Arlene Lien

Lien Arlene, born 1967, is the elder daughter of Lien Chan, who served as Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 2000. Her great grandfather, Lien Heng, was the author of The General History of Taiwan, written in the form in accordance with Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. Lien was born when her father was stationed in the United States of America. Lien married Chen Hong Yuan in 1995, and the couple has three daughters. Lien currently resides in Taiwan.
Education
* B.A., majoring in Literature and History of Arts, Wellesley College
* M.A., Arts in Education, Harvard University
* Ph.D., Arts in Education, Columbia University
Production of series of “Discoverer” and “History of Taiwan”
Introduction of the series “Discoverer”
Following family tradition, Lien developed an avid interest in history and the arts, she was determined to produce cultural and historical educational materials after she earned PhD from Columbia University in 1994. The result was a documentary series entitled “Discoverer” which started filming at the end of 1996. The documentary aired in Public Television Channel, Taiwan Television Channel, and CTI Television Channel. The series was aired till the end of 2000, then the DVD format was released.
“Discoverer” is the first set of Taiwanese self-made cultural and historical education documentary The series contain 91 episodes and 12 topics, including “Origins of Human Civilization”, “Origins of Western Civilization”, “Origins of Chinese Civilization”, “Origins of Muslim Civilization”, “Origins of India and the Buddhist Civilization ”, “Rise and Fall of Roman Civilization”, “Origins of Christian Civilization”, “The Silk Road”, “Lost Civilizations”, “Centuries of Art”, “Modern Europe”, “Origins of Russian Civilization”, “Origins of Japanese Culture”, etc. The documentary was awarded with fine cultural and educational programs, recommended by Ministry of Education, and after release, the production had been the best seller in Public Television’s audio-visual products for consecutive years. Precious scenes, such as the scene of Twin Towers of New York, the US, which were destroyed during 911, were recorded in the series “Discoverer”. Richie Jen Hsien-chi, the famous star, was the original presenter of the series.
Important Events
* Lien pursued advanced studies in the United States, majoring in literature and History of Arts in Wellesley College. She earned a master's degree in Arts Education from Harvard University, and a PhD in Arts Education from Columbia University. After Lien returned to Taiwan in 1996, she was appointed as Associate Professor at the Department of Graphic Arts and Communications, National Taiwan Normal University. She left the position in 2005.
* In 1995, Lien married Chen Hong Yuan. He is grandson of Chen Cha Mo (nicknamed as King of Vegetable and Fruit), and General Manager of Advanced Microelectronic Products, Inc.
* In 1996, Lien had produced the first set of Taiwanese self-made historical and cultural education documentary, entitled "Discoverer". The documentary was awarded with fine cultural and educational programs, and recommended by the Ministry of Education.
* In 1999, in order to fulfill the legacy from her great grandfather, Lien produced the documentary series entitled “History of Taiwan”, which includes a great number of precious historical data from the period of Dutch Formosa to Republic of China.
* In 2000 and 2004, Lien assisted with her father, Lien Chan, in both presidential election campaigns, and received general public’s attention.
* In 2012, Lien’s three daughters were born.
years. Precious scenes, such as the scene of Twin Towers of New York, the US, which were destroyed during 911, were recorded in the series “Discoverer”. Richie Jen Hsien-chi, the famous star, was the original presenter of the series.
Introduction of the series “History of Taiwan”
The General History of Taiwan authored by Lien Heng consists of 36 volumes covering the period from Sui dynasty to Japanese Occupation. Lien was determined to excerpt from the book’s essential content, so she produced and filmed the series “History of Taiwan” in 1999.
“History of Taiwan” has four episodes, entitled ”Dutch Period”, “Immigration Period”, “Japanese Occupation” and “Republic of China”. The filming of four episodes completed in year 2000 and the series was aired in Public Television Channel and China Television Channel. The documentary recorded a great number of Taiwanese historical data (including interviews with National Archives of the Netherlands), and the series “Kangxi Dynasty” (original name: Kangxi Empire) of Mainland China also adopted the scene authorized from “History of Taiwan” during its filming in 2001.
Involvement with Geneherbs and subsequent acquittal
Summary
Lien was a promoter for a company called GeneHerbs which manufactured a product called “Wellslim Plus+”. Wellslim was later found to contain Cetilistat, an adulterant ingredient not yet approved by the FDA. Lien was investigated by Taipei District Prosecutors Office (“TDPO”) in October 2013 for charges of negligence in a violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. Lien finally agreed to donate NT$6 million upon request of TDPO in exchange for a deferred prosecution, whereas, Geneherbs Biotechnology Co. and its general manager, Tseng Hsin Yi were prosecuted by TDPO on charges of negligence. Then, on 19 August 2016, Taiwan Taipei District Court rendered acquittal judgment at the first instance. Both the company and its managers were found to be not guilty. On 28 March 2017, Taiwan High Court rejected TDPO’s appeal; hence acquittal judgment became final and binding.
Case’s Development and Outcome:
In 2013, Hsu Zhun Jen of Democratic Party, the representative of citizens of Luodon Township, Yilan County, along with the same party’s Taipei City Councilor, Ruan Chao Siung, held a press conference, alleging that “Wellslim Plus+”, as endorsed by Lien and sold by Geneherbs Biotechnology Co., was found to contain Cetilistat. On 19 August 2016, Taiwan Taipei District Court rendered the judgment at the first instance, ruling that Geneherbs Biotechnology Co. as not guilty, and the judgment confirmed that the Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare (“FDA”) did not announce Cetilistat to be a diet medicine ingredient which should be tested until the following year on 17 February 2014, four months after the case broke out. Geneherbs Biotechnology Co. was only the distributor of the product and had already sent the products to SGS for testing before sale, and SGS confirmed that the product did not contain any prohibited adulterant as regulated by FDA. Therefore, Geneherbs Biotechnology Co. was confirmed by court that it did not violate the duty of care that a distributor should exercise, hence it is not negligent, and therefore not guilty.
Subsequently, during the appeal trial at the Taipei High Court’s criminal division, it was confirmed that prior to 17 February 2014, the date of FDA’s announcement, there was no standardized product or standardized testing method available for Cetilistat throughout Taiwan’s testing institutions; therefore, even if all measures were taken, any distributor could not have known whether the product contained such chemical compound. Taipei High Court, therefore, denied the prosecutor’s appeal on 28 March 2017, and the judgment that Geneherbs Biotechnology Co. is not guilty became final and binding. This case, to this end, evidenced Geneherbs Biotechnology Co.’s and Lien’s innocence.
Investigation’s leak of classified information and suspicion of political sabotage
During the case’s investigation, Taiwan’s famous tabloid “Next Magazine” published a series of articles in the name of "exclusive insider information" casting suspicion on the prosecutor’s office for leaking information to the tabloid. Lien sued the magazine and the judgement in first instance ruled that” Next Magazine” should pay Lien compensation in the amount of NT$2 million for punitive damages. “Wellslim Plus+” case broke out at the time when Lien’s brother, Lien Sheng Wen announced his intention to participate in KMT’s primaries for the election of Taipei City Mayor in 2014. His opponent, Ting Shou Chung, was supported by Ma Ying Jiu, then President of ROC and Chairman of KMT. Ma opposed Lien Sheng Wen’s participation. The timing of the case was too close to be considered coincidental. Hence, the so-called “prohibited drug case” aroused public suspicion that it might have been a politically motivated case intent on preventing Lien Sheng Wen from running for public office.

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