Chen Chu

Chen Chu or Kiku Chen[1] (Chinese: 陳菊; pinyin: Chén Jú; Wade–Giles: Ch'en² Chü²; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tân Kiok; born 10 June 1950) is the current President of the Control Yuan and Chair of the National Human Rights Commission.[2][3] Before assuming her current post, Chen had served as Secretary-General to the President from 2018 to 2020 and Mayor of Kaohsiung from 2006 to 2018, making her the longest-serving mayor of the city since the Japanese occupation of Taiwan.

For the PRC diplomat, see Chen Chu (diplomat).

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chen.

Chen Chu Joyce Chen
陳菊
Chen in 2020
President of the Control Yuan
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 August 2020
Deputy	Vacant
Preceded by	Chang Po-ya
Chair of the National Human Rights Commission
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 August 2020
Deputy	Kao Yung-cheng
Preceded by	Office established
Secretary-General to the President
In office 23 April 2018 – 20 May 2020
President	Tsai Ing-wen
Deputy	Liu Chien-sin Lee Chun-yi
Preceded by	Liu Chien-sin (Acting)
Succeeded by	Su Jia-chyuan
Mayor of Kaohsiung
In office 25 December 2006 – 20 April 2018
Deputy	Cheng Wen-lon Chiu Tai-san Lin Ren-yih Lee Yung-te Chen Chi-yu Liu Shyh-fang Wu Hong-mo Chen Chin-te Hsu Li-ming Shi Zhe Yang Ming-jou
Preceded by	Yeh Chu-lan (Acting)
Succeeded by	Hsu Li-ming (Acting)
Leader of the Democratic Progressive Party Acting
In office 29 February 2012 – 30 May 2012
Preceded by	Tsai Ing-wen
Succeeded by	Su Tseng-chang
Minister of the Council of Labor Affairs
In office 20 May 2000 – 19 September 2005
President	Chen Shui-bian
Premier	Tang Fei Chang Chun-hsiung Yu Shyi-kun Frank Hsieh
Preceded by	Chan Huo-shen
Succeeded by	Lee Ying-yuan
Personal details
Born	(1950-06-10) 10 June 1950 Sanxing, Luodong, Taipei County, Taiwan
Nationality	Taiwan (Republic of China)
Political party	Independent (2020-present)
Other political affiliations	Democratic Progressive Party (1986-2020) Chinese Youth Party (1969-1979)
Alma mater	Shih Hsin University National Sun Yat-sen University
Profession	Politician
Signature

Prior to her entrance into politics, Chen was one of the eight prominent dissidents, namely "Kaohsiung Eight", arrested and charged after the Kaohsiung Incident in 1979. She was put behind bars for almost six years during the martial law period in Taiwan.

Chen had also served in various capacities with the Taipei and Kaohsiung city governments between 1995 and 2000, with the latter being the year when she graduated from the National Sun Yat-sen University with a master's degree in public affairs. She then served as Minister of the Council of Labor Affairs, the precursor to present-day Ministry of Labor, in various cabinets between 2000 and 2005. Chen won the 2006 Kaohsiung mayoral election and became the city's first directly-elected female mayor. She was twice reelected in 2010 and 2014 with about 53% and 68% of the votes respectively.

Nearly a month after Chen tendered her resignation from the role of Secretary-General to the President,[4][5] President Tsai Ing-wen nominated her, who supports abolishing altogether the Examination Yuan and Control Yuan,[6][7][8] as the next President of the Control Yuan on 22 June 2020[9] amid dissent from the opposition.[10][11][12][13][14] Legislative Yuan confirmed the nomination on a 65-3 vote[15] after days of violence in the chamber.[16][17] Lawmakers from the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party boycotted the vote, which they also did during the confirmation vote of President-designate of the Examination Yuan Huang Jong-tsun, whereas all New Power Party lawmakers cast their dissent votes.[18][19][20]

Chen had departed from the Democratic Progressive Party, which she helped to found,[21] after the Legislative Yuan approved the Control Yuan nominations.[22] Chen had expressed hopes of becoming the last President of the Control Yuan[23] after helping to secure passage of the amendments to the Constitution.[24]

Kaohsiung mayoralty

2006 Kaohsiung mayoral election

Chen narrowly defeated the Kuomintang candidate Huang Jun-ying with a margin of just 1,120 votes in the 2006 Kaohsiung mayoral election.[25] After announcement of the election result, Huang filed two lawsuits against Chen's campaign team, requesting the court to annul the election. He argued airing of a video, produced by Chen's campaign team, on the eve of the election resulted in his loss. The Kaohsiung District Court ruled in favor of Huang in one of the lawsuits, thus nullifying the election.[26]

Chen expressed her intention to appeal to the court upon knowing the verdict. She claimed it would be a political suicide if she accepted the ruling. While her colleague and Democratic Progressive Party legislator Kuan Bi-ling advised Chen to concede,[26] Chen nonetheless appealed the ruling. There were speculations on whether Kuan, who lost to Chen during the primaries, made the remark out of personal interest.[26]

The High Court eventually overturned the earlier decision of the Kaohsiung District Court and revalidated the election result on 17 November 2007.[27][28] Chen announced, after all legal proceedings against the mayoral election result had ended, that her policy priorities would be the city's transportation, infrastructure construction and environmental protection.[29]

2006 Kaohsiung mayoral election result
No	Candidate	Party	Votes	%
1	Huang Chun-ying (黃俊英)		378,303	49.27%
2	Lin Chi-sheng (林志昇)		1,746	0.23%
3	Lo Chih-ming (羅志明)		6,599	0.86%
4	Lin Ching-yuan (林景元)		1,803	0.23%
5	Chen Chu		379,417	49.41%

