Taiwan President Dies; Son of Chiang Kai-shek

TAIPEI, Taiwan — President Chiang Ching-kuo, son of Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek and heir to his dream of retaking mainland China from the Communists, died of a heart attack today. He was 77.

Chiang died at his suburban home, Vice President Lee Teng-hui announced on Taiwan’s three television stations.

Lee, 65, was sworn in as Chiang’s successor in a hastily arranged ceremony, becoming the country’s seventh president and the first native Taiwanese to rule the island since the nationalist Chinese fled there in 1949.

The Defense Ministry ordered all military personnel to cancel leaves and vacations and to reinforce the defense of this island of 19.5 million people. The Cabinet held an emergency meeting and banned demonstrations for a 30-day mourning period.

Lifted Martial Law

Last year, Chiang lifted martial law that had been in place since 1949, loosening controls on the media and allowing the formation of an opposition party.

Chiang’s father, Chiang Kai-shek, and 2 million followers of his Nationalist Chinese government fled to Taiwan from mainland China in 1949 after they were driven out by the Communist forces of Mao Tse-tung.

Chiang Ching-kuo was elected to his first six-year term as president in 1978, taking over from Yen Chia-kang, who served for three years after the senior Chiang’s death. He was reelected in 1984 for another six years.

While he honored his father’s dream of returning to China, Chiang also built Taiwan into an economic powerhouse that survived a devastating political and military blow when the United States switched its recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

12 Years in Soviet Union

Born in China’s Zhejiang province March 18, 1910, Chiang was the eldest son of Chiang Kai-shek by his first marriage.

He went to the Soviet Union at 16 and stayed for 12 years. The experience made him a staunch anti-communist.

He married a Russian named Faina and she later adopted the Chinese name Fang Liang. They were married in 1935 and had three sons and one daughter.

Chiang’s stepmother, the former May-ling Soong of the fabled three Soong sisters, tried to gain power in Taiwan after Chiang Kai-shek’s death in 1975. But the younger Chiang consolidated his power and was unanimously elected party chairman in a closed meeting of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party.

When she was told of the vote, the disgruntled Mme. Chiang Kai-shek packed her bags and traveled to the United States for medical treatment of a skin disease. She returned to Taiwan in 1986.