Chen Kuang-fu (; born 25 October 1955) is a Taiwanese politician who is the

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

Penghu County The Penghu ( , Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, about west of the main island of Taiwan across the Penghu Channel, coveri ...

, serving since 25 December 2022. He held the same position from 2014 and 2018.

Early life and education

Chen was born in Shagang Village, Huxi Township,

on 25 October 1955. His family moved to

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 ...

shortly after. Chen attended Glad Tidings Bible College (喜信聖經學院) in

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: '), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in central Taiwan. Taichung is Taiwan's second-largest city, with more than 2.85 million residents, making it the largest city in Ce ...

Early career

A member of 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 ...

, Chen was involved in the

Kaohsiung Incident The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident, or the ''Formosa Magazine'' incident,tang was a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 10 December 1979 during Taiwa ...

, which kickstarted his career in politics. In 1979, he ran unsuccessfully for

Kaohsiung City Council The Kaohsiung City Council () is the city council of Kaohsiung City, Republic of China. It is currently composed of 65 councilors, each serving a four-year term, elected using the single non-transferable vote system. The speaker and deputy sp ...

. He was dubbed the "Tangwai one-eyed dragon" on election flyers. He eventually ran successfully and served as city counciller from 1985 to 1993. In 1992, Chen 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 ...

and represented Kaohsiung from 1993 to 1999. Chen joined the 2005 Penghu County magistracy election under

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 ...

(DPP) on 3 December 2005. However, he lost to Wang Chien-fa of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

. On 12 January 2008, Chen joined the

2008 Taiwanese legislative election Legislative elections were held in Taiwan on 12 January 2008 to elect the members of the Legislative Yuan. It was the first Legislative Yuan election after the constitutional amendments of 2005, which extended term length from three to four year ...

as a DPP candidate from

constituency and lost the election as well. Following the 2005 electoral loss, Chen founded Penghu's first distillery called Penghu First Liquor Co., modeling it after the example of

Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc., also known as Kinmen Distillery, KKL, is a distillery in Kinmen County, Taiwan and owned by Kinmen County Government The Kinmen County Government () is the local government of the Republic of China that governs K ...

. The company conducted research on making liquor out of local crops, such as

pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...

s, tithonia root, and

cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

. Chen aimed to create local jobs and generate income for local farmers through the venture. He also had pushed for direct flight between Penghu and

Liuqiu Island Liuqiu ( zh, t=琉球嶼; also known by other names) is a coral island in the Taiwan Strait about southwest of the main island of Taiwan. It has an area of and approximately 12,200 residents, the vast majority of whom share only 10 surnam ...

Pingtung County Pingtung () is a County (Taiwan), county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county ...

Magistrate of Penghu (2014–2018, 2022–present)

In 2014, Chen joined the election campaign for magistrate of Penghu County with the slogan, ''Leading Penghu, for your and my happiness''. His campaign focused on

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, calling for initiatives such as winter tourism, restoration of marine resources, revitalization of disused land, elderly care, job creation, farmers' rights, conservation of cultural heritage, and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

benefits. Chen eventually won in the 2014 Penghu County magistrate election held on 29 November 2014, becoming only the second person from the opposition party to secure the post. Chen lost re-election in 2018 to former magistrate Lai Feng-wei. He ran and won again in 2022 and has served as the magistrate since December 2022. During his election campaign, he summarized his party's agenda "to protect the land and to fight for Taiwan." He emphasized the economic and tactical importance of Penghu, being in the middle of the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a strait separating the island of Taiwan and the Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. Names Former names of the Tai ...

, as part of this agenda. In April 2023, Chen and American Institute in Taiwan official Thomas Wong jointly inaugurated the American Shelf at Penghu County Library in Magong City. The Penghu American Shelf is part of the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

's American Spaces initiative and "features story books and collection for children and youth on the United States as well as information about the study and teaching of English." Chen supported an ongoing proposal to build the Xiying Bridge (西瀛大橋) between Magong and Xiyu, which would create a complete loop around Penghu's three largest islands.

Personal life

Chen is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Chen's wife runs a free English-language cram school program.

References

External links