Chiang Ching-kuo, << jyahng jihng GWOH >> (1910-1988), was the most powerful leader of the Nationalist Chinese government on Taiwan from 1975 until his death in 1988. He came to power after his father, Chiang Kai-shek, died in 1975. Chiang Ching-kuo served as premier of the government from 1972 to 1978, when he became Taiwan’s president. He is credited with helping Taiwan’s transition to democracy.
Chiang was born on March 18, 1910, in Zhejiang Province and attended several Chinese schools. He went to the Soviet Union in 1925. There, he graduated from Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow in 1927 and from a military academy in 1930. Chiang returned to China in 1937 and held a series of government positions of increasing importance. After the Chinese Communists conquered China in 1949, the Nationalists moved their government to the island of Taiwan. Chiang took charge of the Nationalist secret police and directed youth and veterans’ organizations. He served as minister of defense from 1965 to 1969, and as deputy premier from 1969 to 1972. Chiang died on Jan. 13, 1988.
