Chiang Ching-kuo (, 27 April 1910 – 13 January 1988) was a politician of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. The eldest and only biological son of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China and ended

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

in 1987. He served as the third

premier of the Republic of China The premier of the Republic of China, officially the premier of the Executive Yuan ( zh, 行政院院長), is the head of government of Taiwan and leader of the Executive Yuan. The premier is nominally the principal advisor to the President ...

between 1972 and 1978 and was the third

president of the Republic of China The president of the Republic of China, also known as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan), as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. Republic of China (1912– ...

from 1978 until his death in 1988. Born in

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, Ching-kuo was sent as a teenager to study in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

during the

First United Front The First United Front , also known as the KMT–CCP Alliance, of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was formed in 1924 as an alliance to end Warlord Era, warlordism in China. Together they formed the National Revolution ...

in 1925, when his father's Nationalist Party and the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

were in alliance. Before his education in the USSR, he attended school in Shanghai and Beijing, where he became interested in socialism and communism. He attended university in the USSR and spoke Russian fluently, but when the Chinese Nationalists violently broke with the Communists,

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

sent him to work in a steel factory in the Ural Mountains. There, Chiang met and married Faina Vakhreva. With war between China and Japan imminent in 1937, Stalin sent the couple to China. During the war, Ching-kuo's father gradually came to trust him, and gave him more and more responsibilities, including administration. After the Japanese surrender, Ching-kuo was tasked with and effectively reduced corruption in Shanghai. The victory of the Communists in 1949 drove the Chiang family and their ROC government to retreat to Taiwan. Ching-kuo was first given control of the

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

, a position he retained until 1965 and in which he used arbitrary arrests and torture to ensure tight control as part of the White Terror. He then became Minister of Defense (1965–1969), Vice-Premier (1969–1972) and Premier (1972–1978). After his father's death in 1975, he took leadership of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

(KMT) as chairman, and was elected president in 1978 and again in 1984. Under his tenure as president, the government of the Republic of China in Taiwan, while remaining authoritarian, became more open and tolerant of

political dissent Political dissent is a dissatisfaction with or opposition to the policies of a governing body. Expressions of dissent may take forms from vocal disagreement to civil disobedience to the use of violence.Taiwanese voters, and reduced the preference for those who came from the mainland after the WWII. Toward the end of his life, Chiang decided to relax government controls on the media and

speech Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

, and allowed Han born in Taiwan into positions of power, including his eventual successor

Lee Teng-hui Lee Teng-hui (; pinyin: ''Lǐ Dēnghuī''; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese politician and agricultural scientist who served as the fourth president of the Republic of China, president of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan) unde ...

. He was the last president of the Republic of China to be born during the rule of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. Ching-kuo was credited for his Soviet-inspired city planning policies,

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

with Ten Major Construction Projects in Taiwan, efforts to clamp down on corruption, as well as the democratic transition of Taiwan and gradually shifting away from the authoritarian dictatorial rule of his own father Chiang Kai-shek.

Biography

Early life

The son of Chiang Kai-shek and his first wife, Mao Fumei, Chiang Ching-kuo was born in

Fenghua Fenghua (; ) is a district (China), district of the city of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China. The district and its administrative hinterlands have a population of over 480,000. Fenghua is the hometown of two former president of the Republic of ...

, Zhejiang, with the

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

of Jiànfēng (). He had an adopted brother, Chiang Wei-kuo. "Ching" literally means "longitude", while "kuo" means "nation"; in his brother's name, "wei" literally means "parallel (of latitude)". The names are inspired by the references in Chinese classics such as the '' Guoyu'', in which "to draw the longitudes and latitudes of the world" is used as a metaphor for a person with great abilities, especially in managing a country. While the young Chiang Ching-kuo had a good relationship with his mother and grandmother (who were deeply rooted to their Buddhist faith), his relationship with his father was strict, utilitarian and often rocky. Chiang Kai-shek appeared to his son as an authoritarian figure, sometimes indifferent to his problems. Even in personal letters between the two, Chiang Kai-shek would sternly order his son to improve his Chinese calligraphy. From 1916 until 1919 Chiang Ching-kuo attended the "Grammar School" in "Wushan Temple" an important temple in Xikou Town. Then, in 1920, his father hired tutors to teach him the

Four Books The Four Books and Five Classics are authoritative and important books associated with Confucianism, written before 300 BC. They are traditionally believed to have been either written, edited or commented by Confucius or one of his disciples. S ...

