Chen Wen-chen

{{Short description|Taiwanese mathematician alleged to have been murdered by KMT}} {{family name hatnote|Chen}} {{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = | name = Chen Wen-chen | honorific_suffix = | image = Professor_Chen_Wen-Chen.gif | alt = | caption = | native_name = {{nobold|{{lang-zh|t=陳文成|labels=no}}}} | native_name_lang = zh | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{birth date|1950|01|30|df=yes}}<ref name=CWCMF>{{cite web |url=http://www.cwcmf.net/html/cwcmf_about.html |title=About CWCMF |date=24 October 2009 |website=Professor Chen Wen-Chen's Memorial Foundation |accessdate=23 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926222025/http://www.cwcmf.net/html/cwcmf_about.html |archive-date=2013-09-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | birth_place = Taipei, Taiwan | baptised =  | disappeared_date =  | disappeared_place = | disappeared_status = | death_date = {{death date and age|1981|07|02|1950|01|30|df=yes}} | death_place = Taipei, Taiwan | body_discovered = 3 July 1981 | resting_place = Zhonghe (Chungho), New Taipei, Taiwan<ref name=PPG820108>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0ugNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kW0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4466%2C1255661 |title=Taiwan services held for Chen |author= |agency=Associated Press |date=8 January 1982 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref> | resting_place_coordinates =  | monuments = | nationality = | fields = Mathematical statistics | workplaces = Carnegie Mellon University | other_names = | citizenship = | education = National Taiwan University (BS)<br />University of Michigan (MS, PhD) | alma_mater = | thesis_title = On Zipf's Law | thesis_url = https://www.proquest.com/openview/6232b1f954638df83014f972cb3ab087/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y | thesis_year = 1978 | doctoral_advisor = Bruce Marvin Hill | occupation = Mathematics professor | years_active = | era = | organization = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | height =  | television = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | movement = | opponents = | boards = | criminal_charge =  | criminal_penalty = | criminal_status = | spouse = {{marriage|Chen Su-jen ({{lang-zh|t=陳素貞|labels=no}})|1976}} | partner =  | children = 1 | parents = | relatives = | callsign = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | website =  | footnotes = | module = {{Infobox Chinese | child = yes | collapse = no | t = 陳文成 | showflag = | l = | tp = Chén Wúnchéng | w = Chʻên² Wên²-chʻêng² | p = Chén Wénchéng | poj = Tân Bûn-sêng | altname = }} }} '''Chen Wen-chen''' ({{lang-zh|t=陳文成|p=Chén Wénchéng}}; 30 January 1950 – 2 July 1981), sometimes romanized as '''Chen Wen-cheng''', was a Taiwanese mathematician. He was an assistant professor of mathematics (specializing in probability and statistics) at Carnegie Mellon University who died under mysterious circumstances. After the conclusion of his third year of teaching, he returned to his native Taiwan for a vacation. He was instructed not to leave Taiwan on his scheduled departure date. Members of Taiwan's secret police, the Garrison Command, detained and interrogated him for twelve hours on 2 July 1981,<ref name=TT090702>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/07/02/2003447662 |title=Report sheds light on 1981 mystery |author=Hsu, Jenny W. |date=2 July 2009 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> and his body was found on the campus of National Taiwan University the next day. The subsequent autopsy reported his death was due to a fall.<ref name=TT090702 /> Chen's death and the earlier massacre of Lin Yi-hsiung's family are cited as late examples of White Terror dissident suppression activities in Taiwan,<ref name=TT090702 /> although the case remains unsolved<ref name=TT130702>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/07/02/2003566150 |title=Chen Wen-chen to be remembered |last=Wang|first=Chris |date=2 July 2013 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> and the Garrison Command maintains it had nothing to do with his death. In 2020, the Transitional Justice Commission released a report concluding that Chen was most likely killed by state security agencies.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/05/05/2003735851|title=New details revealed in activist's death|date=May 5, 2020|last1=Chen|first1=Yu-fu|last2=Hetherington|first2=William|access-date=May 5, 2020|work=Taipei Times}}</ref><ref name="ft-20200505">{{cite news|url=https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202005040007|title=New report links state forces to death of 1980s activist Chen Wen-chen|date=May 4, 2020|access-date=May 5, 2020|work=Central News Agency|last1=Yeh|first1=Su-ping|last2=Yeh|first2=Joseph}}</ref>

