Li Zuopeng

Li Zuopeng

Li Zuopeng ( Chinese  李作鹏 * 24. April 1914 in Jiangxi , † 3. January 2009 ) was a Chinese lieutenant general of the People's Liberation Army and politicians of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), among others 1967-1971 Political Commissar of the Navy of the People's Republic of China and was a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China between 1969 and 1971 .

Life

Li Zuopeng joined the Red Army in 1930 and, after participating in the Long March, became an officer in the General Staff from 1934 to 1935. After the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, he had various functions in the People's Liberation Army, such as in the General Staff, at training schools and as commander of the 43rd Army. In 1962 he was seconded to the Navy of the People's Republic of China and was initially its deputy commander from 1962 to 1967. In June 1967 he succeeded Su Zhenhua as Political Commissar of the Navy and held that post until September 1971, when Su Zhenhua was again his successor. In this capacity he was an associate and supporter of Defense Minister Marshal Lin Biao during the Cultural Revolution that began in 1966 . With the increase in power of Lin Biao, his own influence within the Navy grew and, under the command of the Navy Xiao Jinguang, significantly influenced the development of the naval forces. As Political Commissar from June 1967 to September 1971, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, he was heavily responsible for the persecution of officers who did not share his radical views and who put political goals above all else. During the Cultural Revolution he allied himself with Lin Biao, Chen Boda , Wu Faxian , Ye Qun , Qiu Huizuo , Huang Yongsheng and some like-minded people in order to conspiratorially take power in the highest party and state bodies .

Due to turmoil within the Navy and in large parts of the country, Li Zuopeng reduced the flying hours of naval aviators in 1968 from an average of 26 hours to just 12.5 hours in 1968. In November 1969, he ordered the dissolution of the headquarters of the naval aviation associations and the dismissal of the officers there from their command post, which was not withdrawn until May 1978. Therefore the aviation units of the Navy were left to their own devices and were no longer under the command of the Navy. It so happened that between 1968 and 1978 the accident rate of naval aviators was very high and there were more than 70 accidents during this time. On the IX. At the CCP Congress (April 1-24, 1969) he was also elected a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and a member of the CCP Central Committee and was a member of these top bodies until September 24, 1971. However, in July 1971, Mao Zedong decided to get rid of Lin Biao and his generals, Huang Yongsheng, Wu Faxian, Li Zuopeng and Huang Yongsheng. Therefore, from August 15 to September 12, 1971, he undertook a trip through southern China to prepare the officials for the overthrow of Lin Biao and his generals. The May Day celebrations in Tian'anmen Square broke out when Lin Biao overrode the protocol and appeared for just a minute without speaking to Mao and his guests. In this way, the public learned that the leadership was divided. After Lin Biao and his wife Ye Qun and his son Lin Liguo died in unexplained circumstances over Öndörchaan in Mongolia on September 13, 1971, after his escape from China , Li Zupeng was arrested on September 24, 1971 and lost his functions as political commissioner of the Navy, a member of the Politburo and the CCP Central Committee.

In 1981 he was tried before the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China , which sentenced him to 17 years' imprisonment. Despite his ten years' imprisonment, his decisions continued to negatively affect the Navy.

Web links

• Entry (chinavitae.com)
• Yuwu Song: Biographical Dictionary of the People's Republic of China , p. 192, McFarland, 2013, ISBN 0-7864-3582-8

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Yuwu Song: Biographical Dictionary of the People's Republic of China , McFarland, 2013, ISBN 0-7864-3582-8 , pp. 143, 197
2. ^ Party Congresses of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the ruling party of People's Republic of China

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, Zuopeng is the first name.