Koo Cheng-fu (辜振甫), the former Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) chairman who died in early January, was laid to rest in a cemetery on a scenic farm in Kaohsiung County yesterday.
Koo -- who held a historic ice-breaking meeting with Beijing's chief negotiator with Taiwan, Wang Daohan (
Koo's coffin was moved on Tuesday from Taipei to the Fukuangshan Monastery, where Buddhist master Hsing Yun (
PHOTO: CNA
In his memorial prayer, Reverend Hsing Yun lauded Koo as having lit up the world and done everything in his power to benefit the people.
Koo, a business tycoon who also had a talent for writing poetry and singing Peking opera, was appointed chairman of the foundation in March 1991
Although Koo's family had tried to keep the burial ceremony low-profile, the funeral procession totaled about 100 vehicles, including several tourist buses.
According to the family, a memorial museum similar to the Koo Museum located in Lukang, Changhua County will be built next to the cemetery where Koo is buried.
The farm on which the cemetery is located was reportedly part of a 3,000-hectare tract that Koo's father, Koo Hsien-jung (
According to the family, Koo was still worrying about the tension between Taiwan and China even in his final days.
Koo visited China in October 1998 and met with then Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
Koo also served as head of the Chinese National Federation of Industries and of the Chinese National Association of Industry & Commerce, contributing greatly to the nation's economic development.
A senior adviser to both former president Lee Teng-hui (
Koo's passing was termed by some political observers as tantamount to the symbolic death of cross-strait relations, given that the two sides had been at a complete political impasse since July 1999 after Lee described the cross-strait relationship as "state-to-state" in nature.
Condolences for Koo's passing came not only from around Taiwan and China, but also from the US and Japan, where Koo had had prominent business and political connections.
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