Chen Wan-shui, the wife of Taiwan's People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong, died of illness Friday at a Taipei hospital at the age of 72, the party said in a statement.

Chen suffered from colon cancer, for which she had received several operations, but the exact cause of her death at 12:50 p.m. Friday was not immediately made known to the public.

Soong, once a contestant in the election of the island's leader, was deeply saddened by the death of his wife of 40 years, according to the PFP statement, which cited Soong as saying there will be no public funeral for Chen, in line with her low-key style.

An economics graduate from a Taipei university, Chen fell in love with Soong when both were pursuing their studies in the United States.