Chang Wen-ying (張溫鷹) was just a dentist, but she nipped and tucked former DPP Chairman Shih Ming-teh's (施明德) chin and double-fold eyelids when he was on the run during the 1979 Formosan Democratic Movement.
Chang, the incumbent Taichung Mayor seeking re-election without the DPP's blessing, looked back at her 51 years and said that she never thought about pursuing a career in politics. But many democratic activists long ago anticipated her political prospects.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"It took great courage for her to give a facelift to someone like me, who was then the KMT's most wanted man," Shih said. He described himself as then being "a walking dead man that even ignorant children were afraid of."
Shih attributed Chang's courage to her sense of justice and their patient-doctor relationship.
Operating on Shih brought Chang a two-year jail term on charges of concealing a fugitive. The incarceration, however, led to her heightened sense of political awareness.
Released from prison, Chang became politically active, took charge of the then yet-to-be-founded opposition DPP's organizing work in the greater Taichung area, and ran for a National Assembly seat in 1986.
Though Chang was defeated as a political freshman, her political reputation flourished thereafter and attracted a great deal of enthusiastic support.
"Among all female politicians, Chang excelled over the others in her eloquence, outspokenness and political viewpoints," said former DPP legislator Liu Wen-ching (
Liu said that Chang's campaign publications -- when she ran as a DPP candidate for a seat on the 1989 Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council -- deeply impressed many voters with their political appeal.
With last-minute support from then-Taichung Mayor Chen Tuan-tang (
At 41, Chang married Chen's divorced son -- Chen Wen-hsien (
After serving two-terms as a Taiwan Provincial Consultative Councilor, Chang aimed for something higher -- the 1997 Taichung Mayoral race.
"Because of her in-laws' political influence, Chang won the mayoral election," said Hsu Jung-shu (
Hsu attributed Chang's success to her hard-working personality, while Liu said Chang's patience and kindness had won her the trust of the citizens of Taichung.
Chang's hard work once earned her the nickname of the "silent duck that paddles its way upstream without tiring."
"She's like a mother. Such a character tends to attract voters who don't have clear party allegiances," Liu said, echoing Hsu's views.
Chang's relationship with the DPP -- especially the New Tide faction -- gradually deteriorated. According to Hsu, the faction blamed Chang, during her heyday, for not fully supporting its legislative candidates in Taichung, including Hung Chi-chang (
"The faction is too anxious to replace Chang," Hsu said, adding that it has always been an unwritten tradition within the party to fully support its members' re-election as heads of local governments.
But that did not happen to Chang, who lost badly to Tsai in the party's April primary elections.
Many party heavyweights attributed Chang's failure to her controversial husband, who was dubbed "the underground mayor" and is accused of meddling in the Taichung City Government' affairs.
But Hsu disagreed. "Chang has become a female politician with few flaws.
Her husband has, therefore, become an easy target to find fault with," Hsu said, adding that it was not fair to criticize Chang for whatever her husband, as an individual, had done.
Hsu said that Chen Wen-hsien this time had become an obstacle to Chang's re-election, although Chang would not agree and has chosen to stand by her husband.
As tough as the battle ahead may be, Chang has chosen to be a warrior and fight to further realize her political ideals.
Her apparent cooperation with the People First Party is also considered a betrayal of the DPP and its traditional supporters and has attracted severe criticism.
Putting the criticism aside, Chang is set on proving that she is not only a strong mayor, but that she is also determined to make Taichung a better place for "many moms and kids."
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary