Chiang Ching-kuo Dies At 77, Ending A Dynasty On Taiwan

Chiang Ching-kuo Dies at 77, Ending a Dynasty on Taiwanhttps://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/14/obituaries/chiang-ching-kuo-dies-at-77-ending-a-dynasty-on-taiwan.html

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See the article in its original context from January 14, 1988, Section A, Page 1Buy ReprintsView on timesmachineTimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers.About the ArchiveThis is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.

President Chiang Ching-kuo of Taiwan died of a heart attack yesterday, ending a four-decade era in which Chinese who fled the mainland in 1949 were the prime leaders of the island nation.

His age was officially said to be 77 -though by some accounts he was older - and he had been President since 1978.

Mr. Chiang, the son and political heir of the Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, died in a hospital in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. He was succeeded by his designated successor, Vice President Lee Teng-hui, 64 years old. Mr. Lee, a Cornell University-trained economist who was a Mayor of Taipei and a Provincial Governor, is the first native of Taiwan to become President.

Chinese and American specialists on Taiwan expressed concern yesterday that Mr. Chiang's death, ending the family dynasty, could lead to instability on the island. [ Page 7. ] There is doubt as to how the Kuomintang, the ruling party, will evolve, how opposition political figures will react and what position the post-Chiang leadership will take on the question of reunification with mainland China, which is about 100 miles away across the Strait of Formosa. The Republic of China, confined to Taiwan and a few smaller islands since 1949, has asserted since then that it is the rightful Chinese government.

Mr. Lee is expected by some analysts to serve out Mr. Chiang's term, which ends in 1990, and then to run for election. He is well liked on the island, but is regarded as possessing less strength of will, leadership ability and charisma than did Chiang Ching-kuo.

In Beijing, the official New China News Agency reported Mr. Chiang's death without comment in an article from Hong Kong. U.S. Expresses 'Great Sadness'

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