Chen Chin-te (Chinese: 陳金德; born 26 September 1961), also known as Derek Chen, is a Taiwanese politician who has served as the minister of the Public Construction Commission since 2024.
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Education
Chen graduated from the National Taipei University of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering in 1986. He then attended National Taiwan University, where he earned an M.S. in chemical engineering and an M.B.A. in 1989 and 2004, respectively.
Through his student activism, Chen became known as the "oldest grandson of the tangwai movement." He worked as Yu Shyi-kun's secretary when Yu was Yilan County magistrate. Chen ended his graduate studies without earning a doctoral degree, to run in the 1991 National Assembly elections.
Career
While a member of the National Assembly, Chen also served as Democratic Progressive Party caucus leader. Within the DPP, Chen was affiliated with the New Tide faction. In 2000, Chen helped pass laws that reduced the power of the legislative body. Most of the assembly's responsibilities were delegated to the Legislative Yuan.
Upon stepping down from the National Assembly, Chen served as leader of Yilan County's Civil Affairs Bureau. He formed an electoral coalition with Chen Tsiao-long, Chiu Kuo-chang, Kang Tai-shan, Liu Yi-te, and Lan Shih-tsung prior to the 2001 Legislative Yuan elections. The group vowed to bring reforms similar to those implemented in the National Assembly to the Legislative Yuan. Out of these six candidates, only the Chens were elected to the Legislative Yuan. Shortly after taking office as a representative of Yilan County, Chen Chin-te became the first DPP official to visit China since Chinese vice premier Qian Qichen explicitly acknowledged the possibility in 2002. Chen began discussing legislative reform upon his return from China. He supported a Legislative Yuan with approximately 140 members, and formed an inter-party alliance to discuss the issue in May 2002, alongside fellow lawmakers Alex Tsai and Lu Hsueh-chang. Chen criticized a vote held on legislative membership reductions in March 2004, as rushed. An amendment cutting the number of seats in the Legislative Yuan was passed later that year.