KMT maverick respected widely

"None of his official titles truly reflected the extent of his achievements and contribution to Taiwan's democracy," President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said of Tao Pai-chien (陶百川), the KMT maverick, former presidential adviser and Control Yuan member who, from the highest ranks of the KMT, assisted the democracy movement through undemocratic times.

Tao died on Friday, aged 101, of multiple organ failure at the Catholic Cardinal Tien Hospital (天主教耕莘醫院). He had been receiving treatment for pneumonia since May 1.

The Presidential Office issued a news release the day he died saying that the president and vice president were mourning Tao's death. They praised his contributions to democracy, justice and human rights.

On Monday, Chen awarded Tao the "Propitious Clouds" medal of honor, usually reserved for ministers, in recognition of his contribution to Taiwan.

Tolerated

Tao's story is that of a man whose knowledge and wisdom, and increasingly his standing in society, were so valued by the KMT that it tolerated him despite his calls for democratic reform.

He was born in China's Zhejiang Province in 1902 and majored in law at university in China. He later studied at Harvard, though he did not graduate.

The level of expertise he gained, however, was rare in China and, having secured a post as a reporter in 1924 with the assistance of a well-connected and influential tutor from his undergraduate days, he quickly developed a reputation among the educated elite, through his opinion articles, as an articulate and learned advocate of democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

In 1927 he joined the KMT and was appointed assistant editor of a party-funded Shanghai newspaper.

Seven years later he was elected to the KMT's Policy Approval and Appointments Committee under the Central Standing Committee after another former professor suggested he stand in for a candidate who became ill.

During this time, Tao developed a relationship with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek that was close but rocky. Chiang was said to have respected the democracy advocate's wisdom but was often been irritated by his views.

Accusations

In 1940, for example, Tao wrote several letters to Chiang accusing him of behaving in an anti-democratic manner by calling a meeting of KMT legislators aimed at trying to crush dissent in the National Assembly.

Chiang canceled the meeting but was angered by Tao's intervention and contemplated expelling him from the party.

Tao later wrote that, while many KMT figures were angered by his move, it won him great respect from many others.

Two years later he was back in favor and appointed president of the most important KMT-funded newspaper, the Central Daily News.

But within a year he had resigned, at the request of the KMT, after writing an editorial supporting US president Franklin Roosevelt's call for Chiang to fully commit China to the war against Japan.

He remained a member of the CSC, however, and helped draft the Republic of China Constitution in 1947.

In 1948, a year before he fled China with the KMT, he was appointed a Control Yuan member, a position he kept for 30 years.

Upholding human rights

Tao used his position as a Control Yuan member to uphold human rights. The investigation of General Sun Li-jen (孫立人) was one such case. Sun was charged with leading the soldiers under his command in a bid to overthrow the government in 1955. An ad hoc five-member Control Yuan team that included Tao found the case to be nothing more than a dispute between military factions.