, the central texts of

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

. On 4 June 1921, Ching-kuo's grandmother died. What might have been an immense emotional loss was compensated for when Chiang Kai-shek moved the family to Shanghai. Chiang Ching-kuo's stepmother, historically known as the Chiang family's "Shanghai Mother", went with them. During this period Chiang Kai-shek concluded that Chiang Ching-kuo was a son to be taught, while Chiang Wei-kuo was a son to be loved. During his time in Shanghai, Chiang Ching-kuo was supervised by his father and made to write a weekly letter of 200–300 Chinese characters. Chiang Kai-shek also underlined the importance of classical books and of learning English, two areas he was hardly proficient in himself. On 20 March 1924, Chiang Ching-kuo was able to present to his now-nationally famous father a proposal concerning the grass-roots organization of the rural population in Xikou. Chiang Ching-kuo planned to provide free education to allow people to read and to write at least 1000 characters. In his own words:

I have a suggestion to make about the Wushan School, although I do not know if you can agree to it. My suggestion is that the school establish a night school for common people who cannot afford to go to the regular school. My school established a night school with great success. I can tell you something about the night school: Name: Wuschua School for the Common People Tuition fee: Free of charge with stationery supplied Class hours: 7 pm to 9 pm Age limit: 14 or older Schooling protocol: 16 or 20 weeks. At the time of the graduation, the trainees will be able to write simple letters and keep simple accounts. They will be issued a diploma if they pass the examinations. The textbooks they used were published by the Commercial Press and were entitled "One thousand characters for the common people." I do not know whether you will accept my suggestion. If a night school is established at Wushan, it will greatly benefit the local people.

In early 1925, Chiang entered Shanghai's Pudong College, but Chiang Kai-shek decided to send him on to Beijing because of warlord action and spontaneous student protests in Shanghai. In Beijing, he attended the school organized by a friend of his father,

Wu Zhihui Wu Jingheng (), commonly known by his courtesy name Wu Zhihui (Woo Chih-hui, ; 1865–1953), also known as Wu Shi-Fee, was a Chinese linguist and philosopher who was the chairman of the 1912–13 Commission on the Unification of Pronunciatio ...

, a renowned scholar and linguist. The school combined classical and modern approaches to education. While there, Ching-kuo started to identify himself as a ''progressive revolutionary'' and participated in the flourishing social scene inside the young Communist community. The idea of studying in Moscow now seized his imagination. Within the help program provided by the Soviet Union to the countries of East Asia there was a training school that later became the Moscow Sun Yat-sen University. The participants to the university were selected by the CPSU and KMT members, with a participation of CPC Central Committee. Chiang Ching-kuo asked Wu Zhihui to name him as a KMT candidate. Wu did not try to dissuade him, even though Wu was a key figure of the right-leaning and anti-Communist "Western Hills Group" of the KMT. In the summer of 1925, Chiang Ching-kuo traveled south to Whampoa Military Academy to discuss his plans for study in Moscow with his father. Chiang Kai-shek was not keen, but after a discussion with Chen Guofu he finally agreed. In a 1996 interview, Ch'en's brother, Chen Li-fu, recalled that Chiang Kai-shek accepted the plan because of the need to have Soviet support at a time when his hold over the KMT was tenuous.

Moscow

With or without his father's enthusiastic approval, Chiang Ching-kuo went on to Moscow in late 1925. He stayed in the Soviet Union for nearly twelve years. While there, Chiang was given the Russian name Nikolai Vladimirovich Elizarov (Николай Владимирович Елизаров) and put under the tutelage of

Karl Radek Karl Berngardovich Radek (; 31 October 1885 – 19 May 1939) was a revolutionary and writer active in the Polish and German social democratic movements before World War I and a Communist International leader in the Soviet Union after the Russian ...

at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East. Noted for having an exceptional grasp of international politics, his classmates included other children of influential Chinese families, most notably the future Chinese Communist party leader,

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

. Chiang Ching-kuo joined the Communist Youth League under Deng. Soon Ching-kuo was an enthusiastic student of Communist ideology, particularly

