Qiao Shi

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Qiao Shi ( Chinese  乔石 , Pinyin Qiáo Shí ; * December 1924 in Dinghai ( Zhejiang Province ), † June 14, 2015 in Beijing ) was a Chinese communist politician, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau Chinese Communist Party .

Studies and time of the Second World War

Qiao Shi, who was born as Jiang Zhitong ( Chinese  蒋志彤 , Pinyin Jiǎng Zhìtóng ) in 1924 , was a distant relative of Chiang Kai-shek . He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in August 1940 . While studying at Tongji University in Shanghai , he took part in a student movement against the Chiang Kai-shek-led Kuomintang . During this time he changed his maiden name to Jiang Qiao Shi, who differs from Chiang Kai-shek in Chinese by only two strokes, in order to work underground, but also to show his enthusiasm for the revolution . From 1945 to 1949 he was the secretary of the CCP's student organization at Tongji University.

People's Republic of China

Mao Zedong Era and Cultural Revolution Era

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, he worked for the All-Chinese Communist Youth Association for several years. Between 1954 and 1962 he was a worker at the Anshan Iron and Steel Plant in Liaoning Province .

In 1963 he joined the International Department of the Central Committee (CC) of the CCP, which was responsible for foreign policy planning . During the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, however, Qiao Shi and his family were persecuted because of their distant biological relatives to Chiang Kai-shek. One of his sons, tired of the persecution and humiliation, convinced the rest of the family to change their name again. This move was seen by the Red Guards and the supporters of the Cultural Revolution as revolutionary and a break with the past. Qiao Shi himself, like many other persecuted cadres, was in custody at the time and was therefore unable to do anything about the name change made by his children.

Intelligence Coordinator and Deputy Prime Minister

After the end of the Cultural Revolution, he returned to the International Department of the Central Committee, where he rose from analyst to head of the department and candidate of the Central Committee's Secretariat in 1982. He was also elected a member of the Central Committee at the 12th CPC Congress in 1982. Then he was head of the main department and the organization department of the Central Committee. After the discovery of a Chinese double agent in the American Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ), he succeeded former Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Pixian as head of the CCP Central Disciplinary Commission in 1985 . At the same time he was appointed a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee. As such, he was responsible for national security and the secret services from 1985 to 1998.

In 1986 he also became Deputy Prime Minister and as such took over responsibility for law and order. In the following period he particularly advocated the promulgation of a “New Law” on how to deal with the riots during the Mao Zedong era and especially the Cultural Revolution.

Promotion to member of the Standing Committee and Speaker of Parliament

He was elected a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party at the CCP's 13th and 14th Congresses in 1987 and 1992 . After the Tian'anmen massacre of June 3rd and 4th, 1989, he retained his office despite his pro-democracy stance .

On March 27, 1993, he was also President of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) President of Parliament. He officially took third place within the Chinese state and party leadership. In this function he gained popularity in particular because of his proven commitment to the “New Law” in contrast to the tendency towards self-portrayal of the then President Jiang Zemin . The election to the President of Parliament was seen by observers as a disempowerment, as this office contains predominantly representative tasks compared to the previous office as Deputy Prime Minister and Intelligence Service Coordinator.

Speculation about his loss of power

After the 15th CCP Congress in 1997, he resigned from the Politburo Standing Committee and other party offices. Officially, this was justified with his age of 73 years. On the other hand, speculation by the mass media in Hong Kong , Taiwan and the West assumed that Qiao Shi was involved in a power struggle with Jiang Zemin after Deng Xiaoping's death , which he eventually lost. On March 16, 1998, he finally gave up his position as chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to the previous Prime Minister Li Peng .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1st Ld: Former Chinese top legislator Qiao Shi dies at age 91 . Xinhua article on GlobalPost.com , June 14, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Qiao Shi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES c = 乔石 (Chinese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese communist politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Dinghai ( Zhejiang Province )
DATE OF DEATH June 14, 2015
Place of death Beijing