Chiang Kai-shek’s Secret Coma, and the Cigar-Smoking, Cross-Dressing, Confucian Descendant Ms. Kung — S5-E23
In the summer of 1972, Chiang Kai-shek vanished. He missed Double Ten parades. However, Madame Chiang (Soong Mei-ling), and the step-son she loathed (future president Chiang Ching-kuo) carried on as if all was well. There were no press leaks as the president of the Republic of China lay in a coma for six months.
In this episode of Formosa Files, we uncover the cover-up, and tell you about an odd dinner where medical staff waited to pounce and revive the aging dictator. Plus, we meet Jeanette Kung: a cigar-smoking, men’s clothing enthusiast who might today be a gay icon of some kind, except for the fact that she possessed an…um…“challenging personality.”
SUPPORT the show by rating, commenting, liking, subscribing, and following on social media.
It's 1972 in "Free China." Let's meet our protagonists:
1. An aging Chiang Kai-shek, or CKS (warlord, president, dictator, diary-keeper). He died in 1975 at the the age of 87.
2. Soong Mei-ling, or Madame CKS. She passed away in 2003 aged 105!
3. Chiang Ching-kuo (CCK). Son of CKS - but not the son of Madame CKS - would become president of the ROC from 1978 to 1988. He lived to the age of 77.
4. Jeanette Kung 孔令偉. Biography translated from Chinese wiki: "Kung Ling-wei was the niece of Soong Mei-ling (Madame Chiang Kai-shek). As a child, she suffered from scalp ringworm and had her hair cut short in a traditionally male style. She later adopted this look permanently and dressed in male attire for most of her life. She served as the general manager of the Grand Hotel (Yuanshan Hotel) in Taipei, where she also lived for many years. Due to her close relationship with Madame Chiang, she held a unique and powerful position in Chiang’s inner circle. She never married and was known for her masculine appearance and mannerisms."
In 1994, Kung Ling-wei died in Taipei at the age of 75 due to colorectal cancer.
Some of the other cast include:
The Soong sisters.
1. Soong Ai-ling
2. Soong Ching-ling. She was the wife of Sun Yat-sen, therefore known by Madame Sun Yat-sen, and the "Mother of Modern China." She entered the Communist government in 1949, and was the only female, non-Communist head of the PRC. She was named Honorary President of the People's Republic of China and admitted to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a few weeks before her death in 1981 at the age of 88.
3. Soong Mei-ling (ON THE LEFT). Wife of CKS.
SUPPORT the show by rating, commenting, liking, subscribing, and following on social media.
Do us a favor and rate/review the show! It really helps. Do it on Apple Podcasts or here on our website.
Write us with questions or ideas at formosafiles@gmail.com
AND THE BIGGEST REQUEST: tell others about this free, not-for-profit resource about Taiwan.