Trotskyism Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

; though following the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

privately met with him and ordered him to publicly denounce Trotskyism. Chiang even applied to be a member of the All-Union Communist Party, although his request was denied. In April 1927, however, Chiang Kai-shek purged KMT leftists, had Communists arrested or killed, and expelled his Soviet advisers. Chiang Ching-kuo responded from Moscow with an editorial that harshly criticized his father's actions but was nonetheless detained as a "guest" of the Soviet Union, a practical hostage. The historiographic debate still continues as to whether he was forced to write the editorial, but he had seen Trotskyist friends arrested and killed by the

Soviet secret police There were a succession of Soviet secret police agencies over time. The Okhrana was abolished by the Provisional government after the first revolution of 1917, and the first secret police after the October Revolution, created by Vladimir Leni ...

. The Soviet government sent him to work in the Ural Heavy Machinery Plant, a steel factory in the Urals,

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

(then Sverdlovsk), where he met Faina Ipat'evna Vakhreva, a native Belarusian. They married on 15 March 1935, and she would later take the Chinese name Chiang Fang-liang. In December of that year, their son, Hsiao-wen was born. Chiang Kai-shek refused to negotiate a prisoner swap for his son in exchange for a Chinese Communist Party leader. He wrote in his diary, "It is not worth it to sacrifice the interest of the country for the sake of my son." In 1937, he maintained that "I would rather have no offspring than sacrifice our nation's interests", since he had no intention of stopping the war against the Communists.

Return to China and WWII

Stalin allowed Chiang Ching-kuo to return to China with his Belarusian wife and son in April 1937 after living in the USSR for 12 years. By then, the NRA under Chiang Kai-shek and the Communists under

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

had signed a ceasefire to create the

Second United Front The Second United Front ( zh, t=第二次國共合作 , s=第二次国共合作 , first=t , l=Second Nationalist-Communist Cooperation, p=dì èr cì guógòng hézuò ) was the alliance between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Co ...

and fight the Japanese invasion of China, which began in July 1937. Stalin hoped the Chinese would keep Japan from invading the Soviet Pacific coast, and he hoped to form an anti-Japanese alliance with the senior Chiang. On Ching-kuo's return, his father assigned a tutor, Hsu Dau-lin, to assist with his readjustment to China. Chiang Ching-kuo was appointed as a specialist in remote districts of

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

where he was credited with training of cadres and fighting corruption, opium consumption, and illiteracy. Chiang Ching-kuo was appointed as commissioner of Gannan Prefecture () between 1939 and 1945; there he banned smoking, gambling and prostitution, studied governmental management, allowed for economic expansion and a change in social outlook. His efforts were hailed as a miracle in the political war in China, then coined as the "Gannan New Deal" (). During his time in Gannan, from 1940 he implemented a "public information desk" where ordinary people could visit him if they had problems, and according to records, Chiang Ching-kuo received a total of 1,023 people during such sessions in 1942. In regard to the ban on prostitution and closing of brothels, Chiang implemented a policy where former prostitutes became employed in factories. Due to the large number of refugees in Ganzhou as a result from the ongoing war, thousands of orphans lived on the street; in June 1942, Chiang Ching-kuo formally established the Chinese Children's Village () in the outskirts of Ganzhou, with facilities such as a nursery, kindergarten, primary school, hospital and gymnasium. During the last years of the 1930s, he met Wang Sheng, with whom he would remain close for the next 50 years. The paramilitary "Sanmin Zhuyi Youth Corps" was under Chiang's control. Chiang used the term "big bourgeoisie", in a disparaging manner to call H.H. Kung and T. V. Soong. While in mainland China, Chiang and his wife had a daughter, Hsiao-chang, born in Nanchang (1938), and two more sons, Hsiao-wu, born in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

(1945), and Hsiao-yung, born in Shanghai (1948).

Relationship with Chang Ya-juo and her death

Chiang met Chang Ya-juo when she was working at a training camp for enlistees and he was serving as the head of Gannan Prefecture during the war. The two had a relationship that brought twin sons: Chang Hsiao-tz'u and Chang Hsiao-yen, born in 1942. In August 1942, Chang felt sick at a dinner party, and died the next day in a

Guilin Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''), postal map romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Kweilin, is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the we ...

hospital. The circumstances of her death raised speculation that it was murder. Over the years, many of her relatives, including her sons and highly ranked ex-security personnel, insisted that KMT's security apparatus orchestrated her murder to keep a lid on CCK's marital affair, and to protect CCK's political career.

