Chen normally respected his children's wishes, except when he learned that his daughter wanted to marry Lu Hsiu-yi, a democracy activist and later legislator for the then-opposition Democratic Progressive Party. Chen, who had been through the White Terror, feared that Yu-hsiou would have a rough ride ahead if she married Lu.
對子女一向尊重的陳慧坤，只有在陳郁秀要和前立法委員盧修一結婚時，堅決反對，因為深怕從事政治運動的盧修一會讓女兒吃苦。