Taipei, Feb. 15 (CNA) Lawyer Chen Chun-han (陳俊翰), who lived with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and made the list of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) legislator-at-large candidates in the Jan. 13 elections, has died aged 40, the DPP confirmed Thursday.
In a statement, the DPP said Chen died following suspected complications of a cold on Sunday, but that his family had not announced his death until Thursday as it was the Lunar New Year holiday.
Chen had recently been embroiled in controversy after Chinese journalist Wang Zhian (王志安) — who has lived in Japan since being blacklisted by Beijing — imitated his voice on the talk show “The Night Night Show with Hello” on Jan. 22, and accused the DPP of using him as a prop in the run-up to the elections to elicit sympathy from voters.
Wang also drew criticism for using a term for disabled people considered derogatory in Taiwan on the talk show.
Following the incident, Wang apologized to Chen, the talk show, and the DPP during a livestream on his YouTube channel on Jan. 26.
Furthermore, Host Hello (賀瓏) and the production team also apologized to Chen, which he accepted.
Due to having SMA, Chen could only move his eyes, mouth and one pinky finger. He also had both his legs amputated while at university after they were burned by a fire caused by an electric blanket. He was connected to a ventilator at the time so was unable to call for help.
Despite all the obstacles he faced, Chen went on to study law at National Taiwan University and received the highest marks in the Taiwan bar exams in 2006.
He went to Harvard University to study for a master’s in law in 2012, passed the New York State Bar exams in 2013, and got his degree in 2014.
Despite being eligible to work as a lawyer in the United States, and having access to SMA drugs there, Chen chose to return to Taiwan to pursue a career as a human rights lawyer.
“I was born and raised in Taiwan and I wanted to do more for my country,” he said of his decision.
An advocate of rights for persons with disabilities, Chen devoted himself to amending laws to make them more inclusive, and said he hoped his efforts would help disabled people “achieve self-worth.”
He said disabled people were also entitled to pursue their dreams and called for more support for disabled students on campus, arguing that if a disabled individual worked hard to be admitted, universities should provide more assistance and support to help them make the most of their studies.
Chen obtained a Ph.D. in law from the University of Michigan in 2022 and became a Postdoctoral Scholar at Taiwan’s Academia Sinica in May 2023.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Vice President and President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) offered their condolences Thursday after learning about Chen’s death.
Citing Tsai, Presidential Office spokesperson Olivia Lin (林聿禪) said Chen was a “fighter” and that the government would continue working to promote rights for disabled people in honor of his legacy.
Lai called Chen an “angel” and said that he would be remembered forever.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, Hello said Chen’s resilience was “truly admirable” and also thanked him for his “devotion to Taiwan.”
Wang also took to X (formerly Twitter) to offer his condolences and “sincere apologies.”
In the post, Wang said he had been writing an apology letter for a fortnight but had kept finding that amendments were needed. He said it was “truly regrettable that I was not able to convey my apologies to Lawyer Chen.”
He posted the unfinished apology letter on X and said he “once again sincerely apologized for his mistake.”
He added that he hopes to have the chance to inform more people about Chen’s efforts and achievements in the future.
He also said in his post that an apology is a relatively bad way to admit a mistake and that saying sorry may not be sufficient to make up for the harm caused.
Therefore, he said he had decided to “donate 1 million Japanese Yen (US$6,667) to the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders.”
