Chen Shui-bian

Chen Shui-bian (Chinese: 陳水扁; pinyin: Chén Shuǐbiǎn; born 12 October 1950) is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the fifth president of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), ending the Kuomintang's (KMT) 55 years of continuous rule in Taiwan. He is sometimes referred to by the nickname A-Bian (阿扁). He was previously the mayor of Taipei from 1994 to 1998 and the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party for two terms (2002–2004; 2007–2008). Chen was born in Guantian District, Tainan County to an impoverished farming family. After graduating from National Taiwan University in 1974, he worked as a lawyer, making a name for himself as a human rights lawyer and supporter of Taiwanese independence. He was elected to the Taipei City Council in 1981 under the Tangwai movement, beginning his political career. He joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1987 and was elected to the Legislative Yuan, serving from 1989 to 1994, when he became the first directly-elected DPP Mayor of Taipei in the 1994 mayoral elections. As mayor, Chen led reforms to improve the civil service, oversaw the construction of the Taipei Metro to completion, and launched a crackdown on crime and prostitution. Following his defeat in the 1998 mayoral elections to Ma Ying-jeou despite a positive approval rating, he ran for president in the 2000 Taiwanese presidential election, defeating his two rivals James Soong and incumbent vice president Lien Chan following a split in the ruling Kuomintang, marking the first peaceful transfer of power to an opposition party in Taiwan. Chen was re-elected in the hotly-contested and polarising 2004 election after a narrow and contested victory over a joint ticket of his 2000 rivals, Lien and Soong. Chen was succeeded by Ma Ying-jeou...