Chiang Ching-kuo

Chiang Ching-kuo (Shanghai/Ningbo dialect: [tɕiã.tɕiŋ.koʔ]) (April 27, 1910 – January 13, 1988), Kuomintang (KMT) politician and leader, was a Chinese-Taiwanese politician and the son of Generalissimo and President Chiang Kai-shek and held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China (ROC). He succeeded his father to serve as Premier of the Republic of China between 1972 and 1978 and was the President of the Republic of China from 1978 until his death in 1988. Under his tenure, the government of the Republic of China, while authoritarian, became more open and tolerant of political dissent. Towards the end of his life, Chiang relaxed government controls on the media and speech and allowed native Taiwanese into positions of power, including his successor Lee Teng-hui.

Biography

Early life

The son of President Chiang Kai-shek and his first wife Mao Fumei, Chiang Ching-kuo was born in Fenghua, Zhejiang, with the courtesy name of Jiànfēng (建豐). He had an adopted brother, Chiang Wei-kuo. "Ching" literally means "longitude" while "kuo" means "nation"; in his brother's name, "wei" literally means "parallel (of latitude)". The names are inspired by the references in Chinese classics such as the Guoyu, in which "to draw the longitudes and latitudes of the world" is used as a metaphor for a person with great abilities, especially in managing a country.

AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo

The AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo (經國號戰機), commonly known as the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), is a Taiwanese air superiority jet fighter with multirole capability named after Chiang Ching-kuo, the late President of the Republic of China. The aircraft made its first flight in 1989. It was delivered to the Republic of China Air Force in January 1994 and entered service in 1997. All 130 production aircraft had been manufactured by 1999.

The IDF program was initiated when the United States refused to sell F-20 Tigershark and F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighters to Taiwan following diplomatic pressure from the People's Republic of China. Taiwan therefore decided to develop an advanced indigenous jet fighter. The IDF jet fighter project was designed and built by the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) based in Taichung, Taiwan, with some assistance from American defense corporations.

Development

The preliminary search for a replacement for the ROCAF's F-5s and F-104s began with the XF-6 indigenous fighter project, later renamed Yin Yang, in the late 1970s. After the US established formal relations with China and ended the Mutual Defense Treaty with Taiwan, President Chiang Ching-Kuo decided to expand the indigenous defense industry and on August 28, 1980, ordered AIDC to design an indigenous interceptor. Originally, the ROCAF listed the priority of the XF-6 behind the XA-3 Lei Ming attack aircraft, due to the believed high risks of the XF-6 project.