Hostage claim

Jung Chang Jung Chang (, ; born 25 March 1952) is a Chinese-born British author. She is best known for her family autobiography ''Wild Swans'', selling over 10 million copies worldwide but Censorship in China, banned in the China, People's Republic of Ch ...

and Jon Halliday claim Chiang Kai-shek allowed the Communists to escape on the 1934–1935

Long March The Long March ( zh, s=长征, p=Chángzhēng, l=Long Expedition) was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934 and ...

because he wanted Stalin to return Chiang Ching-kuo. This is contradicted by Chiang Kai-shek's diary, "It is not worth it to sacrifice the interest of the country for the sake of my son." He refused to negotiate for a prisoner swap of his son in exchange for the Chinese Communist Party leader (Zhou Enlai). Again in 1937 he stated about his son: "I would rather have no offspring than sacrifice our nation's interests." Chiang had absolutely no intention of stopping the war against the Communists. Chang and Halliday likewise claim that Chiang Ching-kuo was "kidnapped" in spite of the evidence that he went to study in the Soviet Union with his father's own approval.

Economic policies in Shanghai

Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-Kuo in 1948

After the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

and during the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

, Chiang Ching-kuo briefly served as a liaison administrator in Shanghai, trying to eradicate the corruption and

hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real versus nominal value (economics), real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimiz ...

that plagued the city. He was determined to do this because of the fears arising from the Nationalists' increasing lack of popularity during the Civil War. Given the task of arresting dishonest businessmen who hoarded supplies for profit during the inflationary spiral, he attempted to assuage the business community by explaining that his team would only go after big war profiteers. Chiang Ching-kuo copied Soviet methods, which he learned during his stay in the Soviet Union, to start a social revolution by attacking middle class merchants. He also enforced low prices on all goods to raise support from the

Proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian or a . Marxist ph ...

. Chiang Ching-kuo used his own agents to make arrests in Shanghai, rather than the Shanghai city police. Chiang Ching-kuo relied on two relatively new organizations which answered directly to him. He used the Sixth Battalion of the Bandit-Suppression National-Reconstruction Corps to search warehouses for hoarded goods and to place secret report boxes in the city where people could anonymously report violators. He also used the Shanghai Youth Service Corps for enforcement. As riots broke out and savings were ruined, bankrupting shopowners, Chiang Ching-kuo began to attack the wealthy, seizing assets and placing them under arrest. The son of the gangster Du Yuesheng was arrested by him. Ching-kuo ordered KMT agents to raid the Yangtze Development Corporation's warehouses, which was privately owned by H.H. Kung and his family, as the company was accused of hoarding supplies. H.H. Kung's wife was

Soong Ai-ling Soong Ai-ling (; July 15, 1889 – October 20, 1973), legally Soong E-ling or Eling Soong, Christian name Nancy, was a Chinese businesswoman, the eldest of the Soong sisters and the wife of H. H. Kung (Kung Hsiang-Hsi), who was the richest man ...

, the sister of Soong Mei-ling who was Chiang Ching-kuo's stepmother. Chiang Ching-kuo had H.H. Kung's son son David Kung and several employees of the Yangtze Development Corporation arrested on allegations of holding foreign exchange. Soong Mei-ling called Chiang Kai-shek to complain and also called Chiang Ching-Kuo directly. David Kung was eventually freed after negotiations, and Chiang Ching-kuo resigned, ending the terror on the Shanghainese merchants. The major impact of Chiang Ching-kuo's campaign was to cause the flight of prominent capitalists from Shanghai to Hong Kong and elsewhere. The failure of the campaign also affected Ching-kuo's political influence and reputation temporarily.

