Madame Chiang Kai-shek's family discussing burial plans, relative says

TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Taiwanese Saturday mourned the death of the island&#39;s famous former first lady, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, who attended school in northeast Georgia.<br> <br> Research shows Madame Chiang Kai-shek attended the eighth grade at Piedmont Academy in Demorest in 1908. Piedmont College president James Walter presented her with an honorary doctorate in 1968).<br> <br> Her family is considering whether to bury the 105-year-old woman in Taiwan or the United States.<br> <br> One of her Taiwan-based relatives told reporters the family had yet to decide whether to bury Madame Chiang in New York, where she spent most of her time in semi-seclusion since the 1975 death of her husband, President Chiang Kai-shek.<br> <br> ``I&#39;m going to New York to sit down with all the relatives and understand the situation,&#39;&#39; said Chiang Fang Chih-yi, widow of Chiang Kai-shek&#39;s grandson Chiang Hsiao-yung. ``After the family makes a decision, we&#39;ll be able to proceed.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Madame Chiang, also known as Soong May-ling, died Thursday night at her home in New York City. She caught a cold and developed pneumonia symptoms the day before her death, Chiang Fang said.<br> <br> Taiwan&#39;s China Times newspaper reported Saturday that Madame Chiang would be buried in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Westchester County, just north of New York City.<br> <br> But Taiwan&#39;s two evening papers, the China Times Express and the United Evening News, said relatives of the late president wanted his widow to be buried with him in Taiwan.<br> <br> None of the papers provided any sources for their information.<br> <br> At a Taipei women&#39;s foundation created by Madame Chiang, mourners bowed before a gold-framed portrait of her. The picture showing the smiling first lady in a traditional Chinese dress was set on a mantle covered with chrysanthemums and other white flowers. White is the color of mourning in Chinese tradition.<br> <br> Many elderly Taiwanese have fond memories of Madame Chiang. They consider her a patriot who used her fluent English to drum up foreign support for her husband&#39;s Nationalist government when it ruled China and battled the Japanese during World War II.<br> <br> After the war, the Nationalists were defeated by the Communists and retreated to Taiwan in 1949. Madame Chiang&#39;s admirers say she and her husband helped keep the Communists from swallowing up the island.<br> <br> But her critics mostly young Taiwanese dismiss her as the spokeswoman for a brutal dictator and a corrupt, repressive government that resisted democratic reforms in Taiwan.<br> <br> Since moving to New York, Madame Chiang rarely visited Taiwan and her influence diminished significantly in recent years. In 2000, the Nationalist Party lost the presidential election and had to give up its five-decade grip on the island&#39;s government.<br> <br> Nationalist Party chairman Lien Chan was set to travel to New York Saturday to pay his respects, the party said. Lien had just arrived in Los Angeles on a flight from New York when he heard of Madame Chiang&#39;s death.