Editing Chen Shui-bian (section)

==Entry into politics==
Chen became involved in politics in 1980 when he defended the participants of the [[Kaohsiung Incident]] in a military court. While his client [[Huang Hsin-chieh]], the leading opposition dissident, and seven co-defendants, including his future Vice President [[Annette Lu]], were found guilty, Chen came to be known for his forceful and colorful arguments. He has stated that it was during this period that he realized the unfairness of the political system in Taiwan and became politically active as a member of the [[Tangwai]] movement.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

Chen won a seat in the Taipei City Council as a Tangwai candidate in 1981 and served until 1985. In 1984, he founded the pro-opposition Civil Servant Public Policy Research Association, which published a magazine called ''Neo-Formosa''.  On 12 January 1985, Chen was sentenced to a year in prison for [[libel]] as a result of his editorship of ''Neo-Formosa,'' following the publication of an article which claimed that the doctoral dissertation of [[Elmer Fung]], a college philosophy professor (who would later become a [[New Party (Taiwan)|New Party]] legislator), was plagiarized.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ko |first1=Shu-ling |title='Neo Formosa Weekly' resumes on the Web |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/09/11/2003453293 |access-date=6 November 2021 |work=[[Taipei Times]] |date=11 September 2009 |archive-date=6 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106071705/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/09/11/2003453293 |url-status=live }}</ref>

While appealing the sentence, he returned to Tainan to run for county magistrate in November 1985. Three days after losing the election, his wife, [[Wu Shu-chen]] was hit twice by a [[hand tractor]] driven by Chang Jong-tsai as Chen and Wu were thanking their supporters. She was left paralyzed from the waist down. His supporters believed this was part of a government campaign to intimidate him, although another theory says it was a simple traffic accident.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yu |first1=Sen-lun |title=The A-bian Family |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2000/05/21/0000036944 |access-date=6 November 2021 |work=[[Taipei Times]] |date=21 May 2000 |archive-date=6 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106062435/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2000/05/21/0000036944 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=新浪雜誌 – 阿扁抹黑張榮財21年 |trans-title=Sina Magazine – A-Bian slandered Chang Jung-tsai for 21 years. |url=http://magazine.sina.com.tw/chinatimesweekly/1482/2006-07-18/ba14259.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080525124645/http://magazine.sina.com.tw/chinatimesweekly/1482/2006-07-18/ba14259.shtml |archive-date=25 May 2008 |access-date=6 February 2016}}</ref>

Chen lost his appeal in May 1986 and began serving eight months in the [[Taipei Detention Center, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice|Tucheng Penitentiary]] along with [[Huang Tien-fu]] and [[Lee I-yang]], two other defendants in the case. Whilst in Tucheng the 3 prisoners were also joined for a period of time by [[Chi Chia-wei]] a prominent gay rights activist in Taiwan.<ref>{{Cite web |title="I Was Immediately Arrested And Held For More Than Six Months" |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/arrested-05242019111638.html |access-date=12 July 2022 |website=Radio Free Asia |date=24 May 2019 |language=en |archive-date=12 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712164949/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/arrested-05242019111638.html |url-status=live }}</ref> While he was in prison, his wife campaigned and was elected to the [[Legislative Yuan]].  Upon his release in 1987, Chen served as her chief counsel.<ref>{{cite news |title=A profile in courage |url=https://www.taiwandc.org/twcom/tc92-int.pdf |access-date=24 July 2020 |work=Taiwan Comminqué |issue=92 |issn=1027-3999 |date=July 2000 |archive-date=11 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711110839/http://www.taiwandc.org/twcom/tc92-int.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In May 2022, the [[Transitional Justice Commission]] overturned Chen, Huang and Lee's libel charges.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yeh |first1=Su-ping |last2=Kao |first2=Evelyn |title=Justice Commission overturns convictions during martial law period |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202205230024 |access-date=24 May 2022 |agency=Central News Agency |date=23 May 2022 |archive-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524010750/https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202205230024 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1989, Chen was elected to the [[Legislative Yuan]] and served as the executive director of the Democratic Progressive Party caucus. With the support of some KMT colleagues, Chen was also elected convener of the National Defense Committee. He was instrumental in laying out and moderating many of the DPP's positions on [[Taiwan independence]], including the [[four ifs]]. He was reelected to another three-year term in 1992, but resigned in two years to become mayor.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}