Chiang Wei - kuo Chiang Wei - kuo ( , or Wego Chiang ; October 6 , 1916 – September 22 , 1997 ) was an adopted son of President Chiang Kai - shek , adoptive brother of President Chiang Ching - kuo , and an important figure in the Kuomintang ( KMT ) . His courtesy names were Jianhao ( 建鎬 ) and Niantang ( 念堂 ) . Early life . As one of two sons of Chiang Kai - shek , Chiang Wei - kuo ' s name has a particular meaning as intended by his father . " Wei " literally means " parallel ( of latitude ) " while " kuo " means " nation " ; in his brother ' s name , " Ching " literally means " longitude " . The names are inspired by the references in Chinese classics such as the " Guoyu " , in which " to draw the longitudes and latitudes of the world " is used as a metaphor for a person with great abilities , especially in managing a country . Born in Tokyo when Chiang Kai - shek and the KMT were exiled to Japan by the Beiyang Government , Chiang Wei - kuo has long been speculated to be an offspring of Tai Chi - tao and a Japanese woman , . Chiang Wei - kuo previously discredited any such claims and insisted he was a legitimate son of Chiang Kai - shek until his later years ( 1988 ) , when he admitted that he was adopted . According to popular gossip , Tai believed knowledge of his Japanese tryst would destroy his marriage and his career , so he entrusted Wei - kuo to Chiang Kai - shek , after the Japanese brought the infant to Shanghai . Yao Yecheng ( 姚冶誠 ) , a concubine of Chiang Kai - shek at the time , raised Wei - kuo as his foster mother . The boy called Tai his " Dear Uncle " ( 親伯 ) . Chiang moved to the Chiang ancestral home in Xikou Town of Fenghua in 1910 . Wei - kuo later studied Economics at Soochow University . In the Wehrmacht . With his sibling Chiang Ching - kuo being held as a virtual political hostage in the Soviet Union by Joseph Stalin having previously been a student studying in Moscow , Chiang sent Wei - kuo to Germany for a military education at the Kriegsschule in Munich . Here , he would learn the most up to date German military tactical doctrines , organization , and use of weaponry on the modern battlefield such as the German - inspired theory of the Maschinengewehr ( Medium machine gun , at this time , the MG - 34 ) led squad , incorporation of Air and Armored branches into infantry attack , etc . After completing this training , Wei - kuo completed specialized Alpine warfare training , thus earning him the coveted Gebirgsjäger ( The elite Wehrmacht Mountain Troop ) Edelweiss sleeve insignia . This was not an easy accomplishment , as part of the training selection included carrying 30 kilos of ruck sack through the Bavarian Alps . Wei - kuo was promoted to Fahnenjunker , or Officer Candidate , and was evidently a fine marksman , as his pictures depict him wearing the Schützenschnur lanyard . Wei - kuo commanded a Panzer unit during the 1938 Austrian Anschluss as a Fähnrich , or sergeant officer - candidate , leading a tank into that country ; subsequently , he was promoted to Lieutenant of a Panzer unit awaiting to be sent into Poland . Before he was given the mobilization order , he was recalled to China . Service during the Second Sino - Japanese War . Upon being recalled from Germany , Chiang Wei - kuo visited the United States as a distinguished guest of the US Army . He gave lectures detailing on German army organizations and tactics . Whilst in the northwest , Chiang Wei - kuo became acquainted with the local generals and organized an armor mechanized battalion to formally take part in the National Revolutionary Army . In addition , he spent some time in India studying tanks . There , Wei - kuo became a Major at 28 , a Lieutenant Colonel at 29 , a Colonel at 32 whilst in charge of a tank battalion , and later in Taiwan , a Major General . Chiang Wei - kuo was stationed at a garrison in Xi ' an in 1941 . Service during the Chinese Civil War . During the Chinese Civil War , Chiang Wei - kuo employed tactics he had learned whilst studying in the German Wehrmacht . He was in charge of a M4 Sherman tank battalion during the Huaihai Campaign against Mao Zedong ' s troops , scoring some early victories . While it was not enough to win the campaign , he was able to pull back without significant problems . Like many troops and refugees of the Kuomintang , he retreated from Shanghai to Taiwan and moved