==Personal life== Chen was one of eight children<ref name=CWCMF /><ref name=BCT840613>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2YQkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=x9oFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1605%2C2550613 |title=Father searches for reasons for son's death |author=Miller, Ken |date=13 June 1984 |newspaper=Beaver County Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> and was outspoken and straightforward, according to his brother.<ref name=BCT810710>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MWYuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yNkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3896%2C1927602 |title=No suicide, claims professor's brother |author= |date=10 July 1981 |newspaper=Beaver County Times |agency=Associated Press |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> He was known to have criticized the Kuomintang (KMT)-led government in private conversations<ref name=MD810709>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=n99JAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5x0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=4978%2C3353754 |title=Taiwanese here fear murder |author=Adam, John |date=9 July 1981 |newspaper=The Michigan Daily |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> and advocated for Taiwan independence,<ref name=GT810708>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2202&dat=19810708&id=FHlbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GlENAAAAIBAJ&pg=5205,485388 |title=Death probe is sought |author= |agency=Associated Press|date=8 July 1981 |newspaper=Gettysburg Times |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref> raising funds to help those imprisoned in the wake of the Kaohsiung Incident<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/local/archives/1999/12/10/0000014311 |title=DPP calls for government action |author=Low, Stephanie |date=10 December 1999 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> as well as in support for ''Formosa Magazine'', which opposed the KMT's one-party rule.<ref name="tt-20200501" />

===Academic career=== Chen graduated with a B.S. in mathematics from National Taiwan University (NTU) in 1972 and served in the military, fulfilling his compulsory service. He left Taiwan for the United States in 1975, earning M.S. (1976) and Ph.D. (1978) degrees in statistics from the University of Michigan, with Professor Bruce Hill stating that he was "outstanding ... the best [student] that I'd seen in statistics in 21 years."<ref name=MD810709 /> Upon graduating from Michigan, he joined the faculty in the Department of Statistics of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in the fall of 1978. He published several papers in the area of statistics and probability.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chen|first=Wen-Chen|date=1980-01-01|title=On the Weak Form of Zipf's Law|jstor=3212955|journal=Journal of Applied Probability|volume=17|issue=3|pages=611–622|doi=10.2307/3212955|s2cid=124281166 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chen|first1=Wen-chen|last2=Starr|first2=Norman|date=1980-06-01|title=Optimal Stopping in an Urn|url=http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.aop/1176994720|journal=The Annals of Probability|language=EN|volume=8|issue=3|pages=451–464|doi=10.1214/aop/1176994720|issn=0091-1798|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chen|first=Wen Chen|date=1981-12-01|title=Some local limit theorems in the symmetric Dirichlet-Multinomial urn models|journal=Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics|language=en|volume=33|issue=1|pages=405–415|doi=10.1007/BF02480951|doi-broken-date=11 July 2025 |s2cid=121160710|issn=0020-3157}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chen|first=Wen-Chen|date=1981-01-01|title=Limit Theorems for General Size Distributions|jstor=3213174|journal=Journal of Applied Probability|volume=18|issue=1|pages=139–147|doi=10.2307/3213174|s2cid=123573004 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chen|first1=W.C.|last2=Hill|first2=B.M.|last3=Greenhouse|first3=J.B.|last4=Fayos|first4=J.V.|date=1984-11-30|title=Bayesian Analysis of Survival Curves for Cancer Patients Following Treatment," Bayesian Statistics, 2, 299-328|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264946483|volume=2}}</ref>

