Chen Ming-wen (; born 13 May 1955) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chiayi County Magistrate from 2001 to 2009, until his election to 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 ...

, where he has served since 2008.

Career

In 1977, upon his graduation from

National Chiayi University National Chiayi University (NCYU; ) is a public university located in Chiayi City and Chiayi County, Taiwan. It was formed in 2000 by merging National Chiayi Institute of Technology and National Chiayi Teachers College. The University has six ...

, he was elected to the

Chiayi County Council The Chiayi County Council (CYSCC; ) is the elected county council of Chiayi County, Republic of China. The council consists of 37 councilors lastly elected through the 2022 Republic of China local election on 26 November 2022. History The coun ...

as a councilor. In 1981, Chen was elected as Chairman of the Chiayi County Council at age 27, the youngest chairman in the history of

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Later he was elected to the

Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council The Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council (TPCC) was the council of the streamlined Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. In July 2018, all duties of the Taiwan Provincial Government and TPCC were transferred to the National Development C ...

in 1985, while completing his degree in philosophy at

Tokai University is a private non-sectarian higher education institution located in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Dr. Shigeyoshi Matsumae. It was accredited under Japan's old educational system in 1946 and under the new system in 1950. In 2008, Tokai Uni ...

, and won subsequent elections twice in 1989 and 1994 and was again elected a legislator to the

in 1998. Chen served as 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 ...

Chiayi County Chiayi is a County (Taiwan), county in Taiwan. Located in Regions of Taiwan, southwestern Taiwan surrounding but not including Chiayi City, it is the sixth largest county in the island of Taiwan. Its major tourist destination is Alishan Natio ...

from 2001 to 2008, with a satisfactory rate over 60% upon retiring his office. He became a member of the Legislative Yuan and of the Central Standing Committee 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 ...

. Chen is tipped to become the next generation leader of the DPP, ranked after former premier

Su Tseng-Chang Su Tseng-chang ( zh, t=蘇貞昌, poj=So͘ Cheng-chhiong, p=Sū Zhēnchāng; born 28 July 1948) is a Taiwanese politician who served as premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2019 to 2023. He was the chairma ...

and the party chairman

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; pinyin: ''Cài Yīngwén''; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician and legal scholar who served as the seventh president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2016 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party ...

Scandal

On 3 September 2019, Chen took a

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 ...

train from Chiayi to North. He said he lost a suitcase (containing NT$ 3 million) on the train. That suitcase was picked up by the staff of Taiwan high speed rail, who immediately alerted the police, and notified the owner. Then his youngest son, Chen Zheng-Ting stated that his father had provided him with funds to go to the Philippines to open a

bubble tea Bubble tea (also known as pearl milk tea, bubble milk tea, tapioca milk tea, boba tea, or boba; zh, t=珍珠奶茶, p=zhēnzhū nǎichá, zh, t=波霸奶茶, p=bōbà nǎichá, labels=no) is a tea-based drink most often containing chewy tapio ...

shop to continue his mother’s career. The money was used to pay for the manufacturers’ equipments, raw materials and foreign currency accounts.

References

1955 births Living people Tokai University alumni Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Chiayi County Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 7th Legislative Yuan Members of the 8th Legislative Yuan Members of the 9th Legislative Yuan Magistrates of Chiayi County Members of the 10th Legislative Yuan {{Taiwan-DPP-politician-stub