His assignments in the
Republic of China Navy have included as commander of the 168th Fleet, director of operations and intelligence at Navy Command, general director of the office of the Minister of Defense, director of the department of integrated assessment at the Ministry of Defense, and chief of staff and deputy commander of Navy Command.
Commander of the Navy He was the
commander of the
Republic of China Navy (ROCN) from 1 August 2013, succeeding Admiral
Tung Hsiang-lung. The ROCN also would invest US$450 million in the
China Shipbuilding Corporation and the
Ship and Ocean Industries R&D Center. The IDS program, launched in April 2014, led to the construction of the
Hai Kun-class starting from 2020. Chen formed a team to study submarine design and procurement, and in April 2014 he got the U.S. chief of naval operations, Admiral
Jonathan Greenert, to publicly acknowledge U.S.-Taiwan dialogue on the IDS, to remove political opposition to the program. Chen relinquished command to Admiral
Lee Hsi-ming on 31 January 2015, and retired after over 40 years of service in the Republic of China Navy. ==Post-service life==