TAIPEI (TAIWAN) – Former Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui, who was known as Mr Democracy, was laid to rest on Wednesday. He was instrumental in doing away with autocracy and introducing pluralism as well as thwarting China’s bid to take over the island which it sees as a wayward province.
The funeral was held at a military cemetery in the mountains outside Taipei and it was attended by President Tsai Ing-wen. Lee died in July at the age of 97.
A memorial service for the late president was held last month amid the Chinese drills.
He became the first democratically elected president of the island in March 1996 following a landslide victory after eight months of Chinese threats and war games in waters around Taiwan.
The war games brought both nations to the brink of conflict, prompting the US to send an aircraft carrier task force to warn the Chinese.
A devout Christian, Lee said in a 2012 election rally that he hoped the island would be a “country of democracy, freedom, human rights and dignity, where one does not have to be ruled by others and where everyone can say out loud ‘I’m Taiwanese’.”