TAIPEI, Jan 2, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Taiwanese political cartoonist Lin Kuei-yu, whose satire was hailed for helping the island transition from one-party dictatorship to democracy, has died, his wife told AFP on Thursday. He was 65.

Lin, whose pen name was Yufu, or Fisherman, succumbed to liver cancer on Monday, his wife Chen Wen-shu said when contacted by AFP. 

"He had countless fans who admired, cared for, and loved him deeply," Chen said. 

"We are deeply grateful to everyone who has supported him over the years."

Regarded as a "pioneer of political commentary", Lin began publishing cartoons in the early 1980s when Taiwan was still under authoritarian rule, the semi-official Central News Agency (CNA) said.

After Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law in 1987, Lin created the first cartoon of the then president, depicting him as "Moses who parted the sea", CNA said.

Chiang was the son of former president Chiang Kai-shek, whose nationalist forces fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communist forces.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately ever since.

Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said cartoonist Lin's "simple and clear logic and sharp political views" helped many Taiwanese "break through the confinement of authoritarianism".

"(He) gave society the courage to challenge the system, and also accompanied Taiwan's process of democratisation," Lin wrote on Facebook.

Huang Wei-che, mayor of the southern city of Tainan where Lin lived, told reporters the cartoonist "was a fighter for democracy".

Lin, who wore several professional hats including writer and television host, once said he wanted his epitaph to be "cartoonist".

"Cartoonist is eternal, something can be passed on to future generations," Lin was quoted by Taiwan Comic Base, an incubator for comic artists, as saying.

"The others are temporary. Cartoonist is the one I want to engrave on my epitaph."