Editing Soong Mei-ling (section)

==Death==
Madame Chiang died in her sleep in [[New York City]], in her [[Manhattan]] apartment on October 23, 2003, at the age of 105.<ref name=nytobit>{{cite news |first=Seth |last=Faison |title=Madame Chiang Kai-shek, a Power in Husband's China and Abroad, Dies at 106|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/24/international/asia/24CHIANG.html|newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=October 24, 2003|access-date=June 27, 2008}}</ref> Her remains were interred at [[Ferncliff Cemetery]] in [[Hartsdale, New York]], pending an eventual burial with her late husband who was entombed in [[Cihu]], Taiwan. The stated intention is to have them both buried in mainland China once political differences are resolved.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/30/nyregion/an-epitaph-for-madame-chiang-kai-shek-mama.html|title=An Epitaph for Madame Chiang Kai-shek: 'Mama'|author=Berger, Joseph|date=October 30, 2003|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=April 3, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://ajw.asahi.com/article/globe/feature/usChina/AJ201403070003|title=Chinese Civil War and birth of Taiwan, as told by Leo Soong|author1=Isogawa, Tomoyoshi|author2=Aoyama, Naoatsu|date=March 7, 2014|newspaper=The Asahi Shimbun|access-date=April 3, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407053456/http://ajw.asahi.com/article/globe/feature/usChina/AJ201403070003|archive-date=April 7, 2015}}</ref>

Upon her death, the White House released a statement:
{{Blockquote|Madame Chiang was a close friend of the United States throughout her life, and especially during the defining struggles of the last century. Generations of Americans will always remember and respect her intelligence and strength of character. On behalf of the American people, I extend condolences to Madame Chiang's family members and many admirers around the world.|[[George W. Bush]]<ref>{{cite web|title=President's Statement on the Death of Madame Chiang Kai-shek|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031024-11.html|publisher=The White House|access-date=4 July 2011}}</ref>}}

[[Jia Qinglin]], chairman of the [[National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]] (CPPCC), sent a [[telegram]] to Soong's relatives where he expressed deep condolences on her death.<ref>{{cite web|title=Madame Soong Mei-ling remembered by all Chinese|url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-10/29/content_276451.htm|publisher=China Daily|access-date=September 4, 2021}}</ref>

===Appraisals by the international press===
[[File:Chiang Kai-shek & Mme. Chiang Time Cover.jpg|thumb|upright|Soong and Chiang on the cover of ''Time'' magazine, October 26, 1931]]
The ''New York Times'' obituary wrote:
{{blockquote|As a fluent English speaker, as a Christian, as a model of what many Americans hoped China to become, Madame Chiang struck a chord with American audiences as she traveled across the country, starting in the 1930s, raising money and lobbying for support of her husband's government. She seemed to many Americans to be the very symbol of the modern, educated, pro-American China they yearned to see emerge—even as many Chinese dismissed her as a corrupt, power-hungry symbol of the past they wanted to escape.<ref name=nytobit/>}}

''Life'' magazine called Madame the "most powerful woman in the world"<ref>{{cite news|last1=Pakula|first1=Hannah|title=Chiang Kai-shek|url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/chiang_kaishek/index.html|access-date=November 11, 2014|newspaper=New York Times}}</ref> while ''Liberty'' magazine described her as "the real brains and boss of the Chinese government."<ref>Pakula 2009, p. 305</ref> Writer and diplomat [[Clare Boothe Luce]], wife of ''Time'' publisher [[Henry Luce]], once compared her to [[Joan of Arc]] and [[Florence Nightingale]].<ref name=wsj/> Author [[Ernest Hemingway]] called her the "empress" of China.<ref name=wsj>{{cite news|last1=Kirkpatrick|first1=Melanie|title=China's Mystery Lady|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703574604574500412440365156?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748703574604574500412440365156.html|access-date=November 11, 2014|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=November 3, 2009}}</ref>