Andrew Chiang You-ching, the great grandson of Taiwan’s former leader Chiang Kai-shek, announced on social media that he is moving to Hangzhou to build a career and promote cross-strait ties. -- Photo: Douyin/Andrew Chiang
SHANGHAI: The great grandson of former Taiwanese leader Chiang Kai-shek is now living in the mainland Chinese city of Hangzhou, as his family plays a key role in promoting cross-strait exchanges.
In a social media post last week, Andrew Chiang You-ching, 35, the youngest member in his generation of the Chiang family, a symbol of anti-communism in the previous century, said he had decided to relocate to the mainland to develop a career in the capital of eastern Zhejiang province.
“I’ve recently made the decision to put down roots and develop my career on the mainland,” he said in a short video post, without elaborating on what his career was.
“I recently want to try a new lifestyle,” he wrote in the post, which was picked up by the media over the weekend.
Chiang, who was educated in the United States, is the youngest of the three children whose father is politician Chiang Hsiao-yung – Chiang Kai-shek’s grandson. The younger Chiang has largely avoided the spotlight while his two brothers, Demos Chiang Yiu-po and Edward Chiang Yiu-chun, are successful designers.
In recent years, he has travelled frequently to the mainland and also visited his great grandfather’s former residence in Ningbo, Zhejiang, according to Taiwanese media.
Mainland sentiment towards the late Kuomintang leader has softened considerably over the past three decades, as Chiang has been increasingly recognised as a pivotal figure in historical ties between the two sides. Until his death, Chiang promoted reunification with the mainland by defeating the Communist Party.
Last year, Taiwan’s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government announced plans to remove more than 760 statues of Chiang from public spaces in what is seen as a bid to erase his legacy.
Following defeat in a civil war against the Communist Party on the mainland, his Kuomintang troops fled to Taiwan in 1949 and established an interim government on the island. Chiang Kai-shek governed Taiwan for nearly three decades until his death in 1975.
Despite fighting the Communists in the civil war and being perceived as a Beijing adversary throughout his life, Chiang had hoped to unify the mainland and Taiwan under the Republic of China, the island’s official title.
Taipei mayor Wayne Chiang Wan-an, another one of his great-grandsons, is also viewed favourably by the mainland Chinese public and media, in part for his Beijing-friendly stance.
Despite facing pressure from the ruling DPP, Chiang Wan-an in December hosted the Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City Forum, an annual forum that brings together officials and business representatives from Shanghai and Taipei, during which he highlighted the importance of maintaining exchanges while cross-strait relations were under strain.
The DPP government has questioned the future of the event given Beijing’s increasing military activities around the self-ruled island.
In August 2023, Chiang Wan-an led a delegation to Shanghai on a three-day visit for the same forum. The trip was harshly criticised in Taiwan, with DPP lawmakers and councillors accusing him of appeasing Beijing.
Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought under its control, by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state but oppose any attempt to take the island by force. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