his tank regiment to Taiwan , becoming a divisional strength regiment commander of the armor corps stationed outside of Taipei . Taiwan . Chiang Wei - kuo continued to hold senior positions in the Republic of China Armed Forces following the ROC retreat to Taiwan . Following the Hukou Incident in 1964 , Chiang Wei - kuo was punished as he was connected to Chao Chih - hwa , a subordinate of Wei - kuo who attempted a Coup d ' état , and never held any real authority in the military again . From 1964 onwards , Chiang Wei - kuo made preparations in establishing a school dedicated in teaching warfare strategy ; such a school was established in 1969 . In 1975 , Chiang Wei - kuo was further promoted to the position of general , and served as president of the Armed Forces University . In 1980 , Chiang served as joint logistics commander in chief ; then in 1986 , he retired from the army , and became National Security Council Secretary - General . In 1993 , Chiang Wei - kuo was employed as the advisor of the president of the Republic of China . After Chiang Ching - kuo ' s death , Chiang was a political rival of native Taiwanese Lee Teng - hui , and he strongly opposed Lee ' s Taiwan localization movement . Chiang ran as vice - president with Taiwan Governor Lin Yang - kang in the . Lee ran as the KMT presidential candidate and defeated the Lin - Chiang ticket . In 1991 , Chiang ' s housemaid , Li Hung - mei ( 李洪美 , or 李嫂 ) was found dead in Chiang ' s estate in the Taipei City . The following police investigation discovered a stockpile of sixty guns on Chiang ' s estate . Chiang himself admitted the possibility of a link between the guns and his maid ' s death , which was later ruled a suicide by the police . The incident permanently tarnished Chiang Wei - kuo ' s name , at a time when the Chiang family was increasingly unpopular on Taiwan and even within the Nationalist Party . Personal life . In 1944 , he married Shih Chin - i ( 石靜宜 ) , the daughter of Shih Feng - hsiang ( 石鳳翔 ) , a textile tycoon from North West China . Shih died in 1953 during child birth . Wei - kuo later established the Jinsin Elementary School ( 靜心小學 ) in Taipei to commemorate his late wife . In 1957 , Chiang re - married , to Chiu Ju - hsüeh ( 丘如雪 ) , also known as Chiu Ai - lun ( 邱愛倫 ) , a daughter of Chinese and German parents . Chiu gave birth to Chiang ' s only son , Chiang Hsiao - kang , ( 蔣孝剛 ) in 1962 . Chiang Hsiao - kang is the youngest of the Hsiao generation of the Chiang family . Chiang Wei - kuo was also quite active in civil society , where he was the founder of the Chinese Institute of Strategy and Sino - German Cultural and Economic Association , as well as the Chairman of the Republic of China Football Association . He was the first chairman of Jingxin Primary School ( 靜心小學 ) , and served as the president of the United States Students Association of China . Final years . In the early 1990s , Chiang Wei - kuo established an unofficial Spirit Relocation Committee ( 奉安移靈小組 ) to petition the Communist government to allow his adopted father Chiang Kai - shek and brother Chiang Ching - kuo to be interred in mainland China . His request was largely ignored by both the Nationalist and Communist governments , and he was persuaded to abandon the petition by his father ' s widow Soong May - ling in November 1996 . In 1994 , a hospital was supposed to be named after him ( 蔣緯國醫療中心 ) in Sanchih , Taipei County ( now New Taipei City ) , after an unnamed politician donated to Ruentex Financial Group ( 潤泰企業集團 ) , whose founder was from Sanchih . Politicians questioned the motivation . In 1996 , the Chiang home on military land was finally demolished by the order of the Taipei municipal government under Chen Shui - bian . The estate had been constructed in 1971 . After Chiang moved elsewhere in 1981 , he deeded it to his son . The justification was that son was not in military service and thus was not entitled to live there . Chiang Wei - kuo died at the age of 80 from kidney failure . He had been experiencing falling blood pressure complicated by diabetes after a 10 - month stay at Veteran ' s General Hospital , Taipei . He had wished to be buried in Suzhou on the mainland , but was instead buried at Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery . Political and military career . His positions in the Republic of China government included :