Chiang Ching-kuo

President of the Republic of China

27 April 1910 Fenghua, Zhejiang, Qing China

13 January 1988(1988-01-13) (77) Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

20 May 1978 – 13 January 1988

former president of Taiwan In this Chinese name, the family name is Chiang (蔣 ). Chiang Ching-kuo蔣經國 Official portrait. Photo date unknown.President of the Republic of ChinaIn office 20 May 1978 – 13 January 1988Vice President Hsieh Tung-min Lee Teng-huiPreceded by Yen Chia-kanSucceeded by Lee Teng-huiPremier of the Republic of ChinaIn office 29 May 1972 – 20 May 1978PresidentChiang Kai-shek Yen Chia-kanVice Premier Hsu Ching-chungPreceded by Yen Chia-kanSucceeded by Sun Yun-suan Other positions Chairman of the KuomintangIn office 5 April 1975 – 13 January 1988Preceded by Chiang Kai-shek (Director-General of the Kuomintang)Succeeded by Lee Teng-huiVice Premier of the Republic of ChinaIn office 1 July 1969 – 1 June 1972PremierYen Chia-kanPreceded by Huang Shao-kuSucceeded by Hsu Ching-chungMinister of National Defense of the Republic of ChinaIn office 14 January 1965 – 30 June 1969Preceded by Yu Da-weiSucceeded by Huang ChiehMinister without PortfolioIn office 15 July 1958 – 13 January 1965PremierChen Cheng Yen Chia-kanMinister of Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen of the Executive YuanIn office 25 April 1956 – 1 July 1964Preceded by Yen Chia-kanSucceeded by Chau Chu-yue Personal detailsBorn(1910-04-27 ) 27 April 1910 Fenghua, Zhejiang, Qing ChinaDied13 January 1988(1988-01-13) (aged 77) Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, TaiwanResting placeTouliao Mausoleum, Daxi District, Taoyuan, TaiwanNationalityRepublic of ChinaPolitical partyKuomintangSpouse(s)Faina Vakhreva ​(m. 1935 )​ChildrenChiang Hsiao-wen (1935–1989) Chiang Hsiao-chang (born 1938) Chang Hsiao-tzu (1941–1996) Chiang Hsiao-yen (born 1942, illegitimate, disputed) Winston Chang (born 1942, illegitimate, disputed) Chiang Hsiao-wu (1945–1991) Chiang Hsiao-yung (1948–1996)Alma materMoscow Sun Yat-sen UniversityOccupationPoliticianSignatureMilitary serviceAllegianceRepublic of ChinaBranch/serviceRepublic of China ArmyRankGeneral Chiang Ching-kuo"Chiang Ching-kuo" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese charactersTraditional Chinese蔣經國 Simplified Chinese蒋经国 TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinJiǎng Jīngguó Wade–GilesChiang3 Ching1-kuo2 IPA WuRomanization Yue: CantoneseYale RomanizationJéung Gīng-gwok JyutpingZoeng2 Ging1-gwok3 IPA Southern MinHokkien POJChiúⁿ Keng-kok Tâi-lôTsiúnn King-kok Chiang Ching-kuo (27 April 1910 – 13 January 1988) was a politician of the Republic of China after its retreat to Taiwan. The eldest and only biological son of former president Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China. He served as Premier of the Republic of China between 1972 and 1978, and was the President of the Republic of China from 1978 until his death in 1988. Chiang Ching-kuo was sent as a teenager to study in the Soviet Union during the First United Front in 1925, when his father's Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party were in alliance. He attended university there and spoke Russian fluently, but when the Chinese Nationalists violently broke with the Communists, Stalin sent him to work in a steel factory in the Ural Mountains. There, Chiang met and married Faina Vakhreva. When war between China and Japan was 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 given the job of ridding Shanghai of corruption, which he attacked with ruthless efficiency. The victory of the Communists in 1949 drove the Chiangs and their government to Taiwan. Chiang Ching-kuo was first given control of the secret police, a position he retained until 1965 and in which he used arbitrary arrests and torture to ensure tight control. 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 Nationalist Party as chairman, and was elected President in 1978 and again in 1984. Under his tenure the government of the Republic of China, while authoritarian, became more open and tolerant of political dissent. Chiang courted Taiwanese voters, and reduced the preference for those who had come from the mainland after the war. Toward the end of his life Chiang relaxed government controls on the media and speech, and allowed Taiwanese Han into positions of power, including his successor Lee Teng-hui. He is the last president of the Republic of china to be born during the Qing dynasty rule.