Chen Zau-nan (; born 11 December 1942) is a Taiwanese politician.

Education and political activism

Chen Zau-nan studied music at the Taiwan Provincial Taipei Normal College, music education at the

National Taiwan University of Arts National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA; zh, c=國立臺灣藝術大學) is a university in Banqiao District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It is the oldest art university in Taiwan. History National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA) was establ ...

, and later attended the

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

. He remained in Austria after completing his education, and was influenced by the nation's democracy, which led the Kuomintang one-party state in Taiwan to blacklist him from returning. After 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 ...

of 1979, Chen moved to the United States and began working for the American branch of ''

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 ' ...

''. Upon his 1990 return to Taiwan, Chen was held in the Tucheng Detention Center. Political persecution of Chen ended in 1992, following revisions to the in 1991 and of the in 1992.

Formal political activity

After

Mark Chen Tang-shan/Tan-sun Chen (; born 16 September 1935), also known by his English name Mark Chen, is a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese politician and atmospheric scientist who served as Secretary-General of the Office of the President of the Republic of C ...

took office as Tainan County Magistrate, Chen Zau-nan assumed Mark Chen's party list

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 ...

seat in 1994. After completing Mark Chen's term in 1996, Chen Zau-nan was elected to a full term in his own right in 1998, via party list proportional representation. During his second stint as legislator, Chen also served on 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 ...

's Central Committee. In 2001, Chen and fellow legislator Yang Chi-hsiung accused

James Soong Soong Chu-yu (; born 30 April 1942), also known by his English name James Soong, is a Taiwanese political scientist and politician who is the founder and chairman of the People First Party. Soong was the first and only elected governor of Taiw ...

and his family of embezzlement, fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and tax evasion. Later that year,

Chang Chun-hung Chang Chun-hung (; born 17 May 1938) is a Taiwanese politician. Political career Chang was a member of the Kuomintang until 1973, when he left to join the Tangwai movement and won his first political office, a seat on the Taipei City Council. ...

substantiated allegations of vote selling against Wang Hsien-tang, stating that he, Chen Zau-nan, and Liu Kun-li had witnessed Wang planning prior the Democratic Progressive Party legislative primaries. Chen lost the party primary for a position on the Democratic Progressive Party list, and was instead named the Democratic Progressive candidate for the Kinmen County Magistracy in the

2001–02 Taiwanese local elections Local elections were held in Taiwan on 1 December 2001 to elect magistrates of counties and mayors of cities, on 26 January 2002 to elect councillors in county/city councils and mayors of townships and cities, on 8 June 2002 to elect representa ...

. This was the first time that DPP had named a magisterial candidate for a county dominated by New Party supporters. He lost to New Party candidate

Lee Chu-feng Lee Chu-feng (; born 6 May 1953) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Magistrate of Kinmen County from 2001 to 2009. Teaching career Lee graduated from National Taiwan Normal University and became a teacher and principal in Jincheng and Jin ...

Political relationships and views

Chen Zau-nan is close to

. After

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 ...

won the 2000 presidential election, Chen Zau-nan proposed removing

Taiwan independence Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the Democratic Progressive Party platform. In June 2014, Chen and

Julian Kuo Kuo Jeng-liang (; born 24 June 1961), also known by his English name Julian Kuo, is a Taiwanese political scientist and politician who first served in the Legislative Yuan from 2002 to 2008 and was reappointed to the office from 2016 to 2020. ...

formally petitioned for the party to consider freezing the first article of its charter, which discussed independence. Opponents of the petition called for Chen and Kuo to resign their party membership. Party chair

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 ...

sent the petition to the DPP Central Executive Committee for future discussion.

Later political activity

Prior to the

2018 Taiwanese local elections Local elections were held on 24 November 2018 in Taiwan, to elect county magistrates (city mayors), county (city) councilors, township mayors, township councilors and chiefs of village (borough) in 6 municipalities and 16 counties (cities). Elec ...

, Chen served as a mediator between the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

, Taiwan Radical Wings, and

Green Party Taiwan Green Party Taiwan is a political party in Taiwan established on 25 January 1996. Although the party is sympathetic to Taiwanese nationalism and shares a number of centre-left positions with the Pan-Green Coalition, the party emphasizes campai ...

, which decided to form an electoral coalition called the Social Welfare State Front. Chen has written political columns disseminated by .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Zau-nan 1942 births Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan Living people Members of the 2nd Legislative Yuan Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni National Taiwan University of Arts alumni National Taipei University of Education alumni Taiwanese expatriates in Austria Taiwanese expatriates in the United States Prisoners and detainees of Taiwan Taiwanese prisoners and detainees Columnists