Wei Guoqing (; Zhuang: Veiz Gozcing; 2 September 1913 – 14 June 1989) was a Chinese government official, military officer and political commissar of Zhuang ethnicity. He served as the Chairman of

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

from 1958 to 1975 and on the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

(1973–1982) and as Director of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

's General Political Department (1977–1982). Wei was one of the few members of the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Central Committees (1969–1987) and the 10th through 12th politburos not purged during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

's backlash. He was also a Vice Chair of the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...

Standing Committee (1975–1989) and of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

(1964–1983).

Biography

Wei was born in Donglan, Guangxi, to a poor Zhuang minority family. He joined the

Chinese Red Army The Chinese Red Army, formally the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=中國工農紅軍) or just the Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=紅軍), was the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1928 to 1937. I ...

at the age of 16 (1929) and the CCP in 1931. He rose to the rank of battalion commander in the Seventh Army under Deng Xiaoping and was a regimental commander on the

Long March The Long March ( zh, s=长征, p=Chángzhēng, l=Long Expedition) was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934 and ...

. After the Long March he served in the 344th Brigade, and then marched south under

Huang Kecheng Huang Kecheng () (October 1, 1902 – December 28, 1986) was a senior general (大将) in the People's Liberation Army. Biography Huang Kecheng was born in Yongxing, Hunan Province, and he was the third of four children. His father ...

's 5th Column in January 1940. By 1944, he commanded the 4th Division of the

New Fourth Army The New Fourth Army (N4A) () was a military unit nominally under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China, established in 1937 as part of the Second United Front against Japan. However, in practice, the New ...

, and later three columns (the 2nd, 10th and 12th) of the North Jiangsu Army in the Huai-Hai Campaign. In 1948, Wei held off the Nationalist 2nd Army Corps of Qiu Qingquan and 100 tanks of the 5th Corps under the command of Jiang Weiguo (

Chiang Wei-kuo Chiang Wei-kuo (; 6 October 1916 – 22 September 1997), also known as Wego Chiang, was the adopted son of Taiwan, Republic of China President of the Republic of China, President Chiang Kai-shek, the adoptive brother of President Chiang Chin ...

, Chiang Kai-shek's son) in a decisive delaying action in the Huai-Hai Campaign. In 1949, Wei was deputy political commissar of General

Ye Fei Ye Fei (; 7 May 1914 – 18 April 1999) was a Philippine-born Chinese military general and politician of the People's Republic of China. Born Sixto Mercado Tiongco in the Philippines to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother, he joined the C ...

's Tenth Army Group of the

Third Field Army The Third Field Army was one of the five main forces of the Chinese Communist Party's People's Liberation Army during the Chinese Civil War. It was established in early 1949. Initially known as the East China Field Army, it was formed by the New ...

Vietnam

Wei was deeply involved in China's relations with North Vietnam from 1950. In April of that year,

Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary and politician. He was the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1954 to 1959, first-ranking Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communis ...

sent him to Vietnam as head of the Chinese Military Advisory Group, to advise

Ho Chi Minh (born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), colloquially known as Uncle Ho () among other aliases and sobriquets, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who served as the founder and first President of Vietnam, president of the ...

on fighting the French. In October 1953, Wei reportedly personally gave

a copy of the French Navarre plan. In June 1954, Wei attended the 1954 Geneva Conference on Indochina with Premier

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

, USSR Foreign Minister

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (; – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin's closest allies. ...

, Vietnamese representative

Phạm Văn Đồng Phạm Văn Đồng (; 1 March 1906 – 29 April 2000) was a Vietnamese politician who served as Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1955 to 1976. He later served as Prime Minister of Vietnam, following reunification of North and South Viet ...

, US State Department official Bedell Smith and UK Deputy Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs for Administration

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...

. Wei was specifically instructed to discuss military matters with the Vietnamese delegation when Molotov, Smith and Eden were not present. When formal military ranks were introduced in 1955, Wei Guoqing was made a general, and in 1956 became an Alternate Member of the Central Committee at the Eighth National Party Congress.

Guangxi and Guangdong

After returning to China, Wei moved to Nanning, Guangxi, where he was the senior party (1961-Cultural Revolution) and government (1955-Cultural Revolution) official in Guangxi Autonomous Region for an unusually long period. It was from Guangxi and Yunnan that Chinese troops entered Vietnam in 1965–70. In his role as the senior-most official in Guangxi, Wei hosted the January 1958 Nanning Conference, attended by Chairman

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

and most of the very top leadership. While Wei was a junior among the heavyweights, he was present at one of the decisive

Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward was an industrialization campaign within China from 1958 to 1962, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Party Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to transform the country from an agrarian society into an indu ...

discussions where outrageous targets were approved. General Wei was named 1st Political Commissar of the Guangxi Military District (MD) in January 1964, a post he held until October 1975. He added the leadership of the CCP committee in February 1971. During the Cultural Revolution, Wei managed to keep control of Guangxi. In March 1967, Zhou Enlai ordered the establishment of the "Guangxi Revolutionary Preparatory Group", headed by incumbent CCP 1st Party Secretary Wei. However, Wei was beaten by a Guangxi-origin mob in August while visiting Beijing. In 1968, the "Guangxi April 22 Revolutionary Action Command" opposed Wei Guoqing's leadership while the "Guangxi United Command of Proletarian Revolutionaries" supported him.

Central leadership

In August 1982, Liberation Army Daily, the newspaper directly under General Political Department Director Wei's authority, published a broadside against " bourgeois liberalization" that was seen as an attack on Deng Xiaoping's policies just prior to the 12th Party Congress. As a result, Wei was dismissed, and replaced by General Yu Qiuli.Lampton, David M., Paths to Power: Elite Mobility in Contemporary China (Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies, Volume 55, The University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies, Ann Arbor 1986), , p. 197 He resigned from his posts in 1985 and died in Beijing in June 1989.

References

Biography

Vietnam

Guangxi and Guangdong

Central leadership

See also

References