With the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) mired in indecision as to whether to transfer power within the party to a new generation, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) recently brought fresh blood into one of its top positions by inviting Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱), a member of the student democratic movement in the 1980s, to take over as the party's spokesperson and deputy secretary-general.
The process through which Chung was appointed took less than 24 hours, as President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) last Monday instructed Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), the DPP's secretary-general, to ask Chung if he was interested in taking up the jobs. The next day, Chung announced that he would take the posts.
"I was actually very surprised when President Chen asked me to take this offer. It happened only one day before Tuesday's Central Executive Committee. The president thought that if I accepted his offer, he could announce his decision the next day," Chung said last week in an interview with the Taipei Times.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Chung had served since 2001 as a counselor to Council for Cultural Affairs and as an aide to council chairwoman Tchen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀).
A member of the DPP's New Tide Faction (新潮流), which is known for recruiting young elites, Chung worked for the faction's legislative office and served in the 1990s as a legislative aide to former DPP legislator Lu Hsiu-yi (盧修一) -- Tchen's late husband.
During the 2002 Taipei City mayoral election, Chung served as campaign director for the DPP's candidate, Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), who is now the party's No. 1 deputy secretary-general.
Chung said that Chen's appointing him owed a lot to Lee's recommendation.
"I was supposed to leave my job at the council in any case, as Tchen was not going to be staying on in her job as chairwoman after the restructuring of the Cabinet. Seeing that I would be free soon, Lee recommended me for a job in the party headquarters," Chung said.
Chung said that he appreciated the opportunity to take up a top-ranking party position but that he would behave humbly when he carried out party business because, compared to senior party officials, he was only a "junior."
Chung, 39, is among the DPP's "student-movement generation" of young officials, many of whom have recently been promoted to major government and party posts. Several members of the 1990 Wild Lily Student Movement have gone into politics.
"Politics is about competition and power sharing. But a very important factor in this field is one's ability. I believe it's my ability that brought me this job," Chung said.
Chung said that opportunities to grow and learn in his new positions will allow him to increase his ability.
"I believe that this is a time when opportunities are going to young people, and this will be very significant to the DPP during Chen's second term as the administration cultivates young talent -- people who will then take up greater responsibilities in the future. All of the party's leaders today became who they are through the same sort of process," Chung said.
Chung holds a B.A. in history from National Taiwan University. He comes from a Mainlander family and was the co-founder of the Goa-Seng-Lang [Mainlanders'] Association for Taiwan Independence (外省人獨立促進會).
Chung's extensive political career has also included serving as a member of the National Assembly and working as a top aide for former Penghu County Commissioner Kao Chih-peng (高植澎) and Pingtung County Commissioner Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全).
The Wild Lily Student Movement was launched in a bid to force government leaders to accept political reform.
Chung has been engaged recently in a regrouping of the movement's members and in plans to launch an association to monitor government.
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