Chen Chi-mai

Chen Chi-mai (born December 23, 1964) is a Taiwanese politician and the current Mayor of Kaoshiung since August 24, 2020.

He has served as spokesperson of the Democratic Progressive Party and the chief executive officer of its Policy Research and Coordinating Committee.

Chen Chi-mai was born in Keelung City, Taiwan, on December 23, 1964.

Chen studied medicine at the Chung Shan Medical University in Taichung, where he earned his MB degree in 1991.

He got his MS degree in preventive medicine at the National Taiwan University in 1994.

A physician from Keelung, Chen started his political career by becoming member of the Legislative Yuan in 1996 and served as legislator for almost eight years before becoming the spokesperson of the Executive Yuan.

He practiced medicine at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital for about three years and became a lecturer at the Taipei Medical University in 1996.

Chen made his early entry into public affairs when he, as a student, served as an assistant to his father, a legislator at the time.

A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Chen was elected legislator three times serving from 1996 to 2004.

During his term, he became the secretary-general of the Justice Alliance faction of the DPP in 1998 and the legislative caucus leader in 1999.

He also became members of various committees within the Legislative Yuan, including the Foreign Affairs, Judiciary, National Defense, and Transportation Committees.

Before the DPP became the ruling party, Chen suggested that then-incumbent magistrate of Taoyuan County Annette Lu would be a better choice for Chen Shui-bian's presidential running mate than any other party member.

Lu was eventually selected as his running mate.

After Shui-bian's successful presidential campaign, Chen Chi-mai, as a leader of the Justice Alliance faction, supported the proposal of another member to revise the pro-independence guideline.

Although many party members had similar views, the proposal was sent back to the party's policy research department for review.

The document was proved too controversial and was attacked within the party as a result, although some members believed that it was only based on the 1999 Resolution on Taiwan's Future.

In 2004, Chen was appointed a Minister without Portfolio and spokesperson of the Executive Yuan.

Soon after, another proposal to modify pro-independence guidelines was created.

Several DPP legislators believed that the change of the national title from "Republic of China" to "Taiwan," which is one of the ultimate goals of Taiwan's desinicization campaign and localization movement, was not necessary.

Chen also supported the proposal.

The proposal was documented in an essay called New Culture Discourse, drafted by DPP legislator Lee Wen-chung of the New Tide faction.

After the essay was leaked to the media, many politicians, including Chen, denied being involved in drafting the document.

In 2005, Chen succeeded to the mayoralty of Kaohsiung after Frank Hsieh's appointment as premier.

In January 2005, following the death of former CCP General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, Chen represented the Taiwanese cabinet in delivering a message to the Chinese government.

In his address, Chen urged China's leaders to pursue democratization.

Chen stated that Beijing should "face the truth about Tiananmen Square... We urge the Chinese government to learn from Mr. Zhao's tolerance and to push for democratic reforms."

Later in January 2005, Chen Chi-mai was nominated to serve as acting mayor of Kaohsiung by premier-designate Frank Hsieh.

After becoming the mayor of Kaohsiung, Chen sought to continue construction of the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (KMRT), a major construction started during Frank Hsieh's mayoral term.

On July 25, 2005, Kaohsiung officially became the host city of World Games 2009, which became the largest international sports event hosted in Taiwan, after Chen received the flag of the World Games.

Chen later announced the construction of a world-class stadium built for the event.

In August 2005, Thai workers rioted over the draconian treatment they received as foreign workers.

Chen became the Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidential Office in 2007 and served until the inauguration of President Ma Ying-jeou.

He is the son of Chen Che-nan, who is also a politician and was also a Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidential Office before Chen took office in 2007.

Both the Red Line and the Orange Line of the system opened in 2008.

Chen also worked to turn Kaohsiung into a film location hub by encouraging filmmakers to shoot their films in the port city.

He offered filmmakers, such as Tsai Ming-liang, various incentives for their award-winning films.

He presented a NT$10 million (approx. US$323 thousand) prize to Tsai for his film The Wayward Cloud.

Tsai in return said he would soon shoot a new film in Kaohsiung and praised the city's efforts to develop Kaohsiung into an international city.

Following his December 2018 loss in the Kaohsiung mayoral election, Chen was appointed Vice Premier of the Republic of China by President Tsai Ing-wen.

Chen yielded the vice premiership to Shen Jong-chin in June 2020, and won the Kaohsiung mayoralty in a by-election on August 15, 2020 after previous mayor Han Kuo-yu was recalled.