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Taiwan's man of the people
Chen Shui-bian: A man of humble origins
Taiwan's new president elect, Chen Shui-bian, is a man from a poor rural backgound whose sharp intelligence and steely dynamism have won him the top political prize.
His appeal to the voters was his down-to-earth background and his populist touch. Everyone refers to Mr Chen by his nickname Ah-Bian.
With his metal-rimmed glasses and his pounding, emphatic delivery, the former dissident lawyer has criss-crossed the island over the last few months with his forceful campaign.
Mayor
Mr Chen, the candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), drummed home to voters the message that this was the moment for change, singling out the ruling party's money politics and corruption as his prime target.
He has again proved himself the right man at the right time, as he did when he won the election as mayor of Taipei in 1994, taking advantage of a split in the traditional governing Nationalist Party vote.
As mayor of the capital for four years, he was given credit for helping to free up the city's notoriously choked traffic, cleaning up the red-light district, and being accessible to local people's grievances.
But his abrasive and sometimes autocratic style also made him enemies.
Mr Chen has a history of support for Taiwanese independence and has on a number of occasions called for a referendum on Taiwan's status.
He is on record as crying: "Long live Taiwan independence!"
This was what sparked such hostility to his candidacy in Beijing, including the threat of force to reunite Taiwan with China.
But Mr Chen insisted throughout his campaign that he was a "peacemaker, not a troublemaker".
And in his presidential victory speech on Saturday, Mr Chen struck a note of reconciliation, both towards his domestic political foes and towards China after what has been a bitterly fought and divisive campaign.
Maverick
He was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1989 representing the DPP, and will now be Taiwan's youngest president when he takes office on 20 May.
Among many Taiwanese, Mr Chen is regarded as something of a maverick politician, an image he is keen to play up, appearing at campaign rallies dressed as various superheroes from Superman to James Bond.
His campaign website shows him in a black jumpsuit, suspended above a computer keyboard - an ironic allusion to the film, Mission: Impossible.
Earlier episodes in his career were anything but a joke.
He was a young defence lawyer for editors of the dissident Formosa magazine, who were jailed for organising a pro-democracy march in 1979.
His running mate, Annette Lu, was among those thrown in prison in the aftermath.
Six years later his wife was crippled in a traffic accident. A bitter Mr Chen claimed it was an assassination attempt by Nationalist Party agents.
His appeal to the voters was his down-to-earth background and his populist touch. Everyone refers to Mr Chen by his nickname Ah-Bian.
With his metal-rimmed glasses and his pounding, emphatic delivery, the former dissident lawyer has criss-crossed the island over the last few months with his forceful campaign.
Mayor
Mr Chen, the candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), drummed home to voters the message that this was the moment for change, singling out the ruling party's money politics and corruption as his prime target.
He has again proved himself the right man at the right time, as he did when he won the election as mayor of Taipei in 1994, taking advantage of a split in the traditional governing Nationalist Party vote.
 Supporters celebrate Mr Chen's victory |
But his abrasive and sometimes autocratic style also made him enemies.
Mr Chen has a history of support for Taiwanese independence and has on a number of occasions called for a referendum on Taiwan's status.
He is on record as crying: "Long live Taiwan independence!"
This was what sparked such hostility to his candidacy in Beijing, including the threat of force to reunite Taiwan with China.
But Mr Chen insisted throughout his campaign that he was a "peacemaker, not a troublemaker".
And in his presidential victory speech on Saturday, Mr Chen struck a note of reconciliation, both towards his domestic political foes and towards China after what has been a bitterly fought and divisive campaign.
Maverick
He was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1989 representing the DPP, and will now be Taiwan's youngest president when he takes office on 20 May.
Among many Taiwanese, Mr Chen is regarded as something of a maverick politician, an image he is keen to play up, appearing at campaign rallies dressed as various superheroes from Superman to James Bond.
His campaign website shows him in a black jumpsuit, suspended above a computer keyboard - an ironic allusion to the film, Mission: Impossible.
Earlier episodes in his career were anything but a joke.
He was a young defence lawyer for editors of the dissident Formosa magazine, who were jailed for organising a pro-democracy march in 1979.
His running mate, Annette Lu, was among those thrown in prison in the aftermath.
Six years later his wife was crippled in a traffic accident. A bitter Mr Chen claimed it was an assassination attempt by Nationalist Party agents.
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