Li Qiang (revolutionary)
Li Qiang | |
---|---|
李强 | |
Minister of Foreign Trade | |
In office October 1973 – September 1981 | |
Preceded by | Bai Xiangguo |
Succeeded by | Zheng Tuobin |
Personal details | |
Born | Zeng Peihong 26 September 1905 CCP |
Spouse | Wei Huantu |
Children | 3 |
Education | High school affiliated to Nanyang Railroad and Mining Speciality School |
Li Qiang (
Born into a prominent family in Changshu, as a student in Shanghai he joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the May Thirtieth Movement in 1925, and became a key technical specialist in the early history of the CCP. After Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) massacred the Communists in 1927, Li was recruited by Zhou Enlai as the communications head of the Central Special Operations Division (Teke), the CCP's intelligence agency, and created the CCP's first underground radio station. After his close friend and colleague Gu Shunzhang defected to the KMT in 1931, Li was forced into exile in the Soviet Union, where he studied to become a radio expert and published a book on rhombic antenna.
During the
Republican era
Early life and education
Li Qiang was born as on 26 September 1905 in
May Thirtieth Movement
Li became a Communist during the
Central Special Operations Division (Teke)
On 12 April 1927, Chiang Kai-shek's KMT launched a coup against his Communist allies and massacred them in Shanghai. The surviving Communists went underground and established its intelligence agency, the Central Special Operations Division (中央特别行动科; known by its Chinese abbreviation Teke), led by Zhou Enlai.[4] Because of Li's experience in bomb-making and his familiarity with Shanghai's Green Gang, Zhou and Gu Shunzhang recruited him into Teke and made him head of communications, one of Teke's four divisions. Li developed a close friendship with Gu, head of the Red Squad or Teke's assassination team,[4] and Chen Geng, head of intelligence.[1] They worked together in the failed mission to rescue the captured Communist leader Peng Pai, but successfully assassinated Bai Xin, the turncoat who had betrayed Peng.[1]
In 1928, Zhou resolved to establish an underground radio station in Shanghai to communicate with CCP bases in the rest of the country. Li was assigned the task because of his technical background and proficiency in English, as few Chinese books on radio technology were available at the time and radio equipment was strictly controlled by the KMT. Despite having no prior knowledge about radios, he taught himself by reading English books and studying
Exile in the Soviet Union
In April 1931, Gu Shunzhang, the head of the Red Squad, defected after he was captured by the KMT in Wuhan.[1][4] Thanks to the quick reactions of Qian Zhuangfei and Li Kenong, Teke's moles in the KMT intelligence organization, the CCP leadership in Shanghai was able to evacuate before the arrival of KMT agents. As Gu was intimately familiar with Li Qiang's life, Zhou Enlai arranged to have Li leave for the Soviet Union.[1][5]
In Moscow, Li planned to study at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East, which was attended by many CCP leaders, including Liu Shaoqi, Luo Yinong, and Ren Bishi. However, Wang Ming, the CCP leader in Moscow, deeply distrusted Li because of his close relationship with Gu Shunzhang.[1] He kept Li out of the university and prevented him from returning to China. Li instead joined the Communication Science Research Institute and devoted his next six years studying radio theory and technology. He published a book on rhombic antenna in English, and was recognized as one of the top radio experts in the Soviet Union. The book was later translated into Chinese and used as a textbook in Chinese universities.[1][5]
Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War
After the beginning of the
During the Chinese Civil War, Li oversaw arms production in Communist-controlled areas.[2] He also established a shortwave radio station for the Xinhua News Agency to broadcast messages from the CCP leadership.[5]
People's Republic of China
From 1949 to the Cultural Revolution
After the establishment of the
Vietnam War
During the Cultural Revolution, Premier Zhou Enlai protected Li Qiang by assigning a high-ranking People's Liberation Army officer to his office and appointing another soldier as his secretary.[1] During the Vietnam War, Li was a key member of the CCP's leading group overseeing China's aid to North Vietnam,[1] which was crucial to its victory against the United States.[8] In late 1970, he secretly visited the Ho Chi Minh trail to inspect the transport route of North Vietnamese troops to South Vietnam.[1] In 1972, Li informed North Vietnam that China agreed to supply and ship critical weaponry and ammunition they requested for fighting in South Vietnam.[8] Li's role in the Vietnam War helped shield him from attacks by the Red Guards.[1]
Minister of Foreign Trade
In October 1973, Li was promoted to Minister of Foreign Trade, replacing Bai Xiangguo, who had been dismissed. MFT was a large, important ministry with many layers of organization, which served not only commercial, but also diplomatic functions.[7] Li was appointed partly because China became interested in importing Western technology. Yao Yilin, who later became a vice-premier and Politburo member, served as his deputy.[7]
Li's eight-year tenure as Minister of Foreign Trade witnessed the improvement of China's foreign relations with the West. By October 1977, he had signed 197 deals to import technology and machinery from many Western countries, which greatly helped modernize China's industry, agriculture, and national defence.[2] After the fall of the Gang of Four, he politically rehabilitated more than 2,000 people in his ministry who had been denounced and persecuted during the Cultural Revolution.[2] Li retired in September 1981, although he continued to hold many honorary positions afterwards.[2]
Li was a member of the 9th, 10th, and 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and of the 12th Central Advisory Commission. He was also a member of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th National People's Congress.[2]
Personal life
Li was married to Wei Huantu (魏环图). They had two sons, Li Yanming (李延明) and Li Xiaoqiang (李小强), and a daughter, Li Xiaotu (李小图).[1]
Li was diagnosed with liver cancer in 1991. He died in Beijing on 29 September 1996, three days after his 91st birthday. He was buried in the Yushan Scenic Area in his hometown Changshu.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Guan, Xuehui (25 April 2017). "共和国部长李强:从特工到军工局长到外贸部长,一生不违党命". Thepaper.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Li Qiang" (in Chinese). PRC Ministry of Commerce. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-313-32383-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-962-996-244-9.
- ^ Xinmin Wanbao(in Chinese). Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-521-53325-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-520-03257-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-319-51250-1.