A memorial service for former first lady Soong Mayling (宋美齡), also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek, will be held at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan on Nov. 5, her family said on Monday.
Taiwan's representative office in New York -- the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office -- was expected to issue a press release on details regarding the memorial service yesterday.
Soong's body is being kept at the Franklin E. Campell funeral home and her family is considering choosing a day during this week to open her coffin for public viewing. Meanwhile, her family plans to invite 1,000 people to the funeral.
Soong died at her New York home on Friday, at the age of 105.
Former premier Hau Pei-tsun (
"Her contributions to the ROC can hardly be epitomized by a grand funeral," Hau said.
Many of Soong's relatives, friends, former aides and proteges have flown to New York to pay their respects and assist in funeral arrangements.
Meanwhile, President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen has instructed that all national flags will be flown at half-mast on the day of Soong's funeral. Moreover, Chen will issue a posthumous commendation in honor of Soong for her contributions to Taiwan, particularly in the diplomatic field.
When Chen pays his respects, he will present a large national flag to the Soong family that can be draped upon the coffin at her funeral.
As Chen will leave New York for Panama Nov. 2 to attend the Central American country's Nov. 3 centennial celebrations, he will not attend the memorial service.
Soong led a reclusive life at her Manhattan home for much of her later life, after her husband died in 1975.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS