He graduated from the Economics Department of Keio University in Japan in 1929 and joined the Showa New Newspaper after returning to Taiwan.

During the war, Lien Chen-tung served as the head of the Chongqing National Government Institute of International Studies and a member of the Xijing Preparatory Committee.

After Second World War the National Government of the Republic of China took back the rule of Taiwan and the Penghu Islands from the Empire of Japan.

In November 1945, Taiwanese Chief Executive Chen Yi appointed Lien as the first chairman of the Taipei State Reception Management Committee.

In 1949, he served as the land director of the Southeast Military and Political Affairs Office and the drafting committee of the Taiwan Provincial-Local Autonomy Program.

One year later, he was transferred to the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Taiwan Provincial Government, where he actively promoted local self-government.

[10] On 25 March 1960, Lien was appointed as the Deputy Secretary-General of the Kuomintang and as a result, resigned as a member of the Taiwan Provincial Government and Minister of Civil Affairs.

[1] His main contributions were the establishment of the military service system and the implementation of local election government policy.

In 1965, Lien Chan was under the guidance of Tsou Tang, and obtained a doctorate in political science from the University of Chicago with the title of "Chinese Communism versus Pragmatism: The Criticism of Hu Shih's Philosophy".

After Taiwan’s recovery, Lien's family moved to Taipei, so his wife Chao Lan-k'un sold all their remaining property left in Miaoli.

By holding their investments for a long duration, coinciding with the economic takeoff in Asia after World War 2, the Lien family gained wealth after decades.

His son is Lien Chan, the seventh Vice President of the Republic of China and the honorary Chairman of the Kuomintang.

Lien Chan is credited with chartering a historic visit to Mainland China in his appointment as Chairman of the Kuomintang to meet with then General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Hu Jintao.

From his return to Taiwan in 1945 until his death in 1986, Lien has served as the first Taipei County mayor, minister of the interior, standing committee member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, member of the Executive Yuan, national policy advisor to the office of the president, and senior advisor to the office of the president.

After the Second Sino-Japanese War, while Taiwan was recovering, Lien was elected as a member of the Constitution Committee and the representative of the First National Assembly.