Political career in Taiwan

After the Nationalists lost control of

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

to the Communists in the

, Chiang Ching-kuo followed his father and the retreating Nationalist forces to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. On 8 December 1949, the Nationalist capital was moved from

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, and early on 10 December 1949, Communist troops laid siege to Chengdu, the last KMT-controlled city on mainland China. Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo directed the city's defense from the

Chengdu Central Military Academy Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

, before the aircraft ''May-ling'' evacuated them to Taiwan; they would never return to

. In 1950, Chiang's father appointed him director of the

, which he remained until 1965. An enemy of the Chiang family, Wu Kuo-chen, was kicked out of his position of governor of Taiwan by Chiang Ching-kuo and fled to America in 1953. Chiang Ching-kuo, educated in the Soviet Union, initiated Soviet-style military organization in the Republic of China Military, reorganizing and Sovietizing the political officer corps, surveillance, and KMT party activities were propagated throughout the military. Opposed to this was Sun Li-jen, who was educated at the American

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

. Chiang orchestrated the controversial court-martial and arrest of General

Sun Li-jen Sun Li-jen ( zh, t=孫立人 , s=孙立人 , p=Sūn Lìrén, first=t; December 8, 1900November 19, 1990) was a Kuomintang, Chinese Nationalist (KMT) General officer, general, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute in the United States, bes ...

in August 1955, allegedly for plotting a coup d'état with the American

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

against his father. General Sun was a popular Chinese war hero from the

Burma Campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...

against the Japanese and remained under house arrest until Chiang Ching-kuo's death in 1988. Ching-kuo also approved the arbitrary arrest and torture of prisoners. From 1955 to 1960, Chiang administered the construction and completion of Taiwan's highway system. Chiang's father elevated him to high office when he was appointed as the ROC Defense Minister from 1965 until 1969. He was the nation's Vice Premier between 1969 and 1972. Afterwards he was appointed the nation's Premier between 1972 and 1978. In 1970, Chiang was the target of an assassination attempt in New York City by Peter Huang. As Premier Chiang organized a people's diplomacy campaign in the United States in an effort to mobilize American political sentiment in opposition to the PRC through mass demonstrations and petitions. Among these efforts, the KMT worked with the

John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, right-wing populist, and ...

to launch a petition writing campaign through which Americans were urged to write their local government officials and ask them to "Cut the Red China connection." As Chiang Kai-shek entered his final years, he gradually gave more responsibilities to his son, and when he died in April 1975, Vice President

Yen Chia-kan Yen Chia-kan (; 23 October 1905 – 24 December 1993), also known as C. K. Yen, was a chemist and the second president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 1975 to 1978. A Kuomintang politician, he succeeded Chiang Kai-shek as the second pr ...

became president for the balance of Chiang Kai-shek's term, while Chiang Ching-kuo succeeded to the leadership of the KMT (he opted for the title "Chairman" rather than the elder Chiang's title of "Director-General").

Leadership

Chiang Ching-kuo was elected president of the ROC in the 1978 Taiwanese presidential election by the Eternal Parliament on 20 May 1978. He was reelected to another term in the 1984 Taiwanese presidential election. At that time, the National Assembly consisted mostly of , men who had been elected in 1947–48 before the fall of mainland China and who would hold their seats indefinitely. Starting from the 1970s when his father grew sick, Chiang became the de facto leader of the regime and reformed many of his father's autocratic policies and gradually phased out of the white terror by allowing the freedom of peaceful assemblies and political pluralism of the

Tangwai movement The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Legis ...

, which later became the DPP. Chiang also turned down many of the suggestions of the conservatives in the KMT regime to violently suppress the protesters. In a move he launched the " Ten Major Construction Projects" and the "Twelve New Development Projects" which contributed to the "Taiwan Miracle". Among his accomplishments was accelerating the process of economic modernization to give Taiwan a 13% growth rate, $4,600 per capita income, and the world's second largest

foreign exchange reserves Foreign exchange reserves (also called forex reserves or FX reserves) are cash and other reserve assets such as gold and silver held by a central bank or other monetary authority that are primarily available to balance payments of the country, ...

. On 16 December 1978, U.S. president

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

announced that the United States would no longer recognize the ROC as the legitimate government of China. Under the

Taiwan Relations Act The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA; ) is an Act of Congress, act of the United States Congress. Since the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, formal recognition of the China, People's Republic of China, the Act has defined ...

