Sisy Chen or Chen Wen-hsien (; born 25 March 1958) is a Taiwanese journalist, television commentator, writer and former politician. She hosts ''Sisy's World News'', a weekly newscast at the
Chung T'ien Television
Chung T'ien Television (CTi TV; ), is a nationwide cable TV network based in Taiwan. It belongs to Want Want China Times group, which also owns China Television (CTV).
History
Founded in 1994, CTi TV was originally called the Chinese Television ...
and ''UFO Dinner'', a daily radio talk show at
UFO Radio. She was an independent member of the
Legislative Yuan
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...
from February 1, 2002 to January 31, 2005. Since 2005, she also hosted a political talk show on the
Phoenix Television
Phoenix Television is a majority state-owned television network that offers Mandarin and Cantonese-language channels that serve mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and other markets with substantial Chinese-language viewers. It is operated by P ...
, ''Jie Ma Chen Wen Qian'' which focuses on exposing the flaws of Taiwan's democratic system.
Biography
She received her
LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
from
National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan.
The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...
. From 1982 to 1983 she worked as the Vice Editor of the American Version of the
China Times
The ''China Times'' (, abbr. ) is a daily Chinese-language newspaper published in Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pa ...
Daily News. Throughout the early 1980s, she campaigned for
Tangwai
The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Leg ...
candidates and published opposition essays. As a founding member of the
Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...
in 1984, she was editor of the opposition's
New Tide magazine from 1985 to 1986.
Chen then travelled to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
to pursue a doctorate at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
and later at the
New School for Social Research
The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. She did not complete her studies.
In the early 1990s, Sisy Chen remained active in Taiwanese society as a member of the UN Minority Group for Asia, the chairperson of the Taiwan Relations Center's office of the UN, and the producer for Italian National Broadcast's Asia Department.
TVBS
TVBS Media Inc. (), formerly Liann Yee Production Co., Ltd. (), is a Taiwanese commercial television broadcasting company. It was originally established as a joint venture between TVB in Hong Kong and Era Group in Taiwan, but TVB took over Er ...
voted her No. 4 in its 1995 top ten list in Taiwan. In 1996, she worked as General Manager of Song Records. As she gained more fame as an outspoken and blunt commentator, her position in the Democratic Progressive Party rose and she was appointed director of the DPP Culture and Information Department. Beginning in 1998, she hosted ''Women's Talk'' on TVBS and promoted women's issues.
Sisy Chen, an ally of
Hsu Hsin-liang
Hsu Hsin-liang (; born 27 May 1941) is a Taiwanese politician, formerly Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). He was a supporter of the Pan-Blue Coalition from 2000 to 2008 but then supported the DPP in the 2008 presidential elect ...
, left the DPP in 1999 and emerged as one of its harshest critics. In 2001, as an independent, she won a seat in the
Legislative Yuan
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...
representing South
Taipei City
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the Capital city, capital and a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Regions of Taiwan, Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of t ...
. That same year she accepted a KMT controlled position on the board of
Taiwan Television
Taiwan Television Enterprise, Ltd. (), commonly known as TTV and formerly known as Central Television and Voice of Taiwan, is the first terrestrial television station in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was established on April 28, 1962, and ...
(TTV) and became spokesperson of the
Mountain Alliance, a pro-
unification think tank that included Hsu Hsin-liang and
Shih Ming-teh
Shih Ming-teh (; born 15 January 1941) commonly known as Nori Shih, is a statesman and human rights defender in Taiwan and was once a political prisoner for 25-and-a-half years.
Arrested at the age of 21 in 1962 and charged with creating the " ...
.
She was a strategist for the
Pan Blue Coalition in the
2004 ROC presidential election and debated Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman
Tsai Ing-wen
Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...
on the
March 20 referendum. In the night before the election, she invited a celebrity panel to her show and made the first high-profile claim that the shooting of
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
and
Annette Lu
Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as Ta ...
earlier that day was probably staged. Some Pan-Blue officials believe this early accusation was a factor Lien-Soong's defeat as it alienated swing voters who switched over to the DPP in Chen's sympathy.
In 2003 Sisy Chen and
Wu Cherng-dean
Wu Cherng-dean (; born 10 May 1957) is a Taiwanese politician. As of 2003 and 2006 he was of the New Party of the Republic of China in Taiwan and served as a legislator. In 2003 he and Sisy Chen joined the People First Party (PFP) legislative ca ...
joined the PFP legislative caucus.
During a press conference on March 19, 2004 she said that the assassination attempt on
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
and
Annette Lu
Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as Ta ...
was staged. This caused her to receive political attacks from the blue-camp legislators.
She did not seek reelection in December 2004 and supported her friend
Li Ao
Li Ao (, also spelled Lee Ao; 25 April 1935 – 18 March 2018) was a Chinese writer, social commentator, historian and independent politician based in Taiwan.
Li has been called one of the most important modern East Asian essayists today; his ...
in his successful bid for a seat. In 2005, Chen published her new book. During the press conference, she revealed her thought of regarding herself as a re-incarnation of a
witch
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...
in her previous life. She also confessed her deeper ache for
love
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...
than before.
Outside politics Sisy Chen has been active in the media. From 2002 to the present time, Sisy Chen hosted "Wen Qian Xiao Mei Da," a talk show aimed at exploring and exposing political and social issues in Taiwan. In 2005, Sisy Chen became a host of "Jie Ma Chen Wen Qian," a talk show on
Phoenix TV
Phoenix Television is a majority state-owned television network that offers Mandarin and Cantonese-language channels that serve mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and other markets with substantial Chinese-language viewers. It is operated by ...
. On her TV shows, Sisy Chen frequently criticized the democratic system of Taiwan.
In 2006 Chen Shui-bian announced that he would file a lawsuit against Sisy Chen for her statement that Chen Shui-bian was going to use a scheduled trip to
Palau
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...
to ship valuables of his away from Taiwan.
[Shih, Hsiu-chuan.]
President planning to sue Sisy Chen over TV accusations
" ''Taipei Times
The ''Taipei Times'' is the only printed daily English-language newspaper in Taiwan, and the third established there. Online competitors include the state-owned ''Focus Taiwan'' and ''Taiwan News''; ''The China Post'' was formerly a competit ...
''. Saturday August 26, 2006. Retrieved on October 11, 2013.
See also
References
External links
Sisy Chen's official website(Archive)
Sisy Chen-
Sina Weibo
Sina Weibo (新浪微博) is a Chinese microblogging ( weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily acti ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Sisy
1958 births
Living people
National Taiwan University alumni
Democratic Progressive Party (Taiwan) politicians
21st-century Taiwanese women politicians
Taiwanese radio presenters
Taiwanese women radio presenters
Taiwanese television presenters
Taiwanese women television presenters
Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Taichung
Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan
Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan
Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent
Taiwanese politicians of Japanese descent