Liu Zhenhua (; July 1921 – 11 July 2018) was a general ('' shangjiang'') of the Chinese

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

and a diplomat of the People's Republic of China. He served as ambassador to Albania and Deputy Foreign Minister.

Biography

He was born in

Tai'an Tai'an () is a prefecture-level city in Western Shandong Province of the People's Republic of China. Centered on Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng to ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

in July 1921. He joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

in 1938. He was a veteran of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

and

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He made significant contributions to the victories of the

Battle of Jinzhou Battle of Chinchow () was a battle between the People's Liberation Army and the National Revolutionary Army during the Liaoshen Campaign in the Chinese Civil War. The battle was a turning point in the campaign, which eventually led to capture o ...

against

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

forces of

Liao Yaoxiang Liao Yiaoxiang (; 16 May 1906 – 2 December 1968), was a high-ranking Kuomintang commander who successful fought against both the Imperial Japanese Army and Chinese Communist forces. Apart from General Sun Liren, he was one of the few Nationalis ...

and the Pingjin Campaign against Kuomintang forces of

Fu Zuoyi Fu Zuoyi () (June 2, 1895 − April 19, 1974) was a Chinese military leader. He began his military career in the service of Yan Xishan, and he was widely praised for his defense of Suiyuan from the Japanese. During the final stages of the Chines ...

. He was an alternate member of the

9th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 9th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1969 to 1973. It was preceded by the 8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. It was the second central committee in session during the Chinese Cultural Revol ...

and a delegate to the 8th

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2, ...

. In 1964, he was promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. He was ambassador of China to Albania from 1971 to 1976. As ambassador, he made improvement to

China–Greece relations People's Republic of China has an embassy in Athens. The Hellenic Republic has an embassy in Beijing and three general consulates in Guangzhou, Hong-Kong and since 2005 in Shanghai. The Port of Piraeus (under Chinese management since 2009 and maj ...

by establishing diplomatic relations with

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

on June 6, 1972. In March 1979, he was made deputy political commissar of the

Shenyang Military Region The Shenyang Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It has command and control of military and armed police forces in the three northeast provinces of Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning, which ...

and political commissar of the Shenyang Military Region in October 1982. In 1987 he was transferred to the

Beijing Military Region The Beijing Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. From the mid 1980s to 2017, it had administration of all military affairs within Beijing city, Tianjin city, Hebei province, Shanxi province, ...

as its political commissar, holding that post until 1990. During his tenure in Beijing, he received his current rank of Shang Jiang in 1988.

References

1921 births 2018 deaths Politicians from Tai'an Ambassadors of China to Albania People's Liberation Army generals from Shandong Chinese people of World War II People of the Chinese Civil War Chinese military personnel of the Korean War Alternate members of the 9th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Delegates to the 8th National People's Congress Mayors of Lüda Members of the Central Advisory Commission Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shandong People's Republic of China politicians from Shandong {{China-mil-bio-stub