Ye Fei (; 7 May 1914 – 18 April 1999) was a

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

-born Chinese military general and politician of 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 List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. Born Sixto Mercado Tiongco in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother, he joined the

Chinese Communist Party 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 Ci ...

at a young age and fought many battles as a senior commander of the

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

in the

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 main ...

. At age 40, he was among the first PLA commanders to be awarded the rank of

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

by the newly established People's Republic of China and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Navy. He also served in a number of civilian posts including Governor and Communist Party Chief of

Fujian Province Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

, and Minister of Transport.

Early life

Birth in the Philippines

Ye Fei was born Sixto Mercado Tiongco on 7 May 1914 in the town of

Tiaong Tiaong, officially the Municipality of Tiaong ( tgl, Bayan ng Tiaong), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Quezon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 106,265 people. Tiaong is from Lucena and fro ...

in the then-named Tayabas Province, in the Philippines. His father was Yap Sun Uy (葉蓀衛; Yap is the Minnan pronunciation of the Chinese surname Ye), a Chinese merchant from Nan'an,

who had moved to the Philippines in 1900 and adopted the Philippine name Tiongco. Yap converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in order to get approval of the parents to marry Ye Fei's mother Francisca Mercado, a Filipina from a local Catholic family. Ye Fei's original Chinese name was Ye Qiheng ().

Youth in China

In 1919 Ye Fei, then four years old, and his older brother Ye Qicun (), were brought by their father to his Chinese hometown for schooling. Starting in 1926 he attended Zhongshan Middle School in

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong' ...

and then the Thirteenth High School of Fujian. Ye Fei joined the underground

Communist Youth League of China The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...

in May 1928, and the

in March 1932. In 1932 he was arrested by the

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 Ta ...

government of the Republic of China and sentenced to a year in prison. As he was a Philippine citizen, his parents managed to arrange for his extradition to the Philippines (then a

United States territory In the United States, a territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters (around islands or continental tracts). The United States asserts sovereign rights for ...

under the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands), and his mother set out for China to take him back. However, by the time Francisca Mercado reached

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

, Ye Fei was already released from prison. Telling his mother that he was going to study in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, he instead went to

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

to help establish the Communist guerrilla there.

Wartime career

Chinese Civil War

In 1934 the Communist Chinese Red Army suffered a series of defeats by Chiang Kai-shek's

forces, and started the

Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Army of the Chinese ...

. With the escape of the Communist leadership from neighbouring Jiangxi Province to remote

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), ...

, Ye Fei's Eastern Fujian guerrilla was cut off from the main Communist forces and fought in isolation for three years. His older brother Ye Qicun was killed in the late 1930s by the Kuomintang.

Second Sino-Japanese War

After the eruption 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 T ...

, the civil war between the Communists and Kuomintang was suspended, and the two parties agreed to form a

Second United Front The Second United Front ( zh, t=第二次國共合作 , s=第二次国共合作 , first=t ) was the alliance between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to resist the Japanese invasion of China during the Seco ...

to fight the invading Japanese. Ye Fei was made a regiment commander in the newly formed New Fourth Army and moved to the

Jiangnan Jiangnan or Jiang Nan (; formerly romanized Kiang-nan, literally "South of the River" meaning "South of the Yangtze") is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, incl ...

region to continue his guerrilla warfare, this time against the Japanese occupying force. His early activities included 1939 attacks on the Japanese-controlled

Shanghai–Nanjing Railway The Shanghai–Nanjing or Huning RailwayChinese: t , s , p ''Hù–Níng Tiělù''. is a railway in China running from Shanghai to Nanjing. The railway is about long. The Huning line is one of the busiest in China. The Shanghai–Nanjing int ...

and Shanghai Hongqiao Airport. In 1940 Ye Fei moved across the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

to northern Jiangsu Province to continue fighting the Japanese as well as the Kuomintang, the nominal ally of the Communists. He was appointed the commander of the first column of the Northern Jiangsu division of the New Fourth Army under the leadership of Su Yu. In October, he annihilated a Kuomintang brigade in the Battle of Huangqiao. In 1944, he commanded the Communist force in the Battle of Cheqiao defeating the Japanese. The next year he was appointed commander of the Central Jiangsu military region and deputy commander of the

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...

military region.

