Chen Po-wei 陳柏惟 is a former film producer who worked on the Golden Horse-winning “On Happiness Road” before diving headfirst into Taiwanese politics. He hit headlines following January’s legislative elections after becoming the Taiwan Statebuilding Party’s first candidate to gain a seat in the Legislative Yuan.
Chen is one of a number of young, ambitious individuals who have gained recent success in politics through non-traditional channels, alongside heavy metal vocalist Freddy Lim 林昶佐, an independent legislator who retained his seat in Taipei this year, and cosplaying candidate Lai Pin-yu 賴品妤 of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who gained a seat in New Taipei City.
Prior to his election, Chen earned a significant following for his series of viral videos criticizing incumbent Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu 韓國瑜. His more radical stance on pressing issues than other pan-Green counterparts helped him triumph in a Taichung district considered to be a stronghold for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), where one family had won successive legislative elections since 2002.
During his legislative campaign, Chen was candidate number 3 and became known as “3Q brother” (3Q哥) due to his frequent use of the Taiwanese transliteration “3Q” for “thank you” in English. Ketagalan Media spoke to Chen to discuss his recent success, his reasons for joining the Statebuilding Party and his opinions on the political environment of Taiwan.
Ketagalan Media: How and why did you first become acquainted with politics?
Chen Po-wei: I threw myself into politics at the beginning of the 2020 election cycle to not only realize personal goals but because I believe life is politics, and politics is life. It shouldn’t have to be so complicated—we just need to and ought to do what is right by the people.
KM: Where did your “3Q” slogan originate?
Chen: It’s been my mantra since I was young. The inspiration was a performance I saw by comedian Chu Ke-liang 豬哥亮 in which he regularly used the phrase. It later just became my signature soundbite.
KM: Why did you decide to join the Taiwan Statebuilding Party?
Chen: The Statebuilding Party is a pan-Green movement that puts the values of independence, political democratization, social liberalization and Taiwanese sovereignty at the core of its existence. After the 2014 Sunflower Movement, I visited representatives of many political parties and civic groups but really resonated with the principles of the Statebuilding Party.
I expressed my desire to help them achieve their mission of making Taiwan a better place and the party leader, Shinichi Chen 陳奕齊, told me that the best way to help would be to run for office. So I did!
KM: What separates the Taiwan Statebuilding Party from other pan-Green parties?
Chen: We focus a lot more on resolving the “Republic of China” issue than the DPP, and our main goal is to establish Taiwan as an independent, sovereign nation. The politics and government of a country should naturally reflect the will of its people and not the legacy of its colonizers.
The Statebuilding Party also believes in pragmatism and that structural reform is the only way to achieve our goal of complete Taiwanese independence. We do not just put out empty slogans. We want to continue building a liberal democracy that protects the well-being of its people and can defend its territory. This country belongs to all, including those who have lived here since the beginning, and not just those who arrived during the aftermath of World War II.
KM: As a legislator, how do you plan to fulfill the party’s goals?
Chen: In the past, the party’s focus was more on things that could be achieved outside the legislative office, for example our work on the anti-infiltration act. Now, as a legislator, I am able to propose bills and observe the proposals of others, which is a ticket to enacting change from the inside. All suggestions I put forward will reflect the core principles and values of the Statebuilding Party.
KM: What particular issues do you wish to address as a representative of Taichung?
Chen: We hope that the Legislative Yuan could be moved to Taichung, primarily because political resources have long been centered in Taipei, and development has been uneven between the north and south.
Additionally, we believe Taiwan currently lacks territorial disaster prevention mechanisms and risk diversification. Spreading Taiwan’s political and economic administrative organs, as well as its capacity for emergency operations, across the middle and south of the country would ensure an even spread of development and avoid the risk of paralysis that comes with concentrating all of these organs in the capital.
After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan, the country began putting forward measures to establish Osaka as a “second capital,” diffusing some of its administrative functions there from Tokyo. Germany, South Korea and South Africa are among other countries that employ central administrative operations in more than one city. In an age where developments in transportation, communication and information technology have made everything extremely convenient, the diffusion of political administration across the country is certainly viable.
KM: What do you believe contributed to your success in Taichung District 2, which has been held by the same family through generations?
Chen: The situation in Hong Kong woke up Taiwan to the dangers of China’s brute force, and aroused the youth to come out and vote in record numbers—this was certainly a key factor. In general, people appear to be paying more attention to politics and I am thankful for everyone’s support and trust.
KM: Is the political environment in Taiwan changing? Do you think political outsiders like yourself will have a greater chance of success in the future?
