Li Zongren

Li Zongren ( Chinese  李宗仁 , Pinyin Lǐ Zōngrén , W.-G. Li Tsung-jen ; Zì 德鄰 , Délín , Te-lin ; born August 13, 1890 in Guilin , Guangxi , † January 30, 1969 in Beijing ) was a Chinese warlord and President of the Republic of China .

Life

Li was born in Xixiang (西 鄉村) village near Guilin, Guangxi Province . His father Li Beiying (李培英) was a teacher; Li Zongren was the second oldest of five boys and three girls. In 1910, Li joined the Kuomintang forerunner Tongmenghui .

From 1925, Li was the leader of a group of warlords who ruled Guangxi Province . The Guangxi Army under Li and Bai Chongxi was one of the main supports for the Northern Expedition of the Kuomintang between 1926 and 1928. Nevertheless, it was Li in Nanjing -Regierung of Chiang Kai-shek not involved; the relationship between Chiang and Li remained tense.

Between 1937 and 1945, Li took part in the Sino-Japanese War .

On April 28, 1948, Li was elected Vice President by the National Assembly of the Republic of China after he had previously eliminated Chiang's protégé, Sun Fo . When Chiang formally resigned as president in January 1949 due to defeat against the communists , Li even became incumbent president without however having any real power. Chiang continued to rule over his party apparatus and his relationships with high officials in the army . In his capacity as President of the Republic of China, Li tried to negotiate with the communists, which Chiang refused; the rivalry between Li and Chiang became even greater.

In 1949, the ROC government fled to Taiwan; Li flew to the United States to seek medical treatment. In his capacity as acting President of the Republic of China, Li visited the American President Truman and described Chiang as a dictator and usurper . In the 1950s , Li was removed from office at Chiang's instigation. From then on, Li sympathized with the communist leadership in Beijing; with the support of Zhou Enlai , he returned to the People's Republic of China in 1965 .

literature

• Li Zongren, Te-kong Tong: The memoirs of Li Tsung-jen [Li Zongren] . Westview Press et al., Boulder CO 1979, ISBN 0-89158-343-2 , ( Studies of the East Asian Institute of Columbia University ).
• Thomas Weyrauch: China's Democratic Traditions from the 19th Century to the Present in Taiwan . Longtai, Giessen (ie) Heuchelheim 2014, ISBN 978-3-938946-24-4 .
• Thomas Weyrauch: China's neglected republic. 100 years in the shadow of world history. Volume 1 (1911-1949). Longtai 2009, ISBN 978-3-938946-14-8 .

Web links

Commons : Li Zongren  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Newspaper article about Li Zongren in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Li is the family name here, Zongren is the first name.