Wang Li (politician)

Wang Li (王力, * August 11, 1922 ; † October 21, 1996 ) was a Chinese politician during the time of the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution". He was the deputy head of the International Relations Department of the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP ), and a propagandist and ghostwriter for the Politburo. Since 1966 he was also a member of the Cultural Revolution group . In August 1967 he was arrested as a "left-wing extremist". He was released after 15 years and lived in Beijing for the rest of his life.

Life

Wang Li's original name was Wang Guanbin 王光賓. He was born in the small town of Huai'an, Jiangsu Province . At the age of 14 he joined the Communist Youth League in October 1935, and in 1939 he became a member of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1943, the CCP hired him as the editor of the party magazine "Fight and Life" in Shandong Province . At that time, he began to sign with the name Wang Li. After China's victory over the Japanese occupiers, he became director of the land distribution department in east China's Bohai area. At the same time he was the party secretary of that department and the tutor of the training group for training cadres for land reform. He later received the post of deputy head of the International Relations Department in the Central Committee of the People's Republic of China.

As a staff member in the International Relations Department, he also participated as a visiting delegate to the Standing Committee of the CCP Political Bureau. For example, he took part in the negotiations between the PRC and the Soviet Union and made 10 trips to Moscow. In this way, he gradually became an influential figure in the top ranks of the Communist Party. He contributed to the writing of important political essays and wrote himself. For example, Wang Li worked on the famous work "Long Live Victory in the People's War" ("人民 战争 胜利 万岁") on behalf of Lin Biao .

When Mao Zedong decided at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in 1966 to set up the "Cultural Revolution Group", Wang Li immediately became one of the members of this group.

Wuhan incident

On July 20, 1967, the so-called Wuhan Incident, also known as the "July 20 Incident" , occurred in Wuhan . In this incident, two revolutionary factions with the participation of the local People's Liberation Army clashed. The Wuhan incident was one of the most spectacular uprisings during the Cultural Revolution , in which representatives from the political and military levels participated.

In the summer of 1967 the city was disturbed by several newly formed revolutionary groups. Mao Zedong then sent envoys Wang Li and Xie Fuzhi to Wuhan. On July 19th, Wang Li gave a speech that increased tension in the city. In it he took the view that the greatest contradiction in the Cultural Revolution was a handful of capitalists in the party and the armed forces. As a result, soldiers appeared in front of the military headquarters and asked that Wang Li come out and explain himself personally. At midnight they were supported by the revolutionary group "One Million Heroes". When Wang Li did not respond, the two envoys were abducted by the mob with the assistance of Military Unit 8201. However, Zhou Enlai succeeded in negotiating the release of Wang and Xie. On July 22nd, both emissaries returned to Beijing.

Due to the spreading unrest and the resulting loss of control in the country, Mao Zedong tried to appease the military leadership by sacrificing the so-called Three Little Members of the "Cultural Revolution Group" - Wang Li, Guan Feng and Qi Benyu . Wang Li was charged with delivering a speech on August 7th criticizing the Chinese foreign policy system. This in turn caused some left-wing extremists to set fire to the British embassy on August 22nd. This event created long-term uncomfortable tension in PRC's international relations.

On August 30, 1967, the “mistakes” of the two ambassadors were discussed: Wang Li was declared a “left-wing extremist”. He was transferred to Qinchen Prison, where he was held for 15 years. The same fate met Guan Feng and, from 1968, also Qi Benyu. The incident went down in history as the "Wang Guan Qi Affair".

retirement

In 1982, at the third plenary session of the 11th Central Committee Congress, Wang Li was released. The state provided him with a monthly pension and an apartment in Beijing , where he and his wife lived the rest of his life. He has led a completely normal life since 1982: in retirement he enjoyed reading and wrote a few works himself. He was often seen in some bookstores. Some historians, especially those who dealt with the "Great Cultural Revolution", sometimes came to visit him. It has been said that he was always able to describe the circumstances of the time fairly objectively. "Biography of Mao Zedong (1949-1967)" ("毛泽东 传 (1949-1967 年)"), published by the CPC Central Committee in 2003, used quite a few historical information provided by Wang Li.

He died of a tumor on October 21, 1996 at the age of 75 in an oncology hospital.

Works

• "An insider's Account of the Cultural Revolution: Wang Li's Memories"
• "Lishi jiang xuangao wo wuzui" ("History will pronounce my Innocent")
• "Memories of a Year and Two Months"
• "Wang Li fansi lu: Wanh Li yi gao" ("Wang Li's Reflections")
• "Wang Li tan Mao Zedong" ("Wang Li on Mao Zedong")

literature

• Shorenstein, Walter H .: The Chinese Cultural Revolution as History. Stanford University Press, Stanford 2006
• Schoenhals, Michael: China's Cultural Revolution, 1966-1967: not a dinner party. An east gate book, New York 1996
• MacFarquhar, Roderick, Schoenhals, Michael: Mao's Last Revolution. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge 2006

Individual evidence

1. ↑ MacFarquhar, Roderick, Schoenhals, Michael: Mao's Last Revolution. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge 2006, pp. 210-214.
2. ↑ Schoenhals, Michael: China's Cultural Revolution, 1966-1967: not a dinner party. An east gate book, New York 1996, p. 364.
3. ↑ Schoenhals, Michael: China's Cultural Revolution, 1966-1967: not a dinner party. An east gate book, New York 1996, p. 365.
4. ↑ Guo Jian, Yongyi Song, Yuan Zhou (ed.): Historical dictionary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution , - Lanham, Md [u. a.]: Scarecrow Press, 2006 (eng)