Editing Chen Shui-bian (section)

===First term===
{{See also|2000 Taiwanese presidential election}}
[[File:2000ROCPresident-original colors.svg|thumb|100px|Election results by county (Green: DPP, Orange: Soong-Chang)]]

In an election similar to Taipei's in 1994, Chen won the [[2000 ROC presidential election|2000 presidential election]] on 18 March 2000, with 39% of the vote as a result of a split of factions within the [[Kuomintang]], when [[James Soong]] ran for the presidency as an independent against the party nominee [[Lien Chan]].

Lacking a clear mandate and inheriting a bureaucracy largely loyal to the KMT, Chen tried to reach out to his opposition. He appointed the KMT conservative mainlander [[Tang Fei]], a former general and the incumbent defense minister, as his first [[Premier of the Republic of China|premier]]. Only about half of Chen's original cabinet were DPP members, as few DPP politicians had risen above the local level. Although a supporter of [[Taiwan independence]], Chen moderated his stance during his campaign and pledged the [[Four Noes and One Without]] in his inaugural address—that as long as the People's Republic of China has no intention to use military force against Taiwan, he would not declare independence nor change the national symbols of the Republic of China. He also promised to be, "president of all the people" and resigned his chairmanship from the DPP. His approval rating reached around 70%.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Moore |first1=Jonathan |last2=Roberts |first2=Dexter |title=Taipei's mayor: The man China fears |url=http://www.businessweek.com/1998/46/b3604055.htm |access-date=30 September 2014 |magazine=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]] |date=16 November 1998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110121170446/http://www.businessweek.com/1998/46/b3604055.htm |archive-date=21 January 2011 }}</ref>

Chen's administration ran into many problems, and its policies were constantly blocked by the [[pan-Blue coalition]]-controlled legislature. The stock market lost over half its value within a year and unemployment reached 4.5% in part because of the Asian stock market crash. While Chen's detractors blamed Chen's poor leadership for the economic crisis, the administration blamed the legislature for blocking its relief efforts.

More troublesome for Chen was the political showdown over the construction of the [[Number Four Nuclear Power Facility]]. This multibillion-dollar project in [[Gongliao District]] was already one-third completed and favored by the pro-business KMT as a means of avoiding an energy shortage. However, the environmentalist DPP strongly objected to the expansion of nuclear power. Premier Tang had threatened to resign if the project were canceled, and Chen accepted his resignation on 3 October 2000, only four and a half months after both had taken office. Chen appointed his political ally [[Chang Chun-hsiung]] as Tang's replacement. On 27 October, Chang announced that the government would halt construction. But less than an hour earlier, Chen had met with Lien Chan to reconcile differences{{Citation needed|date=February 2008}}. Lien had asked Chen to leave the matter for the [[Legislative Yuan]] to decide and Chen seemed receptive to the suggestion. When Chang's announcement came out, Lien was furious and the KMT began an effort to recall the president. The [[Council of Grand Justices]] intervened and declared that it was the legislature and not the cabinet that had the power to decide on the issue. This was widely seen as the end of Chen's attempts to face the pan-Blue groups head on. By the end of his first year in office, Chen's approval ratings had dropped to 25%.{{Citation needed|date=February 2008}}

During the summer of 2001, Chen flew to Los Angeles, [[Houston]], and New York City, where he met with members of the U.S. Congress. The mayor of Houston presented Chen with a key to the city and gave him cowboy clothing. His trip to New York was a first for a head of state from Taiwan as there was unwritten agreement between the US and China that no head of state from Taiwan would be permitted to visit either New York or Washington, D.C.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}}

