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As he became older, Chiang turned many of the details of government over to his son Chiang Ching-kuo, now 64. Since being named Premier in 1972, the son has taken effective control of the government. Tough and practical-minded, he has cracked down on corruption within his father's old guard and has opened higher positions within the Kuomintang's hierarchy to Taiwanese. He has quietly shelved his father's quixotic crusade for retaking the mainland, insisting instead that the people of China will some day rise up and overthrow the Communists. Former President Nixon's 1972 journey to Peking produced dismay and anxiety on Taiwan. Since then, U.S.-Taiwan relations have stabilized; they are courteous, if not quite so close as before. For his part, Chiang Ching-kuo is relieved that Washington shows no present inclination to meet Peking's demand that the U.S. sever diplomatic ties with Taipei.
The generalissimo, in severely declining health, did not even appear in public during the final two years of his life. But until the end, Chiang held the title of President of the Republic of China, insisting that he was the sole legitimate ruler of the entire country. Even after Taiwan's expulsion from the U.N. in 1971, Chiang rejected all attempts at compromise. As long as he was alive, recovery of the mainland stood, in his words, as "the inalterable national purpose." As the world embarked on the quest for a new relationship with his enemy in Peking, Chiang never budged. And thus, the world simply had to step around him.