User:Brioche888/sandbox

At 23:50 on April 5, 1975, Chiang Kai-shek, then President of the Republic of China and President of the Kuomintang, died due to a heart attack, at the Shilin Official Residence in Taipei. Chiang was 88.

Death
Chiang Kai-shek suffered from many health problems prior, like an enlarged prostate and a damaged heart valve from a car accident in 1969. On December 1, 1974, Chiang contracted influenza, which caused pneumonia. His condition did not improve and his high fever did not go away. On the evening of March 26, 1975, Chiang's condition deteriorated and it took 3 hours for him to get better. After Chiang woke up, he ordered Chiang Ching-kuo to call the president of the Fifth House to listen to Chiang's will and testament.

On the Qingming Festival on April 5, 1975, Chiang felt abdominal pain and the amount of urine was decreased. At 8'o clock in the evening, Chiang went to bed and suffered a heart attack. At 11:50 in the evening, he died of another heart attack.

Funeral and remembrance
The next morning, Kuomintang members convened a meeting discussing business affairs and funeral matters. All members stood up in silence for three minutes in mourning. Secretary-General Qin Xiaoyi read a report on Chiang's death. After, Secretary-General Zhang Baoshu read out Chiang's will. Deputy President Yen Chia-kan was sworn in as president in accordance with the law. Chiang Ching-kuo became the president of the Kuomintang.

Yuan signed Order No. 1498 (Measures for Aspirations), which stipulates:


 * 1) All military, public, and educational personnel should be assigned a funeral badge for one month
 * 2) All troops, agencies, schools, warships, and embassies stationed abroad should lower their flags at half- mast for 30 days from now on.
 * 3) All fortresses, troops and warships shall fire salutes every half an hour from when the flag is raised to when the flag is lowered
 * 4) All entertainment venues across the country should stop entertainment for one month.

From April 6 onwards, newspapers stopped distributing and color printing for one month, radio and television cancelled all entertainment programs, and all television broadcasted in black-and-white of sad music, news, and Chiang's photo album. At 11:30 on April 7, Chiang Ching-kuo led Soong Mei-ling, Chiang's wife, to pay homage at the Veterans General Hospital. Soong led the family to the memorial service, and the family and guards wept.

The funeral ceremony began on April 9, toward the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.

At 7am on April 10, people began to enter the memorial hall to pay homage to Chiang Kai-shek. 280,000 people entered the first day.

Reaction
🇺🇸 United States – On April 12, 1975, the White House issued a statement on the delegation participating in Chiang Kai-shek’s funeral: "President Ford today appointed Vice President Rockefeller to lead a nine-member US delegation... It is scheduled to depart on April 13"