, the United States would continue to sell weapons to Taiwan, but the TRA was purposely vague in any promise of defending Taiwan in the event of an invasion. Chiang Ching-kuo also enacted major

labor rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, the ...

reforms throughout the 1970s and the 1980s that addressed

child labor Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

, women's employment,

working time Working time or laboring time is the period of time that a person spends at paid Wage labour, labor. Unpaid work, Unpaid labor such as personal housework or caring for children or pets is not considered part of the working week. Many countri ...

pensions A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "defined benefit plan", wher ...

, paid leave,

employment contract An employment contract or contract of employment is a kind of contract used in labour law to attribute rights and responsibilities between parties to a bargain. The contract is between an "employee" and an "employer". It has arisen out of the old m ...

with several legislations such as the "Labor Safety and Hygiene Law" in 1974 and the "Factory Law" in 1975. The average salary of Taiwanese workers tripled under his rule. Chiang Ching-kuo also loosened the harsh anti-strike laws and

union busting Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or weaken the power of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace. Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities, and can range anywhe ...

practice, thus giving the labor movement more opportunity to bargain for fairer wages as he lifted the martial law provisions. In an effort to bring more Taiwan-born citizens into government services, Chiang Ching-kuo "exiled" his over-ambitious chief of General Political Warfare Department, General Wang Sheng, to

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

as an ambassador (November 1983), and hand-picked

as vice-president of the ROC (formally elected May 1984), first-in-the-line of succession to the presidency. Chiang emphatically declared that his successor would not be from the Chiang family in a Constitution Day speech on 25 December 1985: Chiang Wei-kuo, Chiang's younger brother, would later repudiate the declaration in 1990 after he was selected as a vice-presidential candidate. On 15 July 1987, Chiang finally ended

and allowed his family to visit the mainland. The ban on tourism to Hong Kong and

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

was also lifted. His administration saw a gradual loosening of political controls and opponents of the Nationalists were no longer forbidden to hold meetings or publish political criticism papers. Opposition political parties, though still formally illegal, were allowed to operate without harassment or arrest. When the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

was established on 28 September 1986, President Chiang decided against dissolving the group or persecuting its leaders, but its candidates officially ran in elections as independents in the

Tangwai The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Legi ...

movement. Chiang Ching-kuo also increased the political representation of

Taiwanese people Taiwanese people are the Taiwanese nationality law, citizens and nationals of the Republic of China (ROC) and those who reside in an Overseas Taiwanese, overseas diaspora from the entire Taiwan Area. The term also refers to natives or inhabitan ...

to certain degree under his rule, allowing them to have various positions, which paved the way for

to come to power and further democratize Taiwan.

Death and legacy

Chiang Ching-kuo died at Taipei Veterans General Hospital on 13 January 1988, aged 77, from a heart attack. He used a wheelchair during the last months of his life, and also had diabetes, alongside vision and heart problems. He was interred temporarily in Daxi Township, Taoyuan County (now Daxi District,

Taoyuan City Taoyuan () is a special municipality located in northwestern Taiwan, neighboring New Taipei City to the north-east, Yilan County to the south-east, and Hsinchu County to the south-west. Taoyuan District is the seat of the municipal gove ...

), but in a separate

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

in Touliao, a mile down the road from his father's burial place. The hope was to have both buried at their birthplace in

once mainland China was recovered. Composer Hwang Yau-tai wrote the Chiang Ching-kuo Memorial Song in 1988. In January 2004, Chiang Fang-liang asked that both father and son be buried at Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery in Hsichih,

Taipei County New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...

(now New Taipei City). The state funeral ceremony was initially planned for Spring 2005, but was eventually delayed to winter 2005. It may be further delayed due to the recent death of Chiang Ching-kuo's oldest daughter-in-law, who had served as the de facto head of the household since Chiang Fang-liang's death in 2004. Chiang Fang-liang and Soong Mei-ling had agreed in 1997 that the former leaders be first buried, but still be moved to mainland China. Murray A. Rubinstein called Chiang Ching-kuo more of a civilian leader than his father, whom Rubenstein refers to as a "quasi-

warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

." Jay Taylor has described Chiang Ching-kuo as a figure who was ideologically inspired by a mix of Soviet communism,

Chinese nationalism Chinese nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts that the Chinese people are a nation and promotes the cultural and national unity of all Chinese people. According to Sun Yat-sen's philosophy in the Three Principles of the People, Chin ...

