Top political leaders from across party lines gathered yesterday at a memorial service to pay their final respects to Tao Pai-chuan (陶百川), the KMT maverick, late presidential adviser and Control Yuan member, and his wife Chang Su-chun (張素君).
The couple died within a week of each other last month. Tao was 101, Chang was 96.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), along with other members of the social elite, appeared at the ceremony to mourn the death of one of the nation's most prominent figures.
Calling Tao "a national treasure," Chen wrote in his weekly e-letter that Tao should be remembered for his contributions to democracy, justice and human rights.
"As a journalist and a politician, Tao's daring and frank attitude and his pointed advice should be used as a role model for intellectuals," Chen said.
"It is normal in a democratic society for people to speak the truth. But it shows a person's conscientiousness and integrity when one insists on speaking the truth under an authoritarian regime," Chen said, referring to Tao's outspoken manner during the White Terror period.
Born in Chechiang Province in 1902, Tao started his career as a reporter in China in 1924. He joined the KMT in 1927 and was appointed assistant editor of a party-funded newspaper in Shanghai.
In 1948, the year he fled to Taiwan with the KMT, he was appointed a Control Yuan member -- a position he kept for 30 years.
While serving as a Control Yuan member, Tao put his name in the history books by investigating the 228 Incident and the case of General Sun Li-jen (孫立人), who was accused of attempting to organize a coup to overthrow Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
He also became the first Control Yuan member to resign of his own accord in 1978, considering himself too old to contribute to the nation's highest watchdog body.
During the martial law era when the tang wai, or "outside the party," activists were struggling for the establishment of a new party, Tao acted as a bridge between the KMT administration and democratic campaigners so the DPP could be founded without being suppressed.
Tao was the only KMT member to participate in the DPP's founding ceremony in 1986.
The KMT tolerated him despite his calls for democratic reform. He served as a presidential adviser for the late president Chiang Ching-kuo (
A legal specialist, Tao, who earned two master's degrees in law in Shanghai and attended Harvard University, was one of the drafters of the ROC Constitution.
Because of Tao's international reputation, the KMT hesitated to persecute him, although troops once surrounded his home after he had written some articles advocating democracy.
While others recognized Tao's achievement and contribution to the nation, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Security Council Antonio Chiang (
"Being a Control Yuan member for 30 years, Tao had unusually simple decor in his house. The furniture was all worn out. He insisted on taking the bus everywhere because he considered taking a taxi too costly," Chiang said.
"But if friends were having financial difficulty, Tao would not hesitate to take whatever he had to help people in need."
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