KMT party elder Chen Li-fu (
Lien and Soong were joined by a virtual who's who of KMT and government officials yesterday at the Grand Hotel in Taipei.
Lien praised Chen as a living example of the rich history of the Republic of China.
PHOTO: CHUANG CHUNG-LUNG, LIBERTY TIMES
Chen, meanwhile, reportedly had a private discussion with Soong, giving the presidential candidate two words of advice -- "work harder."
Chen, who came to Taiwan in 1949 as a trusted follower of then-president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), rose to power in the KMT along with his brother, Chen Kuo-fu (陳果夫).
The pair led a powerful faction known as the C-C Clique, which dominated the party's Organizational Department between 1927 and 1949 and wielded considerable influence over both the media and the secret police.
Chen served in a variety of posts in both the party and the KMT government in both Nanjing and wartime Chongqing, but was perhaps known for his ultra-conservative outlook and his fervent anti-communism.
After the government established itself in Taiwan, however, the faction began to lose power.
In the summer of 1949, Chiang abolished the party's Central Standing Committee, putting in its place a Central Reform Committee that consisted of only six members -- including his son, Chiang Ching-kuo (
A major restructuring of the KMT eventually left Chen shut out of the party's inner circle. After a brief period of involvement in educational affairs on the island, Chen went into self-exile in the US, where he remained until the early 1980s before returning to Taiwan.
However, Chen remained active while in the US, publishing numerous works on Confucianism and Chinese herbal medicine and even managing a chicken farm while living in New Jersey.
Several of Chen's well-wishers yesterday made note of Chen's advocacy of traditional Chinese medicine -- a crucial factor, they said, in his legendary longevity.
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