Chen Shui-bian (10th - 11th terms)

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Presidents since 1947

Chen Shui-bian (10th - 11th terms)

Years	Introduction
1950	Born in Guantian Township, Tainan County.
1974	Graduates from the Law Department of National Taiwan University.
1981	Elected Taipei city councilor, which launches his political career.
1987	Joins the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
1989 to 1994	Elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1989 and re-elected in 1992. Works for repeal of Article 100 of the Criminal Code as well as legislation regarding “integration of military policy and military command structures.”
1994	Becomes the first popularly elected Mayor of Taipei since the city's conversion into a special municipality. Initiates reforms to improve civil service, speeds the construction of the rapid transit system, and promotes city-to-city diplomacy.
2000-03	Elected President of the ROC, with Annette Hsiu-lien Lu as his vice president.
2004-03	Re-elected President, with Annette Hsiu-lien Lu as his vice president.

Presidency

Years	Introduction
2000-05-20 to 2008-05-20	Internal affairs: Completes the following projects: dredging of Keelung River; construction of the Taipei-Yilan Freeway's Hsuehshan Tunnel, Taichung Ching Chuan Kang Airport, and Central Taiwan Science Park; improvement of Kaohsiung's drinking water quality; and building of a rapid transit system in Kaohsiung.
	Financial services sector: Launches the First Financial Reform in 2001 and the Second Financial Reform in 2004.
	Social security: Completes legislation designed to protect the underprivileged, such as farmers, fishermen, women, laborers, and the elderly. Those include: Gender Equality in Employment Act, Protective Act for Mass Redundancy of Employees, Employment Insurance Act, and National Pension Act.
	Policy on ethnic groups: Establishes the Council for Hakka Affairs, Hakka TV, and Taiwan Indigenous TV. Formulates draft of Indigenous Peoples Autonomy Act to push forward autonomy among indigenous peoples.
	Foreign affairs: Seeks admission to the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), but fails due to Beijing's intervention. However, in January 2002, the ROC becomes a member state of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
	Cross-strait relations: Declares his “Four No's Plus One” policy on May 20, 2000 in his inaugural address, pledging that as long as the PRC does not use military force against Taiwan, his administration would not: 1) declare independence ; 2) change the national title; 3) push for the inclusion of the so-called "state-to-state" description in the Constitution; 4) promote a referendum to change the status quo in regards to the question of independence or unification; and that the abolition of the National Reunification Council or the National Reunification Guidelines will not be an issue. Proposes the “One Country on Each Side” formula in 2002 that emphasizes Taiwan as a sovereign state, whereas mainland China passes the Anti-Separation Law in 2005. In 2007, announces his “Four Imperatives and One Non-issue” policy, saying that it is imperative for Taiwan: 1) to be independent; 2) to rectify its name; 3) to create a new constitution; 4) to develop; and that there exists no issue of left versus right in Taiwan politics, but only the issue of independence versus reunification.
2008-05-20	Leaves office as President at the end of his term.

Personal timeline

　　Tenth term of office

2000-05-20	Sworn in as President.
2000-08-13	Departs on first state visit since assuming presidency.
2000-12-08	Pardons Huang Jia-ming and 18 other prisoners of religious conscience.
2001-02-28	Attends ceremony commemorating 54th Anniversary of 228 Incident and apologizes on behalf of nation to long-time human rights activists, victims, and their families.
2001-04-05	Meets with visiting Dalai Lama.
2001-05-21	Departs on visit to El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, and Honduras.
2001-11-22	Signs ROC's World Trade Organization (WTO) accession treaty and ratifies WTO Protocol of Accession.
2002-06-30	Embarks on state visit to the ROC's diplomatic allies in Africa.
2002-07-21	Assumes chairmanship of Democratic Progressive Party.
2003-05-01	Convenes meeting attended by both ruling and opposition camps to fight Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
2003-05-23	Establishes Presidential Economic Advisory Panel and invites Chairman Vincent Siew of Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research to serve as chair.
2003-08-21	Signs “Taiwan-Panama Free Trade Agreement” with Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso.
2003-10-31	Embarks on seven-day trip to Panama and makes stopovers in New York and Alaska.
2003-11-01	Receives 2003 Human Rights Award from International League for Human Rights in New York, United States.
2003-12-31	Signs Referendum Act.
2004-02-03	Signs official letter to Premier applying to hold a referendum, together with an appendix stating purpose of the referendum: “Democracy Writes History; Referendum Defends Taiwan.”
2004-03-19	Shot during presidential campaign with Vice President Annette Hsiulien Lu in Tainan City.
2004-03-20	Re-elected President.

　　Eleventh term of office

2004-05-20	Sworn in as President.
2004-07-06	Announces establishment of special committee to investigate March 19 shooting and invites Control Yuan President Fredrick Chien to chair the committee.
2004-08-30	Embarks on visit to Panama and Belize.
2004-09-27	Requests according to the Additional Articles of the Constitution that Legislative Yuan arrange hearing of his report on the state of the nation during ongoing session.
2005-01-27	Embarks on visit to Palau and Solomon Islands.
2005-02-28	Meets with visiting former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
2005-03-16	Proposes stern six-point statement in response to passage of "AntiSeparationLaw" by mainland China.
2005-04-07	Attends funeral mass of Pope John Paul II with other heads of state and special envoys at St. Peter's Square, the Holy See.
2005-05-01	Embarks on visit to diplomatic allies in Oceania, including the Republic of Marshall Islands, the Republic of Kiribati, and Tuvalu.
2005-05-27	Signs Act Governing the Operation and Function of the National Assembly and writes his opinions on the signed document.
2005-08-19	Convenes high-level national security meeting to discuss policies to prevent and control avian influenza.
2005-09-20	Embarks on trip to ROC diplomatic allies in Central America and Caribbean. During stopover in Florida, exchanges views via videoconference with Tom Lantos, co-chair of U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which confers upon him its "Human Rights Award."
2006-02-28	Ratifies documents saying that the National Unification Councilceases to function and the National Unification Guidelines cease to apply.
2006-04-03	Meets with KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou.
2006-06-02	Suspends employment of paid and unpaid senior advisors, national policy advisors, and advisors to the president in order to demonstrate government's resolve to carry out reform.
2006-09-03	Leaves for Palau to attend First Taiwan-Pacific Allies Summit.
2007-01-08	Embarks on trip to Nicaragua to attend inauguration of Presidentelect Daniel Ortega.
2007-06-07	Issues statement upon severance of diplomatic relations between ROC and Costa Rica.
2007-07-18	Sends letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as popularly elected President of Taiwan in application for U.N. membership under the name "Taiwan."
2007-08-21	Embarks on trip to Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.
2007-10-11	Embarks on trip to the Republic of the Marshall Islands and attends Second Taiwan-Pacific Allies Summit.
2007-10-16	Responds to mainland Chinese President Hu Jintao's proposal of peace agreement between two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
2008-01-13	Embarks on trip to Guatemala and St. Lucia.
2008-02-02	Proposes "Spratly Initiative" in inspection trip to Taiping Island, one of the Spratly Islands. "
2008-03-28	Approves composition of presidential transition team and guidelines for presidential transition between the outgoing and the incoming administrations.
2008-04-01	Meets with President-elect Ma Ying-jeou.
2008-05-20	Steps down from the presidency.