He began his schooling at the age of seven, and graduated at age 15 from Wan Chu Senior Primary School in Shanghai. He went on to attend secondary school in Shanghai and a foreign language school in Peking.
At the age of 16, he went to Moscow to study military science and engineering at Sun Yat-sen University. During his 12-year stay in the Soviet Union, he married a Russian woman, who is best known by her Chinese name, Chiang Fang-liang. They had three sons (Chiang Hsiao-wen, Chiang Hsiao-wu, Chiang Hsiao-yung) and a daughter (Chiang Hsiao-chang). However, due to his father's anti-Communist policy, he became a virtual hostage there and was prevented from returning to China until 1937. When his father severed China's diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union in January 1928, the young Chiang was exiled to Siberia to work on a collective farm and in the mines. Chiang learned to face adversity with fortitude, and acquired a powerful sense of self-discipline. His firsthand experience with the inhumanity of Communism helped shape his lifelong conviction that China must resolutely oppose the Communist system and ideology.
His political career began in 1939, during the Sino-Japanese War. He was appointed Administrative Commissioner for Southern Kiangsi Province and, concurrently, Magistrate of Kan County. Working at the grass roots level, he came to know the sufferings of the people, and did his best to help them however he could. With China's victory over Japan in 1945, he became Special Foreign Affairs Commissioner for Northeast China (Manchuria), and helped government forces recover the area from the Japanese. When the Chinese Communists intensified their rebellion in 1948, he was made Deputy Economic Control Supervisor for Shanghai. He did much, under difficult circumstances, to stabilize the economy by taking stern measures against profiteers and black marketing.
After the seat of the Republic of China Government was moved from Nanking to Taipei in 1949, Mr. Chiang served in the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) as Chairman of the Provincial Headquarters (1949-1952), member of the Central Standing Committee (1952-1975), and Chairman (1975-1988). In the government, he was Director of the General Political Department of the Ministry of National Defense (1950-1954), Director of the China Youth Corps (1952-1973), Deputy Secretary-General of the National Security Council (1954-1967), Minister without Portfolio (1958-1965), Chairman of the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen (1957-1964), Deputy Minister of National Defense (1964-1965), Minister of National Defense (1965-1969), Vice Premier and concurrently Chairman of the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development (1969-1972), and Premier (1972-1978). His broad range of experience enabled him to take a comprehensive approach in dealing with domestic and international issues.
Mr. Chiang was appointed Premier at a critical moment in the Republic of China's history. The country had just lost its seat in the United Nations, and international appeasement of the Chinese Communists was growing. Then the nation was plunged into mourning for President Chiang Kai-shek, who passed away in April 1975. The people were looking for a strong and capable leader to open up new horizons for the nation. Mr. Chiang was the obvious choice he was a man in whom the people had complete confidence.
During his tenure as Premier, Mr. Chiang's fundamental policy was to "seek progress with stability and assure stability with progress." He urged all government officials to "live for work, not work to live." Under his leadership, the government undertook the Ten Major Construction Projects, a daring move in view of the sluggishness of the world economy at the time, the limits of domestic financial resources, and domestic criticism that they were overly ambitious. But the successful Projects ultimately served to stimulate other undertakings, provide a large number of employment opportunities, and mitigate the severity of the 1973-1974 slump. Economic growth was maintained, and the world lauded the Republic of China's "economic miracle."
Mr. Chiang visited foreign countries on numerous occasions. He met with U.S. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. He attended President Eisenhower's funeral as the special envoy of the Republic of China. Mr. Chiang also traveled to Japan, the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Mr. Chiang was elected sixth president of the Republic of China in 1978. He succeeded former President Yen Chia-kan, who took office in 1975 upon the passing of the late President Chiang Kai-shek. Just six months after he assumed office, the United States withdrew its diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China. Mr. Chiang handled the situation with equanimity and creativity, and the nation rebounded quickly from this major diplomatic setback.
Mr. Chiang dedicated himself to establishing a responsible and responsive government managed by administrators willing to sacrifice for the country and serve the people. He undertook administrative renovation, abolished special privileges, supported scientific management techniques, punished corruption, promoted talented persons, and established a high level of political morale. He created the Council for Economic Planning and Development to place the coordination of financial, economic and communication development under the best administrative and professional talent available. After becoming President, his heavy workload prevented him from going abroad, but he continued to meet with foreign leaders visiting the Republic of China. He had many friends throughout the free world. He showed his great concern for the people by frequently visiting them in the countryside, at factories, and at military posts. With the people's interests always a top priority, he worked to build a modern society based on the blueprint of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People.
Mr. Chiang was elected to a second six-year term as seventh president of the Republic of China on May 20, 1984. His commitment to progress and reform was manifested perhaps most clearly in the past few years. On July 15, 1987, the Emergency Decree which activated martial law was lifted. The government announced that the restrictions on forming new political parties would soon be lifted. Also in 1987, foreign exchange restrictions were greatly relaxed. Import tariffs were slashed, and other barriers to imports removed. And in one of the most surprising moves, travel by Taiwan residents to visit family members in the Chinese mainland was opened up for the first time since 1949. Response to these and other recent innovations has been overwhelmingly favorable, both at home and abroad. Currently under deliberation are a number of additional forward-looking measures, including plans to rejuvenate the National Assembly, Legislative Yuan, and Control Yuan membership. One key item placed by President Chiang on the agenda of the 13th KMT National Congress to be held in July 1988 is the formulation of a concrete plan for the eventual reunification of China under a democratic system.
It was thus with deepest sorrow that the people of the Republic of China received the news that their leader had suddenly left them. President Chiang, who suffered many years from the effects of diabetes, died of cardiac and pulmonary failure at 3:50 P.M. on January 13, 1988. At 8:08 that evening, Vice President Lee Teng-hui was sworn in to succeed Mr. Chiang as President of the Republic of China.
Mr. Chiang Ching-kuo was of medium height and weighed about 150 pounds. His hair was streaked with gray. Mr. Chiang wore a constant smile, which attested to his affable nature. Mr. Chiang liked to take walks, meet people, and tell stories. At meetings with the press, he would customarily relate two or three anecdotes based on his personal experiences. The stories were often humorous, but had philosophical overtones, expressing his concern, love, and empathy for the people. Some of his thoughts on life, the nation, Chinese culture, and humanity are embodied in his many writings, including My Life (1947), My Father (1956), Bearing the Burden and Carrying It a Long Way (1960), Calm in the Eye of a Storm (1967), Road to Victory (1967), Thoughts about My Father at Tzuhu (1975), Thoughts of My Father at Plum Terrace (1976), Firm as a Rock (1977), Thinking of My Father (1978), Sentiments in October (1979), and A Year to Remember (1980).
President Chiang was deeply beloved and looked up to by Chinese people—and the world in general—everywhere. His total dedication to China's present and future went far beyond slogan or cliché, and far outweighed his serious illness and personal discomfort in his final days. On the day before his passing, he summoned Secretary General of the KMT Central Committee, Mr. Lee Huan, to discuss two reform items—parliamentary restructuring and local self-government—and the agenda for the next day's KMT Central Standing Committee meeting. He had discussed these items with his family that day, and expressed his hope that they could be accomplished as soon as possible. President Chiang was truly a man who put his people and their welfare before all else, including his own pain and suffering. President Chiang led the nation into a new epoch, not only for the Taiwan area, but for all of China. The reverberations of measures he initiated are being felt loud and clear on the Chinese mainland. This can only be a signal that China's reunification is approaching; and based on the direction and design of the late President Chiang Ching-kuo, the Republic of China is now developing its model for freedom, democracy, and prosperity for all of China.