==Detainment and death== After his mother visited him in 1981 and assuaged his concerns about safely traveling to Taiwan,<ref name=BCT840613 /> Chen returned to Taiwan for the first time since he had left in 1975, arriving on 20 May 1981 with his wife and son.<ref name=NYT810721>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/21/world/death-of-taiwan-professor-causes-uproar-on-a-pittsburgh-campus.html |title=Death of Taiwan professor causes uproar on a Pittsburgh campus |author= |date=21 July 1981 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> He applied for the exit permit required to return to the US upon arrival, but it had not been granted by the time he was scheduled to depart on 1 July 1981. Typically, exit permits are granted within 48 hours.<ref name=SuJen>{{cite journal |url=http://www.taiwandc.org/twcom/tc05-int.pdf |journal=Taiwan Communiqué |title=Statement of Chen Su-jen |author=Chen, Su-jen |volume=1 |number=5 |date=11 September 1981 |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref>

Instead, Chen was questioned by Garrison Command for two hours about his United States activities on 30 June 1981,<ref name=SuJen /> with one question about a personal visit revealing that he had been spied upon.<ref name=OR810912>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SkZiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OHcNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4615%2C1983609 |title=Widow Says Carnegie-Mellon Professor Murdered in Taiwan |author= |date=12 September 1981 |newspaper=Observer-Reporter |location=Washington, PA |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> After the first interview, Chen was told he should receive the exit permit the next day.<ref name=SuJen /> Chen's wife, Chen Su-jen ({{lang-zh|t=陳素貞|p=Chén Sùzhēn|labels=no}}), received a phone call late in the afternoon of 1 July 1981 asking that Chen remain at home early the next morning to await another phone call from the Entrance and Exit Bureau. On the morning of 2 July 1981, officials from Garrison Command showed up at their door and Chen was taken for interrogation, which lasted more than 12 hours.<ref name=TT090702 /> Garrison Command state he was released to return to his brother's apartment, but his body was discovered on the campus of NTU the next morning. A family friend, Teng Wei-hsiang, has claimed that Chen visited him on the evening of 2 July 1981 after the second interview, where Chen reportedly said he was afraid of being imprisoned,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AQ9KAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ih4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3627%2C3332992 |title=Ex-roommate recounts Chen's last night |author=Adam, John |date=7 November 1981 |newspaper=The Michigan Daily |accessdate=29 January 2015 }}</ref> but Teng was unable to remember critical details later.<ref name=SuJen /> Reportedly, there was some money tucked into his shoe,<ref name=Wright>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KIgXLNt4wA8C&pg=PA259 |title=The History of China |edition=Second |chapter=11: A Prosperous and Confused Island: Taiwan since 1945 |author=Wright, David Curtis |pages=259–260 |publisher=Greenwood |location=Santa Barbara |date=2011 |isbn=978-0-313-37748-8 |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> which is said to be a trick to keep murdered souls moving to the underworld.

Chen's case was among many instances of KMT surveillance in the United States which was acted on by the Taiwan Garrison Command when the subject of the investigation returned to Taiwan.<ref name=":Cheng" />{{Rp|page=149}}

