Chang Chun; Nationalist China Leader, Presidential Adviser

Chang Chun, a former premier of Nationalist China and presidential adviser who helped influence Taiwan’s foreign policy for decades, has died of heart and kidney failure, a hospital reported. He was 101.

Chang, who died Friday, entered the Veterans General Hospital on Monday for treatment of heart and kidney ailments that were complicated by flu, a hospital spokesman said.

Chang was the last surviving elder of the governing Nationalist Party who joined Sun Yat-sen in a revolution on the Chinese mainland that led to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in 1911.

Chang was a classmate of the late President Chiang Kai-shek at the Tokyo Military Academy in Japan. He later served as Chiang’s top aide in battles against warlords and Communist forces on the Chinese mainland.

He was the Nationalist government’s premier in 1947-48. In 1949 the government lost a civil war to the Communists and fled to the island of Taiwan.

On Taiwan, Chang served as Chiang’s chief of staff and adviser until the president’s death in 1975, and played an influential role in mapping the government’s foreign policies. He also served as an adviser to Chiang’s son, former President Chiang Ching-kuo.

Chang is survived by two sons, Chi-cheng, an adviser to President Lee Teng-hui, and Chi-chung.