For subscribers
Commentary
Imelda Marcos: A voice China might listen to amid Taiwan Strait crisis
Her past links to Mao and her family's unique status may allow her to play peacemaker
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
For all her surfeit of shoes, former Philippine first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos is fondly remembered by millions of Chinese as an ultimate diplomat who captivated Mao Zedong and what was then an isolated and impoverished nation with her beauty, charm and elegance when she visited in 1974.
Accompanied by her only son - now president of the Philippines, Mr Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr - Mrs Marcos made the historic 10-day trip which produced the iconic photo of Mao kissing her hand and paved the way for the normalisation of bilateral relations the following year.