===Investigations=== In the initial days following the discovery of Chen's body, Taiwan Garrison Commander-in-chief General Wang Ching-hsu speculated that Chen committed suicide, fearing arrest for his unpatriotic crimes,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RAgqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xCkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4698%2C4131528 |title=Taiwan death probed |author= |date=9 July 1981 |newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal |agency=Associated Press |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and claimed the interview was "cordial and friendly."<ref name=BCT810710 /> Garrison Command spokesman General Hsu Mei-ling echoed the accusations of suicide, adding that they did not believe his activities did not reach a criminal level.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kANMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WvkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3973%2C1591404 |title=Suicide? Death follows interrogation |author= |agency=UPI |date=7 July 1981 |newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref> Chen's family stated that it would have been impossible for Chen to commit suicide,<ref name=BCT810710 /> as it was uncharacteristic of his nature. Chen Su-jen was immediately suspicious of several wounds which seemed atypical of a fall.<ref name=SuJen /><ref name=PP811008>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GXgdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=X10EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7062%2C3742303 |title=Chen's Death Haunts Taiwan Politics |author=Parks, Michael |date=8 October 1981 |agency=Los Angeles Times Service |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |accessdate=29 January 2015 }}</ref> Carnegie Mellon's president, Richard Cyert further stated that he had plenty of reasons to live, with a one-year-old son and a promising academic career.<ref name=NYT810827>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/27/opinion/death-chills-a-campus.html |title=OPINION: Death Chills a Campus |author=Cyert, Richard M. |date=27 August 1981 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> In late July, the Taipei district prosecutor's office allowed the possibility the death may have been an accident instead of suicide,<ref name=NYT810721 /><ref name=PPG810721>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kINIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AG4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7026%2C3406183 |title=Taiwan: Prof wasn't murdered |author=Rosensweet, Alvin |date=21 July 1981 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |accessdate=29 January 2015 }}</ref> opening the possibility of further investigation if new information or evidence became available.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DaorAAAAIBAJ&sjid=K_0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3616%2C3807453 |title=Prosecutor says Chen not slain |author= |date=20 July 1981 |newspaper=The Nashua Telegraph |agency=Associated Press |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref> The Control Yuan later backed further away from suicide allegations, stating "the death was most likely accidental" in August 1981.<ref name=NYT810809>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/09/world/taipei-irritated-by-protests-in-us.html |title=Taipei Irritated by Protests in U.S. |author=Kamm, Henry |date=9 August 1981 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref><ref name=OR820703>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2YliAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mncNAAAAIBAJ&pg=965%2C346694 |title=Death of Pitt Professor In Taiwan Remains Mystery |author= |agency=Associated Press |date=3 July 1982 |newspaper=Observer-Reporter |location=Washington, PA |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref>

Garrison Command officials contend Chen confessed to seditious acts during his return to Taiwan, soliciting funds to support the anti-government ''Formosa Magazine''<ref name=PPG810721 /> and attempting to establish democratic reforms.<ref name=MD811025>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-w5KAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ih4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3196%2C2802068 |title=Former U student Chen was murdered, report says |author=Adam, John |date=25 October 1981 |newspaper=The Michigan Daily |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> They confronted him with photocopies of letters he had written to Shih Ming-teh while Shih was imprisoned.<ref name=OR820703 /> Wiretap records released in 2020 revealed that the Garrison Command became aware of Chen through a tapped conversation with Shih, and labeled him as a "traitor" on the basis of that conversation.<ref name="tt-20200501">{{cite news|url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/05/01/2003735624|title=Wiretap transcripts of Chen Wen-chen released to public|last1=Chen|first1=Yu-fu|last2=Chung|first2=Jake|date=May 1, 2020|access-date=May 4, 2020|work=Taipei Times}}</ref>

CMU President Cyert wrote a letter to Chiang Ching-kuo, who then promised a complete investigation into Chen's death.<ref name=NYT810721 /><ref name=BCT810716>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NWYuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yNkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4410%2C3134182 |title=Inquiry into death doubtful |author= |agency=UPI |date=16 July 1981 |newspaper=Beaver County Times |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref> Cyert later pressed for State Department<ref name=GT810708 /> and congressional investigations<ref name=PP810724>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GLgdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Jl0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6975%2C3102523 |title=CMU Chief To Testify At Taiwan Hearing |author=Hotz, Lee |date=24 July 1981 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |accessdate=29 January 2015 }}</ref> once it became clear the KMT-led government had no intention of uncovering the true culprits.<ref name=MD810709 /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ot9JAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5x0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1776%2C3606966 |title=Taiwan affair progresses |author=Adam, John |date=14 July 1981 |newspaper=The Michigan Daily |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/25/nyregion/follow-up-on-the-news-death-in-taipei.html |title=Death in Taipei |author=Hatch, Richard |date=25 July 1981 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> Chen Su-jen would later testify at a congressional hearing in October 1981.<ref name=MD811006>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7A5KAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ih4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3473%2C1844156 |title=Congress examines Taiwanese spy issue |author=Adam, John |date=6 October 1981 |newspaper=The Michigan Daily |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref>

