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "Bridge management under a level of service concept providing optimum improvement action, time, and budget prediction," and was completed under professor David W. Johnston.

ROC Transportation and Communications Political Deputy Ministry

Taiwan HSR explosive device discovery incident

Commenting on the criticism on the slow evacuation during the discovery of explosive device inside

Taiwan High Speed Rail Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) is a high-speed railway network in Taiwan, which consists of a single line that runs approximately along the western coast of the island, from the capital Taipei in the north to the southern city of Kaohsiung. Its c ...

on 12 April 2013, speaking at

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 mid April 2013, Chen responded that the MOTC will review

evacuation Evacuation or Evacuate may refer to: * Casualty evacuation (CASEVAC), patient evacuation in combat situations * Casualty movement, the procedure for moving a casualty from its initial location to an ambulance * Emergency evacuation, removal of pers ...

measures for Taiwan railways systems.

Stopover by Mainland Chinese in Taiwan

Speaking in early February 2014 at a forum on economics and finance legislation, Chen said that negotiating with Mainland China to allow Mainland Chinese to transit stop in Taiwan heading to a third destination will be a very important issues on cross-strait transportation, especially after the establishment of

three links The Three Links or Three Linkages () was a 1979 proposal from the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to open up postal, transportation (especially airline), and trade links between mainland China and Taiwan, with th ...

in 2008 between the two sides. The current obstacle is that the Chinese mainland government requires their own people to have an entry permit to enter Taiwan, even for just a transfer.

Personal life

Chen is married to Chen Hsiang-lin, a graduate of

Fu Jen Catholic University Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU, FJCU or Fu Jen; or ) is a private education, private Catholic university in Xinzhuang District, Xinzhuang, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1925 in Beijing at the request of Pope Pius XI and ...

References

Ministers of transportation and communications of Taiwan Living people Ministers of the interior of Taiwan Year of birth missing (living people) {{Taiwan-politician-stub