Chen Cheng (4 January 1898-5 March 1965) was Premier of the Republic of China from 7 March 1950 to 7 June 1954 (succeeding Yan Xishan and preceding Yu Hung-chun) and from 30 June 1958 to 15 December 1963 (succeeding Yu Hung-chun and preceding Yen Chia-kan) and Vice President of the Republic of China from 20 May 1954 to 5 March 1965 (succeeding Li Zongren and preceding Yen Chia-kan).
Biography[]
Chen Cheng was born in Qingtian County, Zhejiang, China in 1898, and he graduated from Baoding Military Academy in 1922 and met Chiang Kai-shek while studying at the Whampoa Military Academy. He served under Chiang during the Northern Expedition, rising to divisional commands in the National Revolutionary Army and fighting against both warlords and communists. He served as one of Chiang's top military assistants during the Battle of Shanghai, and he later fought in Burma until 1943, when he was relieved because of illness. After the Second Sino-Japanese War, he became commander of the ROC Navy and Army from 1946 to 1948, but his dismissal of Manchuria local security regiments because of their service in the Manchukuo Imperial Army decreased the total Nationalist strength in Manchuria from 1.3 million to under 480,000, while he also dismissed Du Yuming, Sun Li-jen, Zheng Dongguo, and Chen Mingren, resulting in the loss of Manchuria. In 1949, he was named Governor of Taiwan to develop the island as a Nationalist stronghold, and he later served as Vice President and Premier of the Republic of China. His capping of farmers' rent to 37.5% of the harvest prevented a communist revolution on Taiwan. He died in 1965.