===Autopsies=== Preliminary autopsy results by Taiwan authority stated Chen had suffered thirteen broken ribs, a broken pubis and three fractured vertebrae.<ref name=BCT810710 /> Cyril Wecht, a forensic pathologist and a former coroner, stated the autopsy report was incomplete and offered to perform another autopsy.<ref name=BCT810804>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nlctAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1NkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3785%2C592270 |title=Wecht says professor's autopsy is incomplete |author= |date=4 August 1981 |newspaper=Beaver County Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> Wecht traveled to Taipei with Morris H. DeGroot, chair of the CMU statistics department in September 1981 to launch their own investigation.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IGD1PpypHwkC&pg=PA186 |title=Statistical Methods for Human Rights |chapter=9—Human Rights of Statisticians and Statistics of Human Rights: Early History of the American Statistical Association's Committee on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights |author1=Jabine, Thomas B. |author2=Samuelson, Douglas A. |editor1=Asher, Jana |editor1-link=Jana Asher |editor2=Banks, David |editor3=Scheuren, Fritz J. |page=[https://archive.org/details/statisticalmetho00jana/page/186 186] |isbn=978-0-387-72836-0 |publisher=Springer |location=New York |date=2008 |accessdate=23 January 2015 |url=https://archive.org/details/statisticalmetho00jana/page/186 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bJMcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G2MEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6762%2C1161674 |title=Taiwanese Snub Clouds Wecht Trip |author=Smith, Martin |date=19 September 1981 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref> Wecht concluded, following a visual examination,<ref name=OR810924>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VEZiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OHcNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6177%2C3717279 |title=Wecht Examined Body |author= |agency=Associated Press |date=24 September 1981 |newspaper=Observer-Reporter |location=Washington, PA |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref> and later published in ''The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology'' that Chen was murdered,<ref name=MD811025 /> "both the location of the body and the pattern of injuries are consonant with the explanation that Chen's body was held in as horizontal position over the railing of the fire escape and dropped onto the ground below."<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wecht, Cyril H. |author-link=Cyril Wecht |title=Murder in Taiwan |date=June 1985 |volume=6 |number=2 |pages=97–104 |journal=The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology |url=http://journals.lww.com/amjforensicmedicine/Citation/1985/06000/Murder_in_Taiwan.1.aspx |accessdate=23 January 2015 |doi=10.1097/00000433-198506000-00001|pmid=4025274 |s2cid=40861694 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, no action was taken by the Taiwan government.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPGJUiUCJZkC&pg=PA13 |title=Strength in Numbers: The Rising of Academic Statistics Departments in the U.S. |editor1=Agresti, Alan |editor2=Meng, Xiao-Li |author=Smykla, Margaret L. |pages=13–14 |chapter=Carnegie Mellon University Statistics Department |isbn=978-1-4614-3648-5 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-3649-2 |publisher=Springer |location=New York |date=2013 |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref>

Tina Chou ({{lang-zh|t=周清月|p=Zhōu Qīngyuè|labels=no}}), an American reporter with the Associated Press, had her press credentials revoked by Taiwan's Government Information Office after reporting the results of Wecht's investigation.<ref name=OR810924 /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2003/12/09/2003078897 |title=Reporter's absence from conference queried |author=Wen, Stephanie |date=9 December 2003 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2003/12/15/2003079643 |title=Persecuted journalist tells of conflict |author=Wu, Debby |date=15 December 2003 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref> To protest the government's insufficient investigation, Chen's family refused to inter his body,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RXhGAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HCsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2356%2C2024161 |title=Funeral off; probe asked |author= |date=17 September 1981 |newspaper=The Evening News |location=Newburgh, NY |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref> and the funeral was not held until 7 January 1982.<ref name=PPG820108 /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=z-gNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kW0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7092%2C502026 |title=Chen's funeral set in Taipei; wife accepts post |author=Rosensweet, Alvin |date=5 January 1982 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref>

==="Professional students"=== While he was a student at Michigan, Chen approached the school newspaper, ''The Michigan Daily'', with a list of alleged secret agents of the Kuomintang government working at Michigan.<ref name=MD810709 /> Although the ''Daily'' did not run a story at the time, the issue of "professional students" with KMT sponsorship became more visible following Chen's death;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KHlbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GlENAAAAIBAJ&pg=4495%2C2329956 |title=Claims tie spies to death |author=Grabowski, Gene |date=1 August 1981 |newspaper=Gettysburg Times |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref> a "professional student" is understood to be one who reports on pro-independence students and faculty to the Taiwan government in addition to their studies.

