Tsebin Tchen
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Tsebin Tchen (born March 10, 1941) was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate from 1998 to 2005, representing the state of Victoria.
Tchen was born in Chungking, China, during the Chinese Civil War. His family fled to Taiwan with the Nationalists, and his father became a diplomat representing the Taiwanese government. In 1958, Tchen gained a student visa to Australia, in order to study town planning at Sydney University.
As Tchen neared the end of his degree, he found that he would be unable to become an Australian citizen or gain a full visa, due to the White Australia Policy. However, in 1966, Prime Minister Harold Holt changed the law, and in 1971, Tchen gained Australian citizenship.
Tchen found work as a town planner, and in 1972, joined the Liberal Party. He also became active in Melbourne's Chinese community. At the 1993 election, Tchen was selected on the Liberal Senate ticket for Victoria, in the unwinnable fourth position. He made another run for pre-selection in 1998, at the height of the Pauline Hanson controversy, and this time, was successful.
However, in order to gain preselection, he had to replace a sitting Senator, Karen Synon. Despite being already in the Senate, she was demoted to an unwinnable position - a rare event in Australian politics. Tchen had gained the support of then-Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett, who publicly backed him to replace Synon. This sparked a major factional dispute within the party, as Michael Kroger, a Liberal powerbroker and Synon supporter, attempted to fend off Tchen's challenge. However, Kennett and Tchen were ultimately successful, and Synon found herself without a Senate seat. Tchen became the first Asian migrant to win a seat in either federal parliament.
In December, 2003, Tchen stood for preselection for a second term in the Senate. However, despite the support of Prime Minister John Howard, Tchen suffered the same fate as his predecessor, being dumped in favor of former lower house MP Michael Ronaldson. Tchen subsequently announced that he would resign from politics at the 2004 election. His term expired on 30 June, 2005.