The Presidential Office yesterday declined to comment on reports that late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) had another illegitimate son, who is now 76 years old and living in Taipei County.
Asked by reporters, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) begged to be excused from answering, saying: “Oh, please.”
The Hong Kong-based Yazhou Zhoukan (亞洲週刊) reported in its latest issue that Chiu Ming-shan (邱明山) is Chiang’s son and that his mother died one month after giving birth to him.
PHOTO: HE YU-HUA, TAIPEI TIMES
The cover story, with the headline “The Mystery of Chiang Ching-kuo’s Illegitimate Son: The Story of Chiu Ming-shan,” was written by biographer Wang Feng (王丰).
Taiwanese online media outlet Now News picked up the Yazhou Zhoukan story, visiting Chiu’s residence on Sunday in a small nook off Yuxi Street in Yonghe City (永和).
Chiu, who has recently had a tracheotomy, spoke with difficulty.
With the aid of his wife, Chiu told Now News that he, along with one of Chiang’s legitimate sons, Chiang Hsiao-wen (蔣孝文), often called their father “A-die” (阿爹), which means father in China’s Zhejiang Province.
Now News said Chiu showed its reporter a household registration card dating from 1949 that indicated he is kin to Faina Chiang (蔣方良), the late wife of Chiang Ching-kuo.
His registration card was later changed to say that he was only living with the family, Chiu said.
Chiu took out a photo album and showed photos of himself with Chiang Ching-kuo and his wife.
Chiang Hsiao-wu (蔣孝武), another of Chiang Ching-kuo’s sons, gave the photos to Chiu and marked them as “for Brother Ming-shan,” Chiu said.
Dismissing the allegation as “a groundless rumor,” Shao Ming-huang (邵銘煌), director of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) history department, said yesterday that he had never heard of such a thing and doubted the veracity of the story. He said there were discrepancies in the timing, places and people involved.
Shao said Chiang Ching-kuo and his wife set up nurseries in Jiangxi Province, China, and had adopted many orphans during the war with Japan.
He might have had many “foster sons” but it would be “far-fetched” to say they were his biological sons, Shao said.
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