Former president who brought direct elections to Taiwan dies
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, who brought direct elections and other democratic changes to the self-governed island despite missile launches and other fierce saber-rattling by China, has died. He was 97.
Taipei Veterans General Hospital said Lee died Thursday evening after suffering from infections, cardiac problems and organ failure since being hospitalized in February.
Lee strove to create a separate, non-Chinese identity for Taiwan, angering not only China, which considers the island part of its territory, but also members of his Nationalist Party who hoped to return victorious to the mainland.
Lee later openly endorsed formal independence for the island but illness in his later years prompted him to largely withdraw from public life.
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(Killeen Daily Herald)