Li Shenzhi
Encyclopedia
Li Zhenzhi was a prominent Chinese social scientist and public intellectual. For long a trusted spokesperson of the Chinese Communist Party, he rose to become Vice-President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
.
Dismissed from this position for blunt criticisms of the regime, he emerged in the 1990s as a powerful critic of authoritarianism, and a prominent exponent of Chinese liberalism
.
His death in 2003, which had been preceded by a series of widely circulated professions of his liberal commitment, prompted an outpouring of adulatory writings, securing his posthumous status as a champion of intellectual freedom
under difficult circumstances.
From 1941 to 1945 Li studied economics in Beijing (Yanjing University), and Shanghai (St. John's University). In November 1944, he participated in the Communist Party's secret "National Salvation Association of Democratic Youth."
Formally joining the Party in 1948, he became international editor in chief and Deputy Director of the Xinhua News Agency
and later served as Premier Zhou Enlai's diplomatic secretary. From late 1978 to early 1980, Li was a member of the International Issues Writing Group established by the Central Committee. Meanwhile, he accompanied party supremo Deng Xiaoping
on his visit to the USA, serving as adviser to the delegation.
He was transferred to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1980 to set up the United States Research Institute, of which he was appointed Director in 1982.
In 1985 he became a vice president CASS, retaining his directorship of the United States Research Institute.
He was dismissed in 1990 due to blunt criticisms of the June Fourth events in Tiananmen, and took medical retirement in 1995.
There has been controversy about Li's liberal-democratic credentials, focusing on his failure to completely break with the Communist Party. According to contemporary critics like Cao Changqing (a US-based journalist) and Zhong Weiguang (a scholar and writer based in Germany), he compares poorly with Eastern bloc liberals like Milovan Đilas (Djilas), or, in China, resolute non-collaborators like Chen Yinke
and original, if tragically persecuted thinkers like Gu Zhun
.
Xu Youyu
responded to this view that conditions for Chinese intellectuals had been considerably harsher than for East Europeans like Djilas; to be fair, Li should be placed in comparison with other committed but "enlightened" communists like Zhou Yang and Yu Guangyuan.
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences , established in 1977, is the premier and highest academic research organization in the fields of philosophy and social sciences as well as a national center for comprehensive studies in the People's Republic of China. It was described by Foreign Policy...
.
Dismissed from this position for blunt criticisms of the regime, he emerged in the 1990s as a powerful critic of authoritarianism, and a prominent exponent of Chinese liberalism
Chinese liberalism
Liberalism in China or 'Chinese liberalism' resulted from the introduction of classical liberalism into China during the period of Western domination towards the end of the Qing Dynasty...
.
His death in 2003, which had been preceded by a series of widely circulated professions of his liberal commitment, prompted an outpouring of adulatory writings, securing his posthumous status as a champion of intellectual freedom
Intellectual freedom
Intellectual freedom is the right to freedom of thought and of expression of thought. As defined by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is a human right. Article 19 states:...
under difficult circumstances.
From 1941 to 1945 Li studied economics in Beijing (Yanjing University), and Shanghai (St. John's University). In November 1944, he participated in the Communist Party's secret "National Salvation Association of Democratic Youth."
Formally joining the Party in 1948, he became international editor in chief and Deputy Director of the Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency
The Xinhua News Agency is the official press agency of the government of the People's Republic of China and the biggest center for collecting information and press conferences in the PRC. It is the largest news agency in the PRC, ahead of the China News Service...
and later served as Premier Zhou Enlai's diplomatic secretary. From late 1978 to early 1980, Li was a member of the International Issues Writing Group established by the Central Committee. Meanwhile, he accompanied party supremo Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
on his visit to the USA, serving as adviser to the delegation.
He was transferred to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1980 to set up the United States Research Institute, of which he was appointed Director in 1982.
In 1985 he became a vice president CASS, retaining his directorship of the United States Research Institute.
He was dismissed in 1990 due to blunt criticisms of the June Fourth events in Tiananmen, and took medical retirement in 1995.
There has been controversy about Li's liberal-democratic credentials, focusing on his failure to completely break with the Communist Party. According to contemporary critics like Cao Changqing (a US-based journalist) and Zhong Weiguang (a scholar and writer based in Germany), he compares poorly with Eastern bloc liberals like Milovan Đilas (Djilas), or, in China, resolute non-collaborators like Chen Yinke
Chen Yinke
Chen Yinke was a sinologist and a fellow of Academia Sinica. His representative works are The Origins of Sui and Tang Institutions: A Brief Account 《隋唐制度淵源略論稿》, On the Political History of the Tang Dynasty 《唐代政治史述論稿》, and An Alternative Biography of Liu Rushi 《》.-Early life:Chen Yinke was born in...
and original, if tragically persecuted thinkers like Gu Zhun
Gu Zhun
Gu Zhun 顾准 （1915-1974) was an intellectual, economist and pioneer of post-Marxist Chinese liberalism. A victim of "anti-Rightist" purges he spent his later life in prisons and reeducation centres....
.
Xu Youyu
Xu Youyu
Xu Youyu , is a Chinese philosopher, public intellectual and proponent of Chinese liberalism.Xu was a teenage Red Guard at the time of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and also was a witness to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 He is a Research Fellow in the Institute of Philosophy of the...
responded to this view that conditions for Chinese intellectuals had been considerably harsher than for East Europeans like Djilas; to be fair, Li should be placed in comparison with other committed but "enlightened" communists like Zhou Yang and Yu Guangyuan.
See also
- Chinese philosophyChinese philosophyChinese philosophy is philosophy written in the Chinese tradition of thought. The majority of traditional Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States era, during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and...
- Chinese liberalismChinese liberalismLiberalism in China or 'Chinese liberalism' resulted from the introduction of classical liberalism into China during the period of Western domination towards the end of the Qing Dynasty...
- Chinese liberalism