Chen Chu, Part 1: The Prisoner Who Would Lead Kaohsiung – S6-E19

Long before becoming a three-time mayor of Kaohsiung, Chen Chu (陳菊) spent decades in Taiwan’s democracy movement. Born into a farming family in Yilan in 1950, Chen Chu moved to Taipei to attend university, and was soon drawn into the dangerous world of the dangwai opposition struggle against one-party KMT rule. After the Kaohsiung Incident of December 1979, Chen was sentenced to twelve years, and would spend more than six years behind bars – much of that time isolated with fellow prisoner and future vice president Annette Lu.

Cover image shows Chen Chu marching in one of the first martial law-era political protests: The Jan. 1979 Ciaotao Incident.