US Representative Jim Leach (R-IA) accused Taiwanese students of reporting Chen's activities to KMT authorities in July 1981,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GXlbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GlENAAAAIBAJ&pg=6526%2C978639 |title=Spies may have watched Taiwanese prof. in U.S. |author= |date=14 July 1981 |newspaper=The Gettysburg Times |agency=Associated Press |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SkUNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AG4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5572%2C208808248 |title=Spying issue rises in death of prof |author=Rosensweet, Alvin |date=14 July 1981 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref> and Representative Stephen Solarz (D-NY) held a subcommittee hearing in July 1981 where similar accusations were made.<ref name=NYT810809 /> Leach asked the U.S. Attorney General to take positive steps to combat spying, including determining whether or not the use of "professional students" violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Od4NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_G0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4769%2C1308923 |title=U.S. urged to aid harassed aliens |author=Rosensweet, Alvin |date=11 August 1981 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref> One year after Chen's death, student spying activity on the CMU campus was judged to have ceased.<ref name=OR820703 />

James Soong, then the head of the Taiwan Government Information Office, flatly denied student spying allegations.<ref name=NYT810809 /> Ma Ying-jeou has been accused numerous times of being a "professional student", later filing suit over allegations made that he was a "professional student" at a memorial rally for Chen.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2007/07/04/2003367976 |title=Ma office files suit over 'professional student' allegation |last=Mo|first=Yan-chih |date=4 July 2007 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref>

==Legacy==

===Memorials=== thumb|upright=2|Dr. Chen Wen-chen Incident Memorial Square Carnegie Mellon<ref>{{cite news |url=http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20011109cmu1109p5.asp |title=Suspicion still surrounds death of CMU professor Chen Wen-Chen in 1981 |author=Schackner, Bill |date=9 November 2001 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |accessdate=23 January 2015 |archive-date=24 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124125852/http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20011109cmu1109p5.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref> and National Taiwan University have both held memorial services on the anniversary of Chen's death.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2015/03/22/2003614114 |title=White Terror victim to be honored in NTU Memorial |author1=Wu, Po-hsuang |date=22 March 2015 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=14 March 2016 }}</ref> Chen's father tried to set up a scholarship in Chen's name, but was denied permission by the government.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AVQNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HW4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4517%2C2529348 |title=Father of student slain in Taiwan pledges to continue investigation |author=Rosensweet, Alvin |date=13 June 1984 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |accessdate=24 January 2015 }}</ref>

A memorial to Chen was officially inaugurated on February 2, 2021, on the National Taiwan University campus,<ref name=":Cheng">{{Cite book |last=Cheng |first=Wendy |title=Island X: Taiwanese Student Migrants, Campus Spies, and Cold War Activism |date=2023 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=9780295752051 |location=Seattle, WA}}</ref>{{Rp|page=148}} the culmination of an effort initiated in 2011 when the Dr. Chen Wen-chen Foundation sent a letter to the president of the university requesting the creation of the memorial. The letter never received a response, but it was brought up the next year at a student assembly meeting, where it was referred to the Gallery of NTU History. In 2014, students at NTU successfully lobbied to rename the campus square where Chen's body was found as a memorial space,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/10/26/2003602956 |title=NTU clears way for naming plaza after late activist |author1=Lin, Rachel |author2=Chung, Jake |date=26 October 2014 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> and a design contest was held in 2016 to increase student and public awareness of Chen's death.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2016/04/11/2003643701 |title=University to hold design contest for public square |author1=Lee Ichia |date=11 April 2016 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=14 June 2016 }}</ref> As construction was to begin on the memorial in 2019, NTU president Kuan Chung-ming withdrew the university's half of the funds for the memorial, but the Foundation along with NTU student groups and mathematics department were able to raise sufficient funds ($11 million NTD) in the next three months. The university ended up agreeing to provide $1 million NTD in February 2020, and construction began in July 2020.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Madjar |first1=Kayleigh |title=Memorial to Chen Wen-chen dedicated |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2021/02/03/2003751667 |website=Taipei Times |date=3 February 2021 |access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref> On June 19, 2021, NTU faculty, staff, and student representatives voted and approved a proposal to include a plaque commemorating Chen at the memorial site.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chen |first1=Chih-chung |last2=Teng |first2=Pei-ju |title=NTU to erect plaque to commemorate Chen Wen-chen's death |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/culture/202106190012 |access-date=June 20, 2021 |agency=Central News Agency |date=June 19, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lin |first1=Rachel |last2=Chin |first2=Jonathan |title=NTU approves text for Chen Wen-chen square |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2021/06/20/2003759494 |access-date=June 20, 2021 |work=Taipei Times |date=June 20, 2021}}</ref>

