He studied Dutch at the Tokyo University of Foreign Languages, and was also fluent in English, Japanese, Malay, Taiwanese and Mandarin.

He was sent by the Japanese government to the Dutch East Indies in 1942, shortly after Japan had begun its occupation of the territory, to serve as a translator.

Chen stayed in Indonesia after the end of World War II and found work designing jewelry.

The next year, Liao appointed Chen the ambassador to Southeast Asia upon the formation of the Japan-based Republic of Taiwan Provisional Government [zh].

The Taiwan Garrison Command arrested Chen for his actions the next year and imprisoned him in a facility on Qingdao Road in Taipei.