Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫), Taiwan's top negotiator with China and chairman of the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), died aged 88 in Taipei early yesterday morning.
Koo and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Daohan (汪道涵), who together set up the first official contact between Taiwan and China in 1993, died of complications from kidney cancer, said a spokesman from the Cheng Hsin Rehabilitation Medical Center, where Koo had been treated since October.
PHOTO: CNA
Koo's heart condition worsened at around 2:30am and doctors made several attempts at resuscitation.
"However, doctors could not defibrillate [him] because of his fragile health. He passed away peacefully at 4:05am," medical center deputy director Fu Jene-john (符振中) said at a press conference.
Koo's physician, Luke Chang (張心湜), said Koo had suffered from kidney disease for 15 years. In 1997, Koo's right kidney was removed, and he underwent kidney dialysis on a regular basis after cancer was discovered in his left kidney in 2003.
Wang, chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, sent a letter of condolence to Koo's wife, Cecilia Koo (
"I am shocked by the sudden death of Mr. Koo. This wise man has perished and my sorrow increases when I think about this. Mr. Koo had been committed to cross-strait relations for 14 years. I have long admired him, a man so well-versed in Chinese literature and poetry," Wang wrote.
Recalling their two historic meetings -- the so-called Koo-Wang talks -- in Singapore in 1993 and Shanghai in 1998, Wang said he did not think that the meeting in Shanghai would be the last time he would be able to meet Koo.
"If God has feelings, he would feel my regret, too," Wang wrote.
But he added that "peace" and "unification" were the only two ways out for China and Taiwan.
Wang said he hoped that Taiwan and China could retain the so-called "1992 consensus" -- which led to the Koo-Wang talks in Singapore -- so that "a new chapter of negotiation and dialogue" could be written.
Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), chief of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, praised Koo for "abiding by the 1992 consensus."
"When I met with Mr. Koo in Beijing six years ago, he toasted us and gave blessings to people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and for the reunification of China. I am still very touched when I think about that," Chen said.
Chen was referring to Koo's trip to Beijing to meet Jiang Zemin (
However, Koo's brother Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), a senior presidential advisor and fervent supporter of Taiwan's independence, said Koo Chen-fu changed his mind about unification with China.
Koo Kwang-ming said that a few days ago his brother said, "we can never let China devour Taiwan."
"If the people of Taiwan cannot unite, how can they face China and the US?" Koo Kwang-ming quoted his brother as saying.
Koo Kwang-ming added, "My political stance has been different from my brother's. But what he told me a few days before his death really moved me."
President Chen Shui-bian (
The Mainland Affairs Council has appointed Vice Chairman Johnnason Liu (
Meanwhile, two former Singaporean prime ministers -- Lee Kuan Yew (
In a condolence letter to Koo's wife, Lee praised Koo for his "balanced and realistic appraisal" of the cross-Taiwan Strait situation.
Lee further said Koo played a valuable role in helping to stabilize cross-strait relations.
Goh, who is now Singapore's senior minister, said in his condolence letter to Koo's wife that he was deeply saddened to learn of Koo's passing.
"We used to sit next to one another I know him to be upright, sincere and thoughtful gentleman who cared for his friends. I also know he cared deeply about cross-strait peace and stability," Goh said in the letter.
Also see stories:
Koo one of the nation's most important figures
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying