Chiang Ching-kuo (Chinese: 蔣經國; Pinyin: Jiǎng Jīngguó; 1910-1988) was the son and heir of Chiang Kai-shek. He is a deeply polarizing figure, as he is seen as having blood on his hands for the brutalities of the Taiwan Garrison Command under his leadership, though his reforms as president improved his reputation drastically in the eyes of many.
He studied in Moscow in the 1920s, when the KMT was supported by the Soviets, and became a devout communist. He ended up denouncing his father as "a traitor and a murderer"1 when he purged the communists in Shanghai. He came to be held hostage by Stalin, though he was sent back to China in 1937.
His father exalted him to higher and higher positions within the party, and eventually in 1949 he was put in charge of rooting out the rampant corruption that had festered under Chen Yi. He gained a reputation of ruthlessness even within the party.
He was made premier in 1972 and assumed the presidency in 1978 following his father's death. As president, while he continued to rule with an iron fist, he aligned himself with the moderate wing of the KMT and even with some moderate Tangwai politicians. He opened the doors of the Kuomintang leadership to native Taiwanese, appointing the Taiwanese-born Lee Teng-hui as his vice-president and successor.
He formally announced the termination of martial law in July 1987 and died six months later.
