TAIPEI, Taiwan - Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the widow of the Nationalist Chinese president who used her charm and fluent English to become a driving force for nationalism in Taiwan, died Thursday in New York at age 105, according to the foreign ministry.
Though born in the East, Madame Chiang was thoroughly Western in thought and philosophy. Brought up in a Methodist family, she studied in America from the age of 10 to 19 and graduated with honors from Wellesley College in Massachusetts in 1917.
The only thing Oriental about me is my face," she once said.
About damn time. Ding dong, the Wicked Witch of the East has finally got what was coming to her. Sterling Seagraves’ The Soong Dynasty should be required reading in Taiwan for its expose of the family that raped China.
[quote=“Borutesu_Faibu”] Though born in the East, Madame Chiang was thoroughly Western in thought and philosophy.
The only thing Oriental about me is my face," she once said.[/quote]
unless it suited her otherwise… then she was the ultimate chinese woman… A legacy died for sure, but I have to agree, the corruption that was part of her, her family and her husbands lives will not be missed.
But more important, can we get into the Chiang estate house now???
Well as far as I recall they cancelled out her only positive legacy when the DPP got rid of the Christmas “Constituion Day” holiday Cash My Check declared to appease her christian sensibilities.
What is the best Chinese-language account of Song Meiling’s life? I looked for a Chinese translation of the Soong Dynasty, by Sterling Seagrave, but was told there isn’t any. Why the heck not? You’d think that it would be pretty provocative stuff here in Taiwan…
I think that it was translated once - the journalist Andy Liu, which KMT got bumped off in his garage in LA in 1984 also wrote some pretty interesting things.
Not as far as I know. That would have made the headlines, that’s for sure. However, it’s unlikely that they would have kicked her out anyways, I think she had enough dirt on us legislators to keep any zealots off her case.
I had a mainland born history prof. in university who knew Song Meiling. This guy’s dad was a top guy in the ROC navy (yeah, what a navy back then and now) and his society woman mother was an acquaintance of Song’s. We were talking about Taiwan independence one day (This prof is pro-unification) and I asked him if he still had ROC nationality. He said he had given it up and taken US nationality years before. I thought it strange that he had given up ROC citizenship but was still so passionate about unification. Knowing that he knew Song Meiling, I asked him if she was a US citizen. He said that he believed that she held dual nationality, but kept it secret (for obvious reasons). I find it hard to believe. Is there any way to find out? What sort of public records could be checked to find out if she ever took US nationality? Despising her as I do, it would satisfy me to learn that she was two faced enough to take US nationality.