Chen: I believe the political environment in Taiwan is perpetually changing and evolving, and democratic reform is a long but continuous process. During the times the DPP was considered “dangwai” [“outside the party,” 黨外, in the times of one-party KMT rule] it was probably hard to believe Taiwan’s polity would evolve into two major competing parties.
My good friends Freddy Lim and Chiu Wei-chieh 邱威傑 [also known as “Froggy” 呱吉] were able to clinch seats in office, so I do believe the contemporary political environment is changing, and younger, less-experienced politicians winning seats is no longer something special.
Politics is an important part of everyday life, so I believe there will be more candidates from different backgrounds in the future. I first ran for Kaohsiung City Council in 2017 with the slogan: “Make politics for the people, make the city beautiful” 讓政治可及, 讓城市可親. I truly believe Taiwan’s democracy will continue to bloom in this direction.
KM: You attracted a lot of attention through your videos criticizing Han Kuo-yu. How do you believe he has failed his citizens?
Chen: Firstly, his inability to govern. When he ran for president, he said his biggest achievements during his year-long tenure as mayor were repairing street lamps, mending roads and fixing drain covers, but even without any serious typhoons, Kaohsiung still flooded numerous times last year.
Han doesn’t remotely understand how to govern a city, which was obvious right from the beginning of his mayoral campaign. After he was elected, investment in Kaohsiung dropped by 95 percent; businesses were afraid to invest. He then said Taiwanese businesses were not returning to invest back in Taiwan, while simultaneously putting out false figures by aggregating total investment in Taiwan and the establishment of factories by Taiwanese firms with the amount invested in Kaohsiung.
He also randomly halted Kaohsiung Light Rail operations and failed to carry out improvement assessments, as well as asking the central government to pay for construction.
Second, his lack of honesty. He had big visions before he was elected mayor: making Kaohsiung wealthy through building a “Love Ferris Wheel,” building a Disneyland theme park and establishing a horse-racing course, all without taking into account the costs of such grandiose plans.
He wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger to come and give a speech, and G.E.M. to be the city’s tourism ambassador. After Han was elected, Schwarzenegger’s schedule suddenly didn’t match up and G.E.M. became “too greedy” to fulfil the position. He then claimed not of his plans were written in black and white and blamed others for his failures.
The scariest part of the “Han wave” was how he mobilized hate and disseminated fake news to make his fans bully his opponents, compromising the quality of public debate. During the presidential race, fact checkers found half of his claims to be fake, which antagonized citizens, and led the government to exert huge efforts to clarify rumors and dispel the fake news. This caused great harm to the country.
KM: What are your thoughts on the Anti-infiltration Act? Do you think it will effectively prevent the Chinese Communist Party meddling in Taiwan’s domestic affairs?
Chen: The act is just the first step. Its enactment was symbolic of Taiwan finally taking concrete action to protect its political stability from new kinds of threats. However, we do think it can be taken further with several adjustments.
The act is supposed to prevent China’s efforts at infiltrating domestic affairs, but basically punishes those who have already committed crimes. There is no mechanism to prevent infiltration from happening. The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill 境外勢力影響透明法 our party proposes could be used as a preventative measure.
We believe prevention is better than cure, and in addition to the anti-infiltration act we should actively disclose information about funding flows from China into Taiwan via a foreign agents registration system 外國代理人登記制度 which would work via the two channels of prevention and punishment.
We also believe amending and enacting new “sunshine laws” under which legislators and government officials would have to disclose all properties and assets in China to deter them from succumbing to the wills of the Communist Party, rather than acting in the interests of Taiwan.
The safety of our economy is the safety of our country, and therefore we also propose more economic and business safety laws to protect sensitive technological secrets and the cultivation of local talent.
Finally, we believe there is a need for a strategic guidance unit at the national security level to unite and integrate government departments and civic groups. The Legislative Yuan should also establish a dedicated “China factor” discussion committee which actively promotes legal tools for treating China’s attempts of meddling in Taiwanese affairs, which is a crisis our society currently faces.
KM: Aside from preventing Chinese infiltration, what else does the Statebuilding Party stand for?
Chen: The party stands for a Taiwan-oriented and sustainable liberal democracy, a people-oriented welfare society, and a justice-oriented system that allows people to live and work in peace.
To put it simply: we stand behind policy-oriented politics that protect our country from outside infiltration, corruption and manipulation. We stand for the protection of human rights, a just and transformative society that guarantees the welfare of children and the elderly, lower pollution levels and halting gender discrimination.
KM: Is there anything else you would like to say to our readers?
Chen: 3Q. Taiwan is a beautiful and interesting place and I welcome everyone to experience the wonderful things it has to offer.
(Cover photo courtesy of the office of Chen Po-wei)
