Chiang’s Widow Endorses Ruling Party

Taiwan’s most famous first lady endorsed the ruling Nationalist Party’s presidential candidate Tuesday, urging the party to mend a split within its ranks and save the island from disaster.

The 102-year-old widow of Gen. Chiang Kai-shek made her appeal in a letter from her home in New York, where she has spent most of her time since her husband died in 1975.

Madame Chiang’s endorsement came just days before Saturday’s election, a tight three-way race that Nationalist presidential hopeful Lien Chan might lose.

Recently, opposition candidate Chen Shui-bian has received a string of endorsements from business leaders and advisors to President Lee Teng-hui, who is retiring after 12 years in office.

Madame Chiang, whose maiden name is Soong Mayling, has a small, but fiercely loyal, group of followers, most of them elderly people who fled to Taiwan after the Communists took over China in 1949.

In her letter, Madame Chiang urged Lien to rally back elite party members who have left to support independent candidate James Soong, a former Nationalist leader who was ousted from the party for campaigning against Lien.

Madame Chiang’s endorsement could sway some supporters of Soong, who polls say has strong support from aging mainlanders.

“Once we stumble, it will lead our country and people into a disaster that there is no way for a comeback,” she said in the letter.

She said Lien would usher in a new era with China, Taiwan’s main rival.

Thanking Madame Chiang for her support, Lien told reporters, “When you chose our party, you have stability, prosperity and reforms.”

The populist Soong said voters have more trust in the Nationalists who have recently left the party. “Who’s he trying to fool with Madame Chiang’s letter?” Soong said.

Also, Chen of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party accused the Nationalists of inspiring the worst one-day share price fall in a decade to rally support for Lien.

The Weighted Index plunged 617 points Monday, the largest point drop ever and the biggest percentage fall in a decade.

Share prices closed Tuesday up 23.63 points after four government-linked funds bought heavily to calm the market.