Chen Yung-hsing

Chen was a cofounder of the 228 Peace Day Association, established in February 1987.[1][2] He served in the National Assembly from 1992 to 1996 as a member of the Democratic Progressive Party.[3] On 4 May 1992, Chen and fellow DPP members Huang Hsin-chieh and Edgar Lin walked out of the assembly, criticizing the body for procedural violations during a vote against reforms proposed by the opposition.[4] In September 1993, the party drafted Chen to contest the Hualien County magistracy.[5] Kuomintang candidate Wang Ching-feng won the election. Subsequently, Chen was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1995 as an independent.[6][3] Chen's unsuccessful 1998 reelection campaign was backed by the New Nation Alliance.[7] He later became a member of the Taiwan Solidarity Union. After joining the TSU, Chen became an advisor to President Chen Shui-bian and led the party's Arbitration Committee.[8][9] He was named to the TSU proportional representation party list for the 2008 legislative elections, but did not win.[10] In November 2019, Chen accepted a nomination from the New Power Party to serve as an at-large legislative candidate in the 2020 elections, placing seventh on the party list.[11]

Chen is a graduate of Kaohsiung Medical University and completed further study at the University of California, Berkeley.[3] A psychiatrist,[12] Chen led the Kaohsiung Municipal United Hospital as superintendent.[13] He later became director of St. Mary's Hospital, based in Luodong, Yilan.[14] In this position, he advocated for expansion of eldercare.[15][16][17] By 2016, Chen had left St. Mary's and become chairman of Taiwan People News.[18] While with the organization, Chen pushed for Taiwanese athletes to use Taiwan as a national team name, instead of Chinese Taipei, starting with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[19][20] He made several statements on the topic in 2018 in support of a referendum seeking to change Taiwan's national team name.[21][22] When Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee chairman Lin Hong-dow opposed the referendum, Chen filed suit against Lin on several charges, believing Lin's statements to have misled Taiwanese athletes and the public.[23] In December, Chen announced that the Taiwan People News outlet would be suspending operations.[24]

Under Chen's leadership, the Taiwan People News also worked with other civic groups to advocate for Taiwan independence.[25] Chen marked the seventieth anniversary of the 228 Incident in 2017 by participating in a commemoration march.[26] He stated later that year that he believed the political "status quo" between China and Taiwan was separation, not the 1992 consensus.[27]

Prior to the 2019 Democratic Progressive Party presidential primary, Chen was supportive of William Lai's bid for office.[28] After incumbent president Tsai Ing-wen was declared the winner, Chen criticized the primary process for a number of delays, and chastised the Tsai administration for passing amendments to the Referendum Act.[29]