Wang Bingnan (1908–1988) was a diplomat and foreign affairs official of the

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

and the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Before 1949, Wang was one of

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...

's trusted aides and after the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 he became Director General of the General Office of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In January and February 1955 he was Assistant Foreign Minister, and in March of that year became Chinese Ambassador to Poland, a position in which he served until April 1964. While in Poland, he was the Chief Representative of China in the nine-year-long Sino-US Ambassadorial Talks. He was Secretary General of the Chinese Delegation during the Geneva Conference of 1954. In 1966, at the start of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

, Wang was attacked and imprisoned by the

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

. Although he was rehabilitated in 1975, he suffered a heart attack. He died in 1988.Wang Bingnan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People's Republic of China.

Early life and revolutionary activities

Wang graduated from the Luoyang Military Academy in 1929 then left for a year of study in Japan. After two years he left for four years of study at

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

, where he studied in sociology. While there, he was Secretary of the Chinese Language Branch of the Communist Party of Germany, Director of East Department of the Great International League against Imperialism, Chairman of the League against Imperialism of Chinese in Europe, and eventually President of the European Overseas Chinese Anti-Imperialist League. He was especially active in rallying Overseas Chinese in Europe to support resistance to Japan's encroachment in China. In Germany, he met and married Anneliese Martens (Anna Wang 王安娜; 1909 - 1990) a German activist and fellow student at the University of Berlin. They were married in London. Wang returned to Shanghai with his wife in 1936. They became leading figures in Chinese Communist Party relations with foreign countries and foreigners in China. In 1936, since he was a Shaanxi native, the Party dispatched Wang there to build relations with General Yang Hucheng, who controlled the area around

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...

, where Mao's wing of the Party had set up a headquarters. Wang encouraged General Yang to join the active resistance to Japan rather than press the fight against the Communists. In late 1936, in the

Xi'an Incident The Xi'an Incident, previously romanized as the Sian Incident, was a political crisis that took place in Xi'an, Shaanxi in 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist government of China, was detained by his subordinate generals Chang ...

, General Yang and

Zhang Xueliang Chang Hsüeh-liang (, June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also romanized as Zhang Xueliang, nicknamed the "Young Marshal" (少帥), known in his later life as Peter H. L. Chang, was the effective ruler of Northeast China and much of northern ...

held Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek against his will to force him into active resistance against Japan.

, apparently at the behest of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

, negotiated Jiang's release and came to rely on Wang's contacts with all sides and his skills in these negotiations. Soong Ching-ling and Anna Wang visit Mao Zedong

Soong Ching-ling and Anna Wang visit Mao Zedong

In 1939, in response to Mao's directive to place even greater weight on foreign propaganda, the Party formed a Foreign Affairs Small Group, whose members included Wang Bingnan, Chen Jiakang,

Qiao Guanhua Qiao Guanhua (; March 28, 1913 – September 22, 1983
." ''

Gong Peng, a group that stayed together and formed the nucleus of the Foreign Ministry a decade later. The Party leadership expected them to follow world developments and to cultivate good relations with foreign journalists, diplomats, and soldiers. During the war with Japan, the group served with Zhou in Chongqing, and when wartime cooperation with the Nationalist government turned to

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

after 1945, Wang was deputy under

Ye Jianying Ye Jianying (; 28 April 1897 – 22 October 1986) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary leader and politician, one of the founding Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China. He was the top military leader in the 1976 coup that overthre ...

in the Foreign Affairs Group of the Central Committee. Wang and Anna visited India briefly in 1945, but returned to work with the

Marshall Mission The Marshall Mission (; 20 December 1945 – January 1947) was a failed diplomatic mission undertaken by United States Army General George C. Marshall to China in an attempt to negotiate between the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist ...

from the end of 1945 to 1947, where he met American diplomats.

