DiscoverThe Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesChiang Kai-shek’s Secret Coma, and the Cigar-Smoking, Cross-Dressing, Confucian Descendant Ms. Kung — S5-E23
Chiang Kai-shek’s Secret Coma, and the Cigar-Smoking, Cross-Dressing, Confucian Descendant Ms. Kung — S5-E23

Chiang Kai-shek’s Secret Coma, and the Cigar-Smoking, Cross-Dressing, Confucian Descendant Ms. Kung — S5-E23

Update: 2025-08-07
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In the summer of 1972, Chiang Kai-shek vanished. He missed Double Ten parades. However, Madame Chiang (Soong Mei-ling), and the step-son she loathed (future president Chiang Ching-kuo) carried on as if all was well. There were no press leaks as the president of the Republic of China lay in a coma for six months.   


In this episode of Formosa Files, we uncover the cover-up, and tell you about an odd dinner where medical staff waited to pounce and revive the aging dictator. Plus, we meet Jeanette Kung: a cigar-smoking, men’s clothing enthusiast who might today be a gay icon of some kind, except for the fact that she possessed an…um…“challenging personality.”




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Chiang Kai-shek’s Secret Coma, and the Cigar-Smoking, Cross-Dressing, Confucian Descendant Ms. Kung — S5-E23

Chiang Kai-shek’s Secret Coma, and the Cigar-Smoking, Cross-Dressing, Confucian Descendant Ms. Kung — S5-E23

John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith