Apollo Chen, also known as Chen Shei-saint (Chinese: 陳學聖; pinyin: Chén Xuéshèng; born 28 September 1957) is a Taiwanese journalist and politician.

Apollo Chen
Chen Shei-saint
陳學聖
Chen in March 2016
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office
1 February 2012 – 1 February 2020
Preceded byHuang Jen-shu
Succeeded byLu Ming-che
ConstituencyTaoyuan 3rd
In office
1 February 1999 – 31 January 2005
ConstituencyTaipei 2nd
Personal details
Born (1957-09-28) 28 September 1957 (age 66)
Taipei, Taiwan
NationalityRepublic of China
Political partyKuomintang
Alma materNational Taiwan University, Tamkang University
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionJournalist

Education and early career edit

Born in Taipei, Chen attended Jianguo High School, and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from National Taiwan University, followed by a master's in Chinese studies at Tamkang University. He wrote for the China Daily News and China Times and was also a television anchor on Asia Television.[1]

Political career edit

Chen served on the Taipei City Council from 1991 to 1998.[2][3] His first stint in the Legislative Yuan began the next year and lasted until 2005. Chen was the spokesman of Lien Chan's 2000 presidential campaign.[4][5] In between legislative stints, he was the director of the Taoyuan County Cultural Affairs Bureau.[6][7][8] Chen, backed by the Kuomintang,[9] ran for the legislature again in the Taoyuan County by-election of 2010, losing to Huang Jen-shu by approximately 3,000 votes.[10][11] He returned to the legislature in 2012. In 2014, Chen was suspended from the Kuomintang for casting a vote against the Land Administration Agent Act.[12] However, the censure did not prevent him from running for reelection in 2016, which he won.[13] It was initially reported that Chen had defeated Hsu Ching-wen [zh] by 390 votes.[14][15] A recount by the Taoyuan District Court revealed that Chen had won by 389 votes.[16][17]

2016 KMT chairmanship election edit

His party's presidential candidate, Eric Chu, was not successful and subsequently resigned the KMT chairmanship. Chen declared his interest in the position a few days after Chu's resignation was finalized.[18][19] On 22 February, Chen submitted a petition of 24,179 signatures to the party committee responsible for overseeing elections.[20] The party confirmed 10,710 of those signatures, validating his candidacy.[21] Chen finished fourth in the election, which was won by Hung Hsiu-chu.[22]

2016 Kuomintang chairmanship election
No. Candidate Party Votes Percentage Result
1 Hung Hsiu-chu   Kuomintang 78,829 56.16%  
2 Huang Min-hui   Kuomintang 46,341 33.02%
3 Lee Hsin   Kuomintang 7,604 5.42%
4 Apollo Chen   Kuomintang 6,784 4.83%
Total votes  337,351
Turnout  41.61%

2018 Taoyuan mayor election edit

In March 2018, the Kuomintang announced that Chen had defeated Lu Ming-che and Yang Li-huan [zh] in a primary held to decide the party's candidate in the Taoyuan mayoral election.[23]

2018 Kuomintang Taoyuan City mayoral primary results
Candidates Place Results
Apollo Chen Nominated 35.689%
Lu Ming-zhe 2nd 33.067%
Yang Li-huan 3rd 31.245%
 
2018 Taoyuan mayor election result
2018 Taoyuan City mayoral results[24]
No. Candidate Party Votes Percentage
1 Zhu Mei-xue (朱梅雪)   Independent 18,200 1.76%
2 Apollo Chen   Kuomintang 407,234 39.42%
3 Yang Li-huan (楊麗環)   Independent 51,518 4.99%
4 Wu Fu-tong (吳富彤)   Independent 3,867 0.37%
5 Cheng Wen-tsan Democratic Progressive Party 552,330 53.46%  
Total voters  1,732,591
Valid votes  1,033,149
Invalid votes  
Voter turnout  59.63%

References edit

  1. ^ "Chen Shei-saint". Legislative Yuan. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Who's Who in the ROC II". 2002. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  3. ^ Liu, Weiling (25 April 1997). "Pagers enter sanctum of Taipei classrooms". Taiwan Today. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  4. ^ Chen, Lauren (8 February 2000). "Secrets of the first wives' club". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  5. ^ Yu, Sen-lun (13 February 2000). "Watchdog group". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  6. ^ Huang, Kayla (September 2007). "When Construction and Archaeology Collide". Taiwan Panorama. Archived from the original on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  7. ^ Huang, Kayla (September 2007). "Lost and Found--Exploring the Chienshan Archaeological Site". Taiwan Panorama. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  8. ^ Shih, Sandra (9 May 2008). "More to glass than meets the eye at art exhibition". Taiwan Today. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  9. ^ Ko, Shu-ling (13 January 2010). "Deputy mayor quits KMT after candidacy kerfuffle". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  10. ^ "More setbacks for KMT in by-election defeats". China Post. 28 February 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  11. ^ "Latest election defeat seen as warning for KMT". China Post. 28 February 2010.
  12. ^ Pan, Jason (28 February 2014). "KMT suspends Apollo Chen for dissenting vote". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  13. ^ Kuo, Adam Tyrsett (28 February 2014). "Chen Shei-saint's KMT party rights revoked for one yr". China Post. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  14. ^ "Runner-up demands recount". Taipei Times. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  15. ^ Chin, Jonathan (28 January 2016). "Taoyuan recount confirms DPP victory". Taipei Times. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  16. ^ Chiu, Chun-chin; Wu, Lilian (29 January 2016). "Vote recount maintains KMT candidate's victory in Taoyuan City". Central News Agency. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  17. ^ "Taoyuan district recount sees no change of winner". Taipei Times. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  18. ^ Hsu, Stacy (26 January 2016). "Hung shrugs off reports of KMT members quitting". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  19. ^ Wang, Cheng-chung; Tang, Pei-chun; Low, Y. F. (25 January 2016). "KMT Legislator Chen Shei-saint announces bid for party chair". Central News Agency. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  20. ^ Hsu, Stacy (23 February 2016). "Four register for KMT chairman race". Taipei Times. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  21. ^ Hsieh, Chia-chen; Low, Y.F. (26 February 2016). "Four qualified to run for KMT chairmanship". Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  22. ^ Hsiao, Alison (27 March 2016). "Hung elected KMT's first chairwoman". Taipei Times. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  23. ^ Hsu, Stacy (29 March 2018). "Apollo Chen wins Taoyuan primary". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  24. ^ "2018 Local Elections". Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.

External links edit