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Chen Chi-mai (w=Ch'ên2 Ch'i2-mai4; born December 23, 1964), also known as Comay Chen, is a Taiwanese politician and physician who has served as the mayor of Kaohsiung since August 24, 2020. He has served as spokesperson of the Democratic Progressive Party and the chief executive officer of its Policy Research and Coordinating Committee. A physician from Keelung, Chen started his political career by becoming member of the Legislative Yuan in 1996 and served as legislator for almost eight years before becoming the spokesperson of the Executive Yuan.
In 2005, Chen succeeded to the mayoralty of Kaohsiung after Frank Hsieh's appointment as premier. Chen became the deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office in 2007 and served until the inauguration of President Ma Ying-jeou. Following his December 2018 loss in the Kaohsiung mayoral election, Chen was appointed Vice Premier of the Republic of China by President Tsai Ing-wen. Chen yielded the vice premiership to Shen Jong-chin in June 2020, and won the Kaohsiung mayoralty in a by-election on August 15, 2020 after previous mayor Han Kuo-yu was recalled.
Chen studied medicine at Chung Shan Medical University in Taichung, where he earned his Bachelor of Medicine (B.M.) in 1991. He then earned a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in preventive medicine from National Taiwan University in 1994 and worked as a lecturer at Taipei Medical University and a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics. He practiced medicine at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital for about three years and became a lecturer at the Taipei Medical University in 1996.
Chen made his early entry into public policy when he, as a student, served as an assistant to his father, a legislator at the time.
Before the DPP became the ruling party, Chen suggested that then-incumbent magistrate of Taoyuan City Annette Lu would be a better choice for Chen Shui-bian's presidential running mate than any other party member. Lu was eventually selected as his running mate.
After Shui-bian's successful presidential campaign, Chen Chi-mai, as a leader of the Justice Alliance faction, supported the proposal of another member to revise the pro-independence guideline. Although many party members had similar views, the proposal was sent back to the party's policy research department for review.
In 2004, Chen was appointed a Minister without Portfolio and spokesperson of the Executive Yuan. Soon after, another proposal to modify pro-independence guidelines was created. Several DPP legislators believed that the change of the national title from "Republic of China" to "Taiwan," which is one of the ultimate goals of Taiwan's desinicization campaign and localization movement, was not necessary. Chen also supported the proposal. The proposal was documented in an essay called New Culture Discourse, drafted by DPP legislator Lee Wen-chung of the New Tide faction. After the essay was leaked to the media, many politicians, including Chen, denied being involved in drafting the document. The document was proved too controversial and was attacked within the party as a result, although some members believed that it was only based on the 1999 Resolution on Taiwan's Future.
In January 2005, following the death of former CCP General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, Chen represented the Taiwanese cabinet in delivering a message to the Chinese government. In his address, Chen urged China's leaders to pursue democratization. Chen stated that Beijing should "face the truth about Tiananmen Square... We urge the Chinese government to learn from Mr. Zhao's tolerance and to push for democratic reforms."
Later in January 2005, Chen Chi-mai was nominated to serve as acting mayor of Kaohsiung by premier-designate Frank Hsieh.
Chen also worked to turn Kaohsiung into a film location hub by encouraging filmmakers to shoot their films in the port city. He offered filmmakers, such as Tsai Ming-liang, various incentives for their award-winning films. He presented a NT$10 million (approx. US$323 thousand) prize to Tsai for his film The Wayward Cloud. Tsai in return said he would soon shoot a new film in Kaohsiung and praised the city's efforts to develop Kaohsiung into an international city.
On July 25, 2005, Kaohsiung officially became the host city of World Games 2009, which became the largest international sports event hosted in Taiwan, after Chen received the flag of the World Games. Chen later announced the construction of a world-class stadium built for the event.
In August 2005, Thai people workers rioted over the draconian treatment they received as . These workers lived in poor conditions and had limited freedom. The Chen administration vowed to take action on August 25. Chen apologized to the public for the social turmoil caused by the incident and offered to resign three times. Then-premier Frank Hsieh authorized Chen's resignation on September 12, and replaced him with former vice premier Yeh Chu-lan.
After the DPP chairmanship election in May 2008, chairwoman-elect Tsai Ing-wen announced the appointment of Chen as the deputy secretary-general of the party. He held the position with Cho Jung-tai until 2009. Chen is now concurrently serving as both the spokesperson of the Democratic Progressive Party and the chief executive officer of the party's Policy Research and Coordinating Committee since May 2011.
In the 2012 legislative elections, Chen was placed on the DPP electoral list, from which 13 members were elected based on the number of votes the DPP received. Being the eighth member on the list, Chen returned to the Legislative Yuan once again as a legislator in February 2012. He was reelected via proportional representation in 2016. Chen faced fellow lawmakers Chao Tien-lin, Lin Tai-hua, and Kuan Bi-ling in a Kaohsiung mayoral primary held in March 2018, and was named the Democratic Progressive Party candidate for the mayoralty. On November 24, 2018, he was defeated by Han Kuo-yu, the Kuomintang mayoral nominee, by more than 150,000 votes. Chen became the first DPP mayoral candidate to lose in the special municipality of Kaohsiung, established in 2010. His defeat marked the end of 20 years of Democratic Progressive Party governance in the old city area of Kaohsiung, and 33 years of governance in the old Kaohsiung County area.
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| 742,239 | 44.80% | |
| 7,998 | 0.48% | |
| 14,125 | 0.85% | |
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Chen announced on 20 August 2020 that , Shih Che, and would be joining his administration as deputy mayors, one day before his victory was certified by the Central Election Commission. Chen succeeded acting mayor Yang Ming-jou on 24 August.
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| 248,478 | 25.90% | |
| 38,960 | 4.06% | |
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| 41.83% | ||
He is a Master Scuba Diver with close to thirty years of experience.
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