After his first year in office, Chen moved away from sending conciliatory gestures. In the summer of 2002, Chen again became the chairman of the DPP. During his tenure, images of [[Chiang Kai-shek]] and [[Chiang Ching-kuo]] disappeared from public buildings. The word "TAIWAN" is now printed on new ROC passports. Also continuing a trend from the previous administration, the Education Ministry revised the school curriculum to be more Taiwan-centered. Government websites have also tended to promote the notion that China is synonymous with the PRC instead of the ROC as was mandated by the KMT. The "Free China Review" was renamed the [[Taiwan Review]] and Who's Who in the ROC was renamed Who's Who in Taiwan. In January 2003, a new Taiwan-Tibet Exchange Foundation was formed but the Cabinet-level [[Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission]] was not abolished. Though Chen has proposed talks with the PRC, relations remain deadlocked as Chen refused to pledge to the [[One-China policy]], as required by the PRC for talks to begin. Such a pledge seemed unlikely for Chen since there remained strong opposition within his own party. Despite these symbolic gestures, Chen moved away from "[[no haste, be patient]]" policy and opened the [[three mini links]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=T. Y. |title=Lifting the "No Haste, Be Patient" Policy: Implications for Cross-Strait Relations |journal=Cambridge Review of International Affairs |date=2002 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=131–139 |doi=10.1080/09557570220126342|s2cid=144195919 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Noah J |title=China opens door to direct trade links with Taiwan |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-opens-door-to-direct-trade-links-with-taiwan-5367695.html |access-date=1 September 2018 |work=The Independent |date=29 December 2000 |archive-date=2 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902020333/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-opens-door-to-direct-trade-links-with-taiwan-5367695.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Pan |first1=Philip P. |last2=Culpan |first2=Tim |title=China, Taiwan Agree to Direct Flights |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12524-2005Jan15.html |access-date=1 September 2018 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=16 January 2005 |archive-date=28 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828191724/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12524-2005Jan15.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Taiwan stands up |url=https://www.economist.com/special/2000/03/23/taiwan-stands-up |access-date=1 September 2018 |newspaper=The Economist |date=23 March 2000 |archive-date=2 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902084210/https://www.economist.com/special/2000/03/23/taiwan-stands-up |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{POV|date=December 2020}}

====Re-election campaign====
{{See also|2004 Taiwanese presidential election|3-19 shooting incident}}
[[File:2004ROCPresident.svg|thumb|100px|Election results by county (Green: DPP, Blue: Lien-Soong)]]
In late 2003, he signed a controversial referendum bill, which he had supported but was heavily watered down by the [[pan-Blue coalition|pan-Blue]] majority legislature. One concession that the legislature made was to include a provision for an emergency defensive referendum and during the legislative debates it was widely believed that this clause would only be invoked if Taiwan was under imminent threat of attack from China as has been so often threatened. Within a day of the passage of the referendum bill, Chen stated his intention to invoke this provision, citing PRC's over 450 missiles aimed directly at the Taiwanese. Pan-Blue believed that his bill was only intended to benefit Chen in the coming election, as whether PRC removes the missiles would not be pressured or decided by referendum result.

[[Image:Presidential Building, Taiwan (0757).JPG|thumb|Images of Chiang Kai-shek were removed from public buildings. Chen's portrait was hung at a location in the presidential office that previously displayed a portrait of Chiang.]]

In October 2003, Chen flew to New York City for a second time. At the [[Waldorf-Astoria Hotel]], he was presented with the Human Rights Award by the [[International League of Human Rights]]. In the subsequent leg of the trip to Panama, he met with US Secretary of State [[Colin Powell]] and shook hands with him. This high-profile trip raised Chen's standing in opinion polls ahead of his opponent Lien Chan for the first time at 35%, according to Agence France-Presse.

His use of the referendum in combination with his talk of a new constitution lead many among his reunification critics to believe that he would attempt to achieve [[Taiwan independence]] in his second term by invoking a referendum to create a new constitution that would formally separate Taiwan from any interpretation of China. This caused the government of the United States to follow the lead of Chen's political critics and issue a rare rebuke of Chen's actions.

[[3-19 shooting incident|Chen was shot in the stomach]] while campaigning in the city of [[Tainan City|Tainan]] on Friday, 19 March 2004, the day before polls opened on Saturday. His vice-president [[Annette Lu]] was also reportedly shot in the leg in the same incident. The following day, Chen narrowly won the election with a margin of less than 30,000 votes out of 12.9&nbsp;million votes counted. Both of his referendum proposals were rejected due to insufficient turnout, in part by the pan-Blue boycott. Those that did vote for the referendum overwhelmingly favored it. Pan-Blue candidate [[Lien Chan]] refused to concede and sued both for a recount and for a nullification of the outcome while supporters held a week-long protest led by the pan-Blues front of the [[Presidential Building (Taiwan)|presidential office]] in Taipei. He also claimed that the shooting was staged by Chen to win sympathy votes.

Throughout the election, Chen planned to hold a referendum in 2006 on a new [[Constitution of the Republic of China|constitution]] to be enacted upon the accession of the 12th-term president in May 2008. After the election, he sought to reassure critics and moderate supporters that the new constitution would not address the issue of sovereignty, and that the current constitution was in need of comprehensive reform after more than a decade of patchwork revision.