The memorial at National Taiwan University is in front of the staircase where Chen's body was found.<ref name=":Cheng" />{{Rp|page=148}}

===Lawsuit=== Chen's family filed suit against five officials of the Taiwan Garrison General Headquarters in 2001, seeking the truth behind the events leading up to his death.<ref name=TT010708>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/local/archives/2001/07/08/93215 |title=Family sues over 'white terror' death |author=Tsai, Ting-I |date=8 July 2001 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref> They had hoped that when Chen Shui-bian was elected, the investigation would be reopened, but were disappointed.<ref name=TT060703>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2006/07/03/2003317014 |title=More White Terror probes urged |author=Chang, Rich |date=3 July 2006 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref>

===''Formosa Betrayed''=== The events surrounding Chen's death as well as the murder of Henry Liu inspired the film ''Formosa Betrayed''.<ref name=TT100502>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2010/05/02/2003472000 |title='Formosa Betrayed' set for Taiwan release in August |author= |date=2 May 2010 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}</ref>

===Later investigation=== In 2006, the Taipei prosecutor's office stated that missing evidence and personnel were hampering any further investigations.<ref name=TT060703 /> However, the original interrogation transcript was recovered in 2009,<ref name=TT090702 /> giving fresh hope to investigators. Four weeks later, the prosecutor's office closed its investigation, stating there was insufficient evidence to charge five Garrison Command officials: Wang Ching-hsu ({{lang-zh|t=汪敬煦|labels=no}}), Kuo Hsueh-chou ({{lang-zh|t=郭學周|labels=no}}), Tsuo Hsiao-han ({{lang-zh|t=鄒小韓|labels=no}}), Wang Wen-bin ({{lang-zh|t=王文繽|labels=no}}) and Wang Yi-hua ({{lang-zh|t=王憶華|labels=no}}).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/07/29/2003449856 |title=Taiwan News Quick Take: Murder probe concludes |author= |date=29 July 2009 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 |page=3}}</ref> The investigations were criticized for not taking a fresh look at the existing evidence, questioning the motivation behind reopening the case.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2010/01/17/2003463706 |title=Critics pan probe of 1980s murders |author=Loa, Iok-sin |date=17 January 2010 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=23 January 2015 |page=3}}</ref> On 5 May 2020, the Transitional Justice Commission released a report that found that Chen was most likely killed by state security agents.<ref name="ft-20200505" />