Chienchen River cleanup

Chen assured the public in April 2009 she would improve the water quality of Chienchen River, nicknamed "Heilungchiang" by the locals for its apparent pollution. She pledged NT$120 million to implement the water treatment project. Chen vowed to make Kaohsiung a city not just notable for the beauty of the Love River.[30]

2009 World Games

Kaohsiung was the host city of 2009 World Games. Chen visited China in that year to promote the Games and met with then-Mayor of Beijing Guo Jinlong. Chen addressed then-President Ma Ying-jeou with his formal title during the meeting with Guo, which garnered much support from her party and the Kaohsiung City Council.[31] However, she was criticized by several Taiwanese localist groups, including the Taiwan Solidarity Union. In response, Chen said the trip was meant to be beneficial to Kaohsiung.[32] In addition to Guo, she also met with then-Mayor of Shanghai Han Zheng and former Chinese Olympic Committee chairman Liu Pong during her trip to China.

Main venue of the Games, the World Games Stadium, was designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito.[33] Both the groundbreaking and completion of the Stadium occurred during Chen's tenure of mayorship.

The closing ceremony was held in the sold-out World Games Stadium, where President of the International World Games Association Ron Froehlich called the Games a "fantastic success" and declared it "the best ever".[34] Tourism Bureau of Kaohsiung announced the Games generated nearly US$61 million in revenue for the city. The city's department stores reported a 15-percent growth in sales. Chen said Kaohsiung would no longer be known only as the second largest city in Taiwan, but also the one that hosted the best World Games ever.[35]

Typhoon Fanapi

Chen riding on a R.O.C. Marine Corps' AAV-7A1 during her Typhoon Fanapi rescue efforts.

Chen was criticized for having a nap in her residence while many parts of Kaohsiung were flooded during Typhoon Fanapi on 19 September 2010.

Chen tearfully apologized, saying she felt guilty for taking a rest. Stressing that she returned her residence to change her wet clothes, Chen indicated she was also keeping a close eye on the rainstorm.[36] Critics called for her immediate resignation and compared Chen's behaviour to then-Premier Liu Chao-shiuan's haircut and then-Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan Hsieh Hsiang-chuan's attendance at a Father's Day dinner during Typhoon Morakot in August 2009.[37][38]

Chen and the Kaohsiung City Government were sued by Lin Chi-mei, a fellow party member and local official from Benhe Village, in the aftermath of the flooding. She alleged the local government did not maintain properly the flood control facilities.[39][40]

2010 Kaohsiung mayoral election

Chen was running against the Kuomintang candidate Huang Chao-shun and independent candidate Yang Chiu-hsing in her first reelection campaign. She won the 2010 Kaohsiung mayoral election with 52.80% of the votes.[41] This was the first Kaohsiung mayoral election held after the city became a special municipality under the Local Government Act, which also paved the way for the merger of Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County.

2010 Kaohsiung mayoral election result
Party		#	Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic Progressive Party	3	Chen Chu	821,089	52.80%
	Independent	1	Yang Chiu-hsing	414,950	26.68%
	Kuomintang	2	Huang Chao-shun	319,171	20.52%
Total				1,555,210	100.00%
Voter turnout				72.52%

2014 gas explosions

Kaohsiung residents criticized Chen for taking an apathetic attitude in the 2014 Kaohsiung gas explosions.[42] The Kuomintang caucus in the Kaohsiung City Council sued her for negligence which led to casualties.[43] A subpoena was issued to Chen and three other municipal officials on 22 September 2014.[44] The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office decided on 18 December 2014 not to indict Chen.[45]

2014 Kaohsiung mayoral election

Chen launched her second reelection campaign in 2014 and defeated the Kuomintang candidate Yang Chiu-hsing in the mayoral election, held on 29 November 2014, with 68.09% of the votes.[46]

2014 Kaohsiung mayoral election result
No.	Candidate	Party	Votes	Percentage
1	Chou Ko-sheng	Independent	14,925	1.02%
2	Chen Chu	DPP	993,300	68.09%
3	Yang Chiu-hsing	KMT	450,647	30.89%

References

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16. "Punches and water balloons thrown in Taiwanese parliament melee". euronews. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
17. Reuters (16 July 2020). "Fighting Again in Taiwan Parliament Over Disputed Nomination". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
18. "立院一片狼藉中...陳菊獲65張同意票過門檻 出任監察院長 | 政治". 新頭殼 Newtalk (in Chinese). 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
19. 經濟日報. "立院行使同意權爆衝突 陳菊等27監委人事全過關 | 政經大事 | 產業". 經濟日報 (in Chinese). Retrieved 17 July 2020.
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Government offices
Preceded by Chan Huo-shen	Minister of the Council of Labor Affairs 2000-2005	Succeeded by Lee Ying-yuan
Preceded by Yeh Chu-lan (Acting)	Mayor of Kaohsiung 2006–2018	Succeeded by Hsu Li-ming (Acting)
Preceded by Liu Chien-sin (Acting)	Secretary-General to the President 2018–2020	Succeeded by Su Jia-chyuan
Preceded by Chang Po-ya	President of the Control Yuan 2020–present	Incumbent
Preceded by New office	Chair of the National Human Rights Commission 2020–present
Party political offices
Preceded by Tsai Ing-wen	Leader of the Democratic Progressive Party Acting 2012	Succeeded by Su Tseng-chang