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Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, also known as “Mr Democracy” because of his role in the country’s political transition after a nationalist dictatorship, died on Thursday at the age of 97, a hospital source said.
Recognized as one of the “architects” of Taiwan’s transformation into a free and modern country after several decades of dictatorship, Lee Teng-hui was responsible for holding the first direct elections on this island, which China continues to consider a rebel province, having assumed the Taiwanese Presidency between 1988 and 2000.
According to the general hospital for veterans in Taipei, the former President, who had been hospitalized since February, died of infections, heart problems and the failure of vital organs.
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