Mary Chen

Chen earned a master's in business administration from San Diego State University in the United States.[1]

In a 2001 open letter co-written with nine others, Chen rejected the One China principle and advocated Taiwanese independence.[2] In the early 2000s, she was the leader of the Homemakers' Union and Foundation.[3] From this position, Chen advocated for a centralized collection effort regarding organic kitchen waste.[4] She also denounced the Chinese fur trade.[5] She has called upon governmental and private efforts to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions.[6] By 2009, Chen had stepped down as chair of the Homemaker Union and Foundation,[7] but later resumed the post and remained on its board of directors.[8][9] She has described nuclear power as "something that can cause immense destruction when something goes wrong" in spite of increasing public support for the technology due to climate change.[10] Chen advocated that construction of the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant be stopped,[11] and plans were eventually put on hold in 2014.

Chen believes that the use of ractopamine and other additives is questionable and not fully endorsed by scientific research,[12][13] and that US beef imports to Taiwan found to include ractopamine should not be accepted.[14][15] She is active in raising awareness for other food safety concerns,[16][17] among them nitrate and radiation contamination.[18][19][20] Chen has warned against cigarette consumption on public health and environmental grounds.[21][22] She opposed the reclassification of scrap metal as non-hazardous material proposed in 2013, citing a health scare similar to food scandal that received widespread attention that year.[23]

Chen has also led the National Union of Taiwan Women’s Associations.[24] In this capacity, Chen opposed the appropriation of public land for government-sanctioned private and business use.[25] In 2009, she led a protest against legislator Tsai Chin-lung, who charged public oversight organization Citizen Congress Watch with slander over an unfavorable ranking of him.[26] Chen also participated in a campaign to bar the construction of a casino on Penghu later that year.[27] A referendum was held in September to consider its establishment, but it failed.[28][29]

As a legislator, Chen has been frequently critical of Taipower, Taiwan's state-owned electric utility.[30][31] In addition to Taipower, Formosa Petrochemical and Formosa Plastics Group have also drawn her attention for subpar environmental protection efforts.[32][33] Chen has pushed for the government to revise standards and clearly differentiate between types of industrial waste.[34][35] With regards to animal rights, Chen supports a ban on the use of steel traps and backs government attempts to cut down on animal euthanasia.[36][37]

Green Party Taiwan supported Chen's 2006 campaign for a seat on Taipei City Council.[38] She later became a party convenor.[39] Chen received Green Party Taiwan support for a legislative run in Taipei County 9th district during the 2008 election.[40] In 2015, Chen was named to the Democratic Progressive Party proportional representation party list ballot and subsequently elected to the Legislative Yuan.[41][42] In 2016, Penghu County considered a second referendum on casinos, which Chen also opposed.[43][44] Like the first vote, the second referendum did not pass.[45][46] She supported an amendment to the Act of Gender Equality in Employment proposed in May, which aimed to lengthen maternity leave for partners of unmarried women.[47] Chen also backed calls to establish a government ministry leading marine conservation efforts.[48][49]

Chen sat on a total of four committees, including the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, the Procedure Committee, the Expenditure Examination Committee, and the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.[1]