Chen Ding-Nan (1943–2006)

Inscribed in the museum lobby

"If I cannot be both liked and respected, I would rather be respected."

如果討人喜歡與受人尊敬無法兩全，我寧願受人尊敬。

Early life and business

Chen Ding-Nan was born on 20 September 1943 in Dazhou Village, Sanxing Township, Yilan, in the courtyard house that is now part of the museum. His mother died when he was a small child, and two aunts helped raise him.

He graduated in law from National Taiwan University in 1966. His military service in the Military Law Division of the Taiwan Garrison Command, the security agency that enforced martial law, showed him injustice in the courts at first hand, and he turned to business instead of the law. He worked in advertising and at the Formosa Plastics Group, then ran shoe-manufacturing companies, founding his own in 1974.

The Kaohsiung Incident of 1979 and the Lin family murders of 1980 convinced him that an educated person could not stand aside. He began campaigning for opposition (Tangwai, "outside the party") candidates, and in 1981 ran for office himself.

Yilan County Magistrate, 1981–1989

Elected in November 1981 as a non-Kuomintang candidate by 8,272 votes, and re-elected in 1985 with about 70 per cent of the vote, Chen Ding-Nan made environmental protection and tourism the two pillars of county policy. This approach became known as the "Yilan Experience".

• He enforced pollution law strictly, posting monitors at cement plants around the clock and putting the fines into compensation for affected communities.
• In 1987 he led opposition to Formosa Plastics' plan to build its sixth naphtha cracker in Yilan, debating its chairman, his former employer Wang Yung-ching, on television. The company withdrew.
• He planned the Dongshan River scenic area, sports parks and fishing harbours, and won central-government approval for the road tunnel that became the freeway between Taipei and Yilan.
• He sent pupils out of the classroom with the motto "step out of the classroom, go beyond the textbook, get close to nature, keep your feet on the ground".

He also dismantled the habits of authoritarian rule within the county. In 1987 he was the only county chief to join the 28 February peace march organised by Nylon Cheng (Cheng Nan-jung). In 1988 he abolished the political security offices inside county agencies and destroyed their loyalty files, and ended the screening of the national anthem before films in Yilan's cinemas. In 1989 he told county offices and schools that they need not hang portraits of former leaders or hold daily flag ceremonies.

Legislator, 1990–2000

Elected to the Legislative Yuan in December 1989 with nearly half the vote in a multi-seat district, he served four terms. He questioned the government's surveillance of citizens, led renewed opposition to the naphtha cracker in 1990, and in 1994 ran as the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate for Governor of Taiwan Province, losing to the Kuomintang candidate. In 1998 CommonWealth Magazine named him one of the 50 most influential people in Taiwan's history.

Minister of Justice, 2000–2005

Appointed Minister of Justice by President Chen Shui-bian on 20 May 2000, he declared war on "black gold", the fusion of organised crime and money politics, and set up a dedicated investigation centre within weeks. The Asian Wall Street Journal compared him to Eliot Ness.

• His vote-buying crackdown before the 2001 legislative election was credited with removing more than 20 legislators tied to "black gold".
• In 2001 his ministry drafted a Basic Law on Human Rights that, for the first time in Taiwan, proposed that same-sex couples be allowed to form families and adopt children.
• He extended training for new judges and prosecutors, pursued misconduct within the judiciary, and oversaw the first major revision of the Criminal Code in 70 years, passed in January 2005.

Final years

He resigned in January 2005 to run again for Yilan County Magistrate, and lost that December. In February 2006 he was diagnosed with stage three lung cancer. With his family's help he wrote a blog, "Good Morning, Death", about facing his illness.

Chen Ding-Nan died at National Taiwan University Hospital on 5 November 2006, aged 63. His will asked that his body be returned to Yilan, with no funeral hall and no public memorial service, and cremated within 72 hours. He also asked that a foundation be set up to carry on his work.

The permanent exhibition at the museum tells his story in 13 stops, with a free audio guide in English.

Contact

Chen Ding-Nan Education Foundation
No. 52, Lane 65, Section 2, Yizhou Road, Sanxing Township, Yilan County 266, Taiwan
Telephone: +886-3-989-8855
Email: [email protected]

Enquiries in English are welcome by email.