After 1949

Wang was in the group of Zhou Enlai's protegees from the 1930s who filled most of the positions when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was formed in 1949. Wang was Director General of the General Office, the largest office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from 1949 to 1955. During the

1954 Geneva Conference The Geneva Conference, intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War, was a conference involving several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 April to 20 July 1954. The part ...

he was Secretary General of the Chinese Delegation, where he conducted negotiations with U. Alexis Johnson and other senior United States diplomats. He then served briefly as Assistant Foreign Minister in January and February 1955 before becoming Chinese Ambassador to Poland from March 1955 to April 1964. Here he played a pivotal role in the Indo-Sino War of 1962 ensuring no aggression through the Taiwan Strait. As ambassador to Poland, Wang was the highest level diplomat of the People's Republic to have direct contacts with American diplomats. During the

First Taiwan Strait Crisis The First Taiwan Strait Crisis (also the Formosa Crisis, the 1954–1955 Taiwan Strait Crisis, the Offshore Islands Crisis, the Quemoy-Matsu Crisis, and the 1955 Taiwan Strait Crisis) was a brief armed conflict between the Communist People's ...

of 1955 Wang conducted ambassadorial level talks in Warsaw with United States Ambassador

Jacob D. Beam Jacob Dyneley Beam (March 24, 1908 – August 16, 1993) was an American diplomat. Life and career Beam was born in Princeton, New Jersey. His father was a German professor at Princeton University, and the younger Beam earned a bachelor's deg ...

. Mao recalled Wang to Beijing for a detailed briefing in a private talk, and Wang left for Warsaw with detailed instructions to find out if Washington would be willing to force

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

armies from the islands if offered concessions in return. When Wang revealed to Beam this willingness to concede before extracting concessions in return, Mao attacked him: "even a pig knows to turn around after he hits a wall, and Wang Bingnan does not know how to turn around after he hits a wall." Mao only agreed to keep Wang in Warsaw when Premier Zhou assumed blame.

Cultural Revolution and Wang's death

In 1967, as the

gained momentum, Wang was suspended from his job at the Ministry of Foreign Relations and

Red Guard Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard le ...

factions confined him in the basement of an old hotel. He was shown the scarred and mutilated body of Zhang Yuyun, his second wife, and was told that she had killed herself. In 1969 he was released to go to a cadre school, and allowed to return to the capital only in 1972. He did not have a job or official residence there, however, and lived with his family in cramped conditions. Deng Xiaoping gave him a position in the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries in 1975, but when Deng himself was again purged the following year, Wang had a heart attack. He died in 1988.

Family life

His eldest son was Wang Dongming (王東明) and his second son, Wang Boming (王波明), was editor of

Caijing ''Caijing'' is an independent magazine based in Beijing that covers societal, political, and economic issues, with a focus on civil rights, public affairs, and business.James F. Scotton"New Media for a New China,"John Wiley & Sons, 8 March 2010, ...

(财经).

Selected writings

* with 罗瑞卿 (Luo Ruiqing) 呂正操 (Lü Zhengcao), 西安事変和周恩来同志 ( and the Xi'an Incident) (Beijing: Ren min chu ban she: 1978); translated as Luo, Ruiqing, Zhengcao Lu¨, and Bingnan Wang. Zhou Enlai and the Xi'an Incident: An Eyewitness Account: a Turning Point in Chinese History. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1983. * 中美会谈九年回顾 (Zhong-Mei huitan jiunian huigu) (Memoir of nine year Sino-American negotiations) 世界知识出版社 : 新华书店北京发行所发行, Beijing: Shijie zhishi chuban she: Xinhua shudian Beijing faxing suo faxing, 1985

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

王炳南

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Authority page.
Wang Bingnan
Wilson Center Digital Archive. Diplomatic documents 1954- 1964. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Bingnan 1908 births 1988 deaths Ambassadors of China to Poland Politicians from Xianyang Chinese revolutionaries Chinese expatriates in Germany People of the Chinese Civil War People's Republic of China politicians from Shaanxi Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shaanxi People of the Republic of China Secretaries to Mao Zedong