Chen Shui-bian

From Lawyer to Mayor of Taipei (1950–1998)

Chen Shui-bian was born in 1950 in Guantian Township, Tainan County, graduated in law from National Taiwan University and practised as a lawyer. Elected to the Taipei City Council in 1981, he entered politics and joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1987. He was elected to the Legislative Yuan in the supplementary election at the end of 1989 and again in 1992; according to the Presidential Office's biography, he helped push for legislation including the repeal of Article 100 of the Criminal Code and the unification of military administration and command.

In 1994 he became the first popularly elected mayor of Taipei after its elevation to a special municipality, promoting projects such as the metro system. Seeking re-election in 1998, he lost to Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang.

Tenth-Term President and the "Four Noes and One Without" (2000–2004)

On 18 March 2000 Chen and his running mate Annette Lu won the presidency with about 39.3 per cent of the vote — some 4.98 million votes — in a three-way race, ending the Kuomintang's long rule in Taiwan in the island's first transfer of power between parties. In his inaugural address on 20 May he set out, on condition that the People's Republic of China did not use force against Taiwan, the "four noes and one without": "not to declare independence, not to change the national title, not to push for the inclusion of the so-called state-to-state description in the Constitution, and not to promote a referendum to change the status quo in regard to the question of independence or unification; nor to abolish the National Unification Guidelines and the National Unification Council".

According to the People's Daily that day, a statement issued with the authorisation of the CCP Central Committee's Taiwan Work Office and the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office said his "goodwill reconciliation" lacked sincerity and that he had been evasive and ambiguous on the key issue of accepting the one-China principle; having said he would not pursue "Taiwan independence", it said, he should have attached no conditions, still less denied that Taiwan is part of China by treating one China as something for "the future".

In January 2002 Taiwan became a member of the World Trade Organization as the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, and in July that year Chen became chairman of the DPP. The same year he advanced the idea of "one country on each side" of the Strait, asserting that Taiwan was a sovereign independent country. On 31 December 2003 he signed the Referendum Act.

Eleventh-Term President (2004–2008)

On 19 March 2004, the day before the vote, Chen and Lu were wounded by gunfire while campaigning in Tainan. On 20 March they were re-elected with 50.11 per cent of the vote, fewer than 30,000 votes ahead of Lien Chan and James Soong, the joint candidates of the Kuomintang and the People First Party. In July he announced the creation of a special commission to investigate the 19 March shooting.

After the National People's Congress passed the Anti-Secession Law on 14 March 2005, Chen issued a "six-point stern response" on 16 March; on 26 March, at a mass march against the law in Taipei organised by the DPP and others, he led the crowd in song but did not make a speech. On 27 February 2006 he approved the cessation of the National Unification Council and of the application of the National Unification Guidelines. In 2007 he put forward the "four wants and one without": "Taiwan wants independence, wants a change of name, wants a new constitution and wants development; Taiwan has no left–right question, only the question of independence or unification". His term ended on 20 May 2008 and he was succeeded by Ma Ying-jeou.

Prosecution after Leaving Office

In November 2008 Chen was detained by the Special Investigation Division on suspicion of embezzling the presidential state affairs fund and other offences. On 11 November 2010 the Supreme Court upheld his conviction in the Longtan land-purchase case, sentencing Chen and his wife Wu Shu-chen to 11 years each and fines of NT$150 million; in the Chen Min-hsun appointment case decided the same day, each was sentenced to 8 years. Chiang Chih-ming, a secretary in Chen's office, said he was "shocked" and that the case had been finalised so quickly "under political manipulation".

On 5 January 2015 Taiwan's Ministry of Justice, citing a deterioration in his health, granted him one month's medical parole, not counted towards his sentence; according to Radio Free Asia he had by then served six years and 40 days. That afternoon he left Taichung Prison in a wheelchair and returned to his home in Kaohsiung. The medical parole was subsequently extended many times.