Koo Yen Cho-yun, widow of ex-SEF chair Koo Chen-fu, dies at 104

Taipei, Feb. 5 (CNA) Koo Yen Cho-yun (辜嚴倬雲), the widow of former Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫), has died at the age of 104.

Koo Yen's death was announced in a statement Wednesday by LDC Hotels & Resorts Group, which is chaired by her youngest daughter.

Koo Yen, also known as Cecilia Koo, and her late husband were best known for their efforts to push for cross-strait interactions.

She accompanied Koo during the 1993 and 1998 talks in Singapore and Shanghai between Koo as the SEF chair and Wang Daohan (汪道涵), the then-president of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).

The SEF is a semi-official intermediary body founded by Taiwan's government in 1991 to handle technical matters with China, with the ARATS as its Chinese counterpart.

The Koo-Wang talks were the first direct meetings between leaders of the two nongovernmental organizations representing Taipei and Beijing.

When ARATS head Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) visited Taiwan in 2008, three years after Koo Chen-fu died in 2005, seeing Koo Yen was the first item on his itinerary.

Koo Yen was born to a prominent family in Fuchien Province, southeastern China in 1920. Her grandfather was Yen Fu (嚴復), the first president of Beijing University, while her father was a professor.

Her mother was a member of the Banqiao Lin Family, one of the "five families" that came to dominate Taiwan's political and economic scenes.

She came to Taiwan in 1946 with her family and held a teaching post at Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School.

In 1949 she married Koo and thereafter became a familiar public figure as she accompanied Koo on numerous business and official engagements.

After Koo passed, she became well-known for her philanthropic work and efforts in education.

Koo Yen was named secretary general of the National Women's League of the Republic of China (NWL) in 1992 and replaced Soong Mei-ling (宋美齡), also called Madame Chiang Kai-shek, as the organization's chairwoman upon the latter's death in 2003.

She also served as a senior advisor to former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Kuomintang.

However, she was removed as the chairwoman of the NWL in 2017, when she refused to sign an administrative contract presented by the then-Democratic Progressive Party administration to transition the organization and hand over a part of its assets to the government.

Upon hearing the news of her death, the SEF issued a news statement of mourning, saying that it had ordered its staff to assist with funeral matters.

The statement also said that its Chairman Frank Wu (吳豊山) and Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) will pay their respects in person on Friday.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan's top government agency for China affairs, also released a statement expressing admiration for Koo Yen's contributions to cross-strait relations.

"Mrs. Koo Yen played a long-term role in assisting former SEF Chairman Koo in promoting cross-strait exchanges and dialogue, exerting significant influence," the MAC said.

Meanwhile, Ma expressed his sadness in a Facebook post of Koo Yen's passing.

He said that he has dedicated years to promoting peaceful cross-strait development, which he also believes was Koo Yen's wish.