In 1986, after more than six years behind bars, Chen Chu was released on parole. She immediately doubled down on Taiwan’s democratic struggle. In Part Two, we trace her rise from dissident to political heavyweight. We cover her role in founding the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the fallout from the Kaohsiung MRT migrant-worker scandal that cost her her job as labor chief, and her razor-thin victory in the 2006 mayoral race. She would go on to shape Kaohsiung for more than a decade, but her administration was not without controversy, most notably over the devastating 2014 gas explosions.

Cover image shows Chen Chu at a final 2014 mayoral campaign rally in Fongshan, Kaohsiung. (By Eryk Michael Smith)

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People mentioned in the episode

Chen Chu (Chén Jú, 陳菊) – Taiwanese democracy activist, political prisoner and later mayor of Kaohsiung.

Linda Gail Arrigo – American-born democracy and human-rights activist who was then married to Shih Ming-teh. Following the crackdown, the authorities deported her from Taiwan.

Han Kuo-yu (Hán Guóyú 韓國瑜) – Elected mayor of Kaohsiung in an upset KMT win, Han then ran for president in 2020. Solidly defeated by incumbent Tsai Ing-wen, he returned to unhappy voters in Kaohsiung. In June 2020, he was recalled (or fired) from the position of mayor, with 40% of voters turning out, and 97% voting in favor of the recall.

Books and principal sources

林倖妃 (Lín Xìngfēi), 《花媽心內話：陳菊4000天》

Approximate English title: Flower Mama Speaks from the Heart: Chen Chu’s 4,000 Days

This was published by the excellent CommonWealth Magazine (天下雜誌) in 2017. This is a Chinese-language biography, and the “4,000 days” refers to Chen’s long tenure as mayor of Kaohsiung, not her imprisonment. We'll cover the story of her 4000 days in Part 2.

陳菊 (Chén Jú), 《黑牢嫁妝：一個台灣女子的愛與戰鬥》

Approximate English title: A Prison Dowry: A Taiwanese Woman’s Love and Struggle

Chen Chu’s 1993 memoir provides her own account of her childhood, political awakening, arrest, interrogation and imprisonment. It was published in Taipei by 月旦出版 (Yuedan Publishing? - not sure of the English name).

Hsiu-lien Lu and Ashley Esarey, My Fight for a New Taiwan: One Woman’s Journey from Prison to Power

Annette Lu’s English-language memoir gives a valuable eyewitness account of the arrests following the Kaohsiung Incident and of the years that she and Chen Chu spent imprisoned together.

Related Formosa Files episodes

The Taiwan history articles of Wikipedia are usually excellent but both the Chinese and English Wiki pages for Chen Chu were surprisingly light. We relied on some magazine and newspaper pieces, and three main books.

Annette Lu – From Prison to the Presidential Office

The life of Chen Chu’s fellow Kaohsiung Incident defendant and longtime prison cellmate. The episode follows Annette Lu from her early advocacy of women’s rights and democracy through imprisonment, electoral politics, service as Taoyuan County magistrate and her two terms as vice president of Taiwan.

https://www.formosafiles.com/s2-e36-annette-lu-from-prison-to-the-presidential-office/

Linda Gail Arrigo’s Verdict on Shih Ming-teh

Linda Arrigo talks to Eryk about her former husband Shih Ming-teh, the democracy movement and his complicated later legacy.

https://www.formosafiles.com/bonus-episode-linda-gail-arrigos-verdict-on-shih-ming-teh-shi-ming-de/

Shih Ming-teh – “Taiwan’s Mandela”

The story of the activist who spent a combined twenty-five and a half years in prison for opposing Taiwan’s authoritarian government.

https://www.formosafiles.com/episodes/season/3/

Key terms

Dangwai (dǎngwài, 黨外) – Literally “outside the party.” The term used for independent opposition politicians and activists during the period when the Kuomintang prohibited the formation of rival political parties.

Kaohsiung Incident (Gāoxióng Shìjiàn, 高雄事件) – The confrontation between police and demonstrators following a Human Rights Day rally in Kaohsiung on December 10, 1979. It is also widely known as the Formosa Incident or Meilidao Incident.

Taiwan Garrison Command (Táiwān Jǐngbèi Zǒngsīlìngbù, 臺灣警備總司令部) – A military security organization that played a major role in surveillance, censorship, arrests and the enforcement of martial law.

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