Tsebin Tchen
| Tsebin Tchen | |
|---|---|
| Senator for Victoria | |
|
In office 1 July 1999 – 30 June 2005 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
10 March 1940 Chungking, China |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Australia |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney |
| Occupation | Town planner |
Tsebin Tchen (Chinese: 陈之彬; pinyin: Chén Zhībīn) (born 10 March 1940) is a former Liberal member of the Australian Senate from 1999 to 2005, representing the state of Victoria.
Tchen was born in Chungking, wartime capital of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War (more commonly known amongst Chinese as the War of Resistance). His father was then a junior diplomat with the Chinese Government and was posted overseas when Tchen was two years old. Tchen followed his father to various postings and never returned to China to live, except for two years (1954–56) in Taiwan, where the Nationalist government under Chiang Kai-shek had fled after losing the mainland in the Chinese Civil War. His father continued to represent the Republic of China government until 1975 when he retired to live with Tchen in Australia. In 1958, Tchen gained a student visa to Australia to study—at that time, the only way for Asians to enter Australia due to the White Australia Policy. Eventually, he obtained a master's degree in town planning at Sydney University.
From 1966, Tchen worked as a New South Wales government town planner in Sydney. Harold Holt succeeded Robert Menzies as Prime Minister in 1965 and effectively ended the White Australia Policy by altering the immigration law to allow Asian migration. After weighing up his choices, Tchen decided to remain in Australia, and gained citizenship in 1971.
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