The Russian wife of late Taiwanese president Chiang Ching-kuo, Faina Chiang Fang-liang, died of cancer yesterday at the age of 88.
Her death closed the final chapter of the Chiang era, during which Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek and his son, Ching-kuo, ruled Taiwan for four decades after fleeing to the island in 1949, when the communists took power on the mainland.
The power of the Chiang name faded soon after Chiang Ching-kuo died in 1988. In 2000, the KMT ceased to be the ruling party after Chen Shui-bian of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency.
Unlike her husband and her father-in-law, who had been criticised by some Taiwanese as a dictator and political persecutor, Faina Chiang, whose maiden name was Faina Epatcheva Vahaleva, was respected by almost all Taiwanese.
Even critics yesterday offered their respects to the late widow.
'Although she was married to the powerful Chiang family and became the first lady, she was never involved in politics. She did her part dutifully and won respect from everyone,' said Lin Chih-chia, secretary-general of pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union.