Resumption of Civil War

After the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Na ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, talks between the Communists and the Kuomintang broke down and the

resumed. As a senior commander Ye Fei participated in numerous battles including the Menglianggu Campaign and the Huaihai Campaign. In February 1949 he was appointed Commander of the 10th Army Group of the

. In April 1949 Ye Fei's forces attacked HMS Amethyst on the Yangtze River, and forced her to remain anchored for 40 days (see main article: Yangtze Incident). After participating in the Battle of Shanghai (1949) in May 1949, Ye Fei, with

Wei Guoqing 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 from 1958 to 1975 and on the Chin ...

as political commissar, led the 10th Army Group in the battles of Fuzhou, Zhangzhou, and

, taking over most of

from the Kuomintang defenders. However, his forces suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Guningtou, during which more than ten thousand PLA soldiers were killed or captured when they landed on Kinmen Island off the Fujian coast. The Communists were never able to take over Kinmen and to this day Kinmen remains under the administration of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Ye Fei partially redeemed for the loss by winning the Dongshan Island Campaign in July 1953.

Peacetime career

In 1953 Ye Fei was appointed Communist Party Chief and Governor of

. He also concurrently served as deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region. In 1955, at age 40, he was among the first group of

commanders to be awarded the rank of

. From 1 July 1956, with the creation of the Fuzhou Military Region, he became its first commander. During 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 ...

Ye Fei suffered from persecution for his overseas ties, but was rehabilitated in 1975 and appointed China's Minister of Transport. He held the position until February 1979, when he was appointed by

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...

as the political commissar of the

People's Liberation Army Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chines ...

, despite having never served in the Navy before. The following year he was promoted to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, which he held until August 1982. From 1983 to 1993 he served as the vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the

6th 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second ...

and the 7th

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 2,9 ...

Return to the Philippines

At the invitation of then-

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Corazon Aquino, Ye Fei visited the

in February 1989 as the vice-chairman of the Chinese Congress. This was the first time he returned to the country of his birth since leaving almost 70 years before. He spent two weeks in the country, visiting his parents' graves in

and having a reunion with his younger siblings, who were born after he left for China and had little idea of their brother's achievements.

Opposition to army crackdown in Tiananmen Square

During the

Tiananmen Square protests The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourt ...

of spring 1989, Ye Fei signed a letter opposing the enforcement of martial law by the Army in Beijing.

Death and monument

Ye Fei died in Beijing on 18 April 1999, aged 84. On 29 March 2000, a memorial park in

was dedicated to Ye Fei, including a monument and a vocational school. Present at the inauguration were General Angelo Reyes, Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon, Jr., Interior Secretary

Alfredo Lim Alfredo "Fred" Siojo Lim Jr.. (; December 21, 1929 – August 8, 2020) was a Filipino politician and police officer who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 2004 to 2007. He also served as the Mayor of Manila twice: first from 1992 to ...

, and Chinese ambassador

Fu Ying Fu or FU may refer to: In arts and entertainment *Fool Us, Penn & Teller's magic-competition television show *Fǔ, a type of ancient Chinese vessel *Fu (poetry) (赋), a Chinese genre of rhymed prose *'' FU: Friendship Unlimited'', a 2017 Marath ...

. This was the first in a series of events celebrating 25 years of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the People's Republic of China.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ye, Fei 1914 births 1999 deaths Tagalog people People from Quezon Former Roman Catholics People extradited from China People extradited to the Philippines Filipino people of Chinese descent Chinese military personnel of World War II People's Liberation Army generals Commanders of the People's Liberation Army Navy Governors of Fujian Presidents of Huaqiao University Ministers of Transport of the People's Republic of China Vice Chairpersons of the National People's Congress Commanders of the Fuzhou Military Region Political commissars of the People's Liberation Army Navy 20th-century Chinese military personnel