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
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 67)
Taipei, Taiwan
NationalityRepublic of China
Political partyKuomintang
Alma materNational Taiwan University (BA)
Tamkang University (MA)

Education and early career

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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

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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 [zh] 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

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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

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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

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  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.
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