==References==

===Notes=== {{reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography/External links=== * {{cite journal |url=http://www.taiwandc.org/twcom/tc05-int.pdf |journal=Taiwan Communiqué |title=Dr. Chen Wen-chen's death |volume=1 |number=5 |date=December 1981 |accessdate=24 January 2015 }} * {{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y5xOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MfsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3595%2C5370613 |title=COLUMN: Washington Merry-Go-Round—Taiwan offers absurd alibis for professor's torture death |author=Anderson, Jack |author-link=Jack Anderson (columnist) |date=14 September 1981 |newspaper=Lakeland Ledger |accessdate=24 January 2015 }} * {{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BakfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cNYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1029%2C4488789 |title=COLUMN: Washington Merry-Go-Round—Taiwanese professor's death spurs State probe |author=Anderson, Jack |author-link=Jack Anderson (columnist) |date=30 September 1981 |newspaper=Gadsden Times |accessdate=24 January 2015 }} * {{cite book |url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011338409 |title=Taiwan Agents in America and the Death of Prof. Wen-Chen Chen: Hearings before the Subcommittees on Asian and Pacific Affairs and on Human Rights and International Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs |author=House of Representatives (97th Congress, 1st Session, 30 July and 6 October 1981) |date=1982 |publisher=US Government Printing Office |location=Washington, DC |accessdate=24 January 2015 }} * {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04QiOlNKQGEC&pg=PA280 |title=Counterrevolution in China: Wang Sheng and the Kuomintang |author=Marks, Thomas A. |date=1998 |publisher=Frank Cass Publishers |location=Portland, OR |isbn=978-0-7146-4700-5 |accessdate=24 January 2015 |page=280}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.twhistory.org.tw/20010702.htm |title=真相‧緝兇‧追思: 陳文成事件二十週年祭 |trans-title=Truth, finding the perpetrator, and recollection: The 20th anniversary of the Chen Wen-chen incident |author=胡慧玲 |author2=Hu, Hui-lin |date=2 July 2001 |website=Taiwan History |accessdate=25 January 2015 }} {{in lang|zh|en}} * {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/taiwan00denn |url-access=registration |title=Taiwan: A Political History |author=Roy, Denny |date=2003 |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca, NY |isbn=978-0-8014-4070-0 |accessdate=24 January 2015 |page=[https://archive.org/details/taiwan00denn/page/163 163]}} * {{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2004/03/31/2003108575 |title=EDITORIAL: History of KMT lies repeats itself |author=Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation |date=31 March 2004 |newspaper=Taipei Times |accessdate=24 January 2015 |page=8}} * {{cite web |url=http://theparticipantobserverblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/in-remembrance-32nd-anniversary-of.html |title=In Remembrance - 32nd Anniversary of Professor Chen Wen-chen's (陳文成) death |date=4 July 2013 |website=The Participant Observer Blog |author=Chen, Ketty W. |accessdate=23 January 2015 }}

===Selected papers=== * {{cite journal |url=http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.aop/1176994720 |title=Optimal Stopping in an Urn |author1=Chen, Wen-chen |author2=Starr, Norman |date=1980 |volume=8 |number=3 |pages=451–464 |journal=The Annals of Probability |accessdate=23 January 2015 |doi=10.1214/aop/1176994720|doi-access=free }} * {{cite journal |doi=10.2307/3212955 |title=On the Weak Form of Zipf's Law |author1=Chen, Wen-chen |date=September 1980 |volume=17 |number=3 |pages=611–622 |journal=Journal of Applied Probability|jstor=3212955 |s2cid=124281166 }} * {{cite journal |doi=10.1007/BF02480951 |title=Some local limit theorems in the symmetric Dirichlet-Multinomial urn models |author1=Chen, Wen-chen |date=1981 |volume=33 |number=1 |pages=405–415 |journal=Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics|doi-broken-date=11 July 2025 |s2cid=121160710 }} * {{cite journal |doi=10.2307/3213174 |title=Limit Theorems for General Size Distributions |author1=Chen, Wen-chen |date=March 1981 |volume=18 |number=1 |pages=139–147 |journal=Journal of Applied Probability|jstor=3213174 |s2cid=123573004 }} * {{cite journal |doi=10.1109/TIT.1981.1056427 |title=On total boundedness for existence of weakly minimax universal codes |author1=Chen, Wen-chen |author2=Fontana, R. |date=November 1981 |volume=27 |number=6 |pages=781–784 |journal=IEEE Transactions on Information Theory}}

Category:1950 births Category:1981 deaths Category:University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Category:National Taiwan University alumni Category:Scientists from Taipei Category:Carnegie Mellon University faculty Category:Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Category:White Terror (Taiwan) Category:20th-century Taiwanese mathematicians