, Taiwanese localism, and American democracy, who became the helmsman of the democratization of Taiwan. Unlike his highly controversial father, Chiang Ching-kuo's reputation is overwhelmingly positive among the Taiwanese population as the people of Taiwan recognize his economic and social achievements, as well as his efforts of democratization. 38.7% of the population considers him the best president who contributed the most to Taiwan, and he was rated 84.8/100 by the Taiwanese population.

Memorials

Chiang Ching-kuo Statue in Dongyin Township 28957251333 32a4795c88 o

Road names

* Jingguo road (in Hsinchu) * Jingguo road (in Taoyuan)

The Republic of China Air Force

The AIDC, the ROC's air defense company, has nicknamed its AIDC F-CK Indigenous Defense Fighter the ''Ching Kuo'' in his memory.

Coin

* 27 April 2010. oin commemorating the 100th anniversary of Chiang Ching-kuo's birth

Song

* Chiang Ching-kuo Memorial Song

Family

*Wife: Faina Chiang Fang-liang, Chiang and she had 3 sons and 1 daughter. **First son: Alan Chiang Hsiao-wen (14 December 1935 – 14 April 1989) *** Chiang Yu-mei (1961–),

British Chinese British Chinese (), also known as Chinese British or Chinese Britons, are people of Chineseparticularly Han Chineseancestry who reside in the United Kingdom, constituting the second-largest group of Overseas Chinese in Western Europe after Fran ...

. **First daughter: Chiang Hsiao-chang (1938–), married to Yu Yang-ho () until his death in 2010. ***Theodore Yu Tsu-sheng () **Second son: Alex Chiang Hsiao-wu (25 April 1945 – 1 July 1991) *** Alexandra Chiang Yo-lan () *** Johnathan Chiang Yo-sung (), married in 2002. ****a daughter (May 2003–) **Third son: Eddie Chiang Hsiao-yung (1 October 1948 – 22 December 1996) *** Demos Chiang Yo-bo (10 September 1976–), DEM Inc () founder. He was married in 2003 to Ms Lin Hen Yi (). ****Chiang De Xi (, 10 July 2003–) ****Chiang De Yung (, 2005–) *** Edward Chiang Yo-chang (9 November 1978–) *** Andrew Chiang Yo-ching (14 June 1990–) *Mistress: Chang Ya-juo (1913–1942), Chiang and she had 2 sons. **Winston Chang Hsiao-tzu *** Chang Ching-sung (), married on 2 November 1999. *** Chang Yu-chu (, 1978–) **John

Chiang Hsiao-yen Chiang Hsiao-yen (; born 1 March 1942) or John Chiang, formerly surnamed Chang (), is a Taiwanese politician affiliated with the Kuomintang. He is the speculated illegitimate son of Chiang Ching-kuo, former leader of the Republic of China, ...

*** Vivian Chang (?–), married in 2004. ***Chiang Hui-yun (, 1977–), married on 29 April 2007. ***

Chiang Wan-an Chiang Wan-an ( Chinese: 蔣萬安; born Chang Wan-an; 26 December 1978), also known by his English name Wayne Chiang, is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer who has served as the mayor of Taipei since December 2022. A member of the Kuomintang (KM ...

(26 December 1978–), married in 2008. ****Chiang De Ri (, June 2011–), born in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Family tree

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

; Books cited * *

External links

ROC Government biography

* ttp://www.kmt.org.tw/ Kuomintang Official Website
Corpus of Political Speeches
Free access to political speeches by Chiang Ching-kuo and other Chinese politicians, developed by Hong Kong Baptist University Library , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chiang, Ching-Kuo 1910 births 1988 deaths Presidents of the Republic of China on Taiwan Vice premiers of the Republic of China on Taiwan Chinese anti-communists Taiwanese anti-communists Chinese people of World War II Politicians from Ningbo Premiers of the Republic of China on Taiwan Chinese Methodists Chinese Nationalist heads of state Chairpersons of the Kuomintang Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Ministers of national defense of Taiwan Ministers of the Veterans Affairs Council of Taiwan Chinese expatriates in the Soviet Union Moscow Sun Yat-sen University alumni Children of national leaders of China Children of presidents Chinese Civil War refugees Taiwanese people from Zhejiang Communist University of the Toilers of the East alumni Chinese diarists 20th-century diarists Kuomintang presidential nominees