Wei Guoqing
Encyclopedia
Wei Guoqing (2 September 1913 – 14 June 1989) was a Chinese government official, military officer and political commissar. He served on the Communist Party of China
's Politburo
(1973–82) and as Director of the People’s Liberation Army’s General Political Department (1977–82). Wei was one of the few members of the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Central Committees
(1969–87) and the 10th through 12th politburos not purged during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR) or Deng Xiaoping
’s backlash. He was also a Vice Chair of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (1975–89) and of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (1964–83).
Wei was born in Donglan, Guangxi
, to a poor Zhuang minority family. He joined the Chinese Red Army at the age of 16 (1929) and the CPC in 1931. He rose to the rank of battalion commander in the Seventh Army under Deng Xiaoping and was a regimental commander on the Long March
. After the Long March he served in the 344th Brigade, and then marched south under Huang Kecheng
's 5th Column in January 1940. By 1944, he commanded the 4th Division of the New Fourth Army
, and later three columns (the 2nd, 10th and 12th) of the North Jiangsu Army in the Huai-Hai Campaign. In 1948, Wei held off the Nationalist 2nd Army Corps of Qiu Qingquan and 100 tanks of the 5th Corps under the command of Jiang Weiguo (Chiang Wei-kuo
, Chiang Kai-shek’s son) in a decisive delaying action in the Huai-Hai Campaign. In 1949, Wei was deputy political commissar of General Ye Fei's Tenth Army Group of the Third Field Army.
sent him to Vietnam as head of the Chinese Military Advisory Group, to advise Ho Chi Minh
on fighting the French; Wei remained in Vietnam until September 1955. In this role he led a group of 281 experienced military officers from the Second, Third and Fourth Field Armies in a mission that began within days of the outbreak of the Korean War
. Wei's work across Field Army lines would stand him in good stead later in his career. General Chen Geng
joined the CMAG in July as the representative of the Central Committee
, but left for Korea in November, leaving Wei as the senior Chinese official in Vietnam.
In October 1953, Wei reportedly personally gave Ho Chi Minh
a copy of the French Navarre plan. In response, the Viet Minh pushed on to Lai Chau and toward northern Laos, rather than the Red River Delta
. Some months later, in 1954, Wei is said to have advised General Vo Nguyen Giap
to surround and attack General Navarre at Dien Bien Phu
, a strategy that eventually led to complete French withdrawal from Indochina.
In June 1954, Wei attended the 1954 Geneva Conference on Indochina with Premier Zhou Enlai
, USSR Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov
, Vietnamese representative Phạm Văn Đồng, US State Department official Bedell Smith
and UK Deputy Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs for Administration Anthony Eden
. Wei was specifically instructed to discuss military matters with the Vietnamese delegation when Molotov, Smith and Eden were not present. Wei, Pham, Ho, General Giap and others went to Nanning, Guangxi, in late June 1954 to discuss strategy for Indochina.
When formal military ranks were introduced in 1955, Wei Guoqing was made a general, and in 1956 became an Alternate Member of the Central Committee
at the Eighth National Party Congress.
In his role as the senior-most official in Guangxi, Wei hosted the January 1958 Nanning Conference, attended by Chairman Mao Zedong
and most of the very top leadership. While Wei was a junior among the heavyweights, he was present at one of the decisive Great Leap Forward
discussions where outrageous targets were approved.
General Wei was named 1st Political Commissar of the Guangxi Military District (MD) in January 1964, a post he held until October 1975. He added the leadership of the CPC committee in February 1971.
During the Cultural Revolution, Wei managed to keep control of Guangxi. In March 1967, Zhou Enlai ordered the establishment of the “Guangxi Revolutionary Preparatory Group,” headed by incumbent CPC 1st Party Secretary Wei. However, Wei was beaten by a Guangxi-origin mob in August while visiting Beijing. In 1968, the “Guangxi April 22 Revolutionary Action Command” opposed Wei Guoqing’s leadership while the “Guangxi United Command of Proletarian Revolutionaries” supported him. After the PLA backers of the former group were transferred to Beijing, Wei launched an artillery bombardment on parts of the city controlled by his opponents. The resulting conflict saw the destruction of some 166 boats on the Nanning river, and dozens of buildings. The results were endorsed by the faction in charge in Beijing. He was named Chairman of the Guangxi Revolutionary Committee in August 1968, and remained in that post, and the province, until October 1975.
As concerns about Marshall Lin Biao
’s loyalties began to arise, Mao Zedong in August 1971 met with regional leaders in Changsha, including Hua Guofeng
, and Wei to criticize Lin; and in Nanchang with Xu Shiyou and Han Xianchu
.
, was an old ally of Deng Xiaoping and together they sheltered him from the Gang of Four after the April 1976 Tiananmen Incident and Deng’s third purge.
In the post-Mao reshuffle, General Wei took over the PLA General Political Department
(GPD) from Gang of Four member Zhang Chunqiao, thus becoming the political commissar for the entire People's Liberation Army. He was also named to the 11th Central Committee Politburo, in 1977. Wei served in the GPD and Deputy Secretary-General and Standing Committee member of the CPC Military Affairs Commission, 1977-82.
Wei's old Guangzhou MR partner, General Xu Shiyou, took overall commend (along with General Yang Dezhi) of the Chinese invasion of Vietnam in February 1979. However, General Wei does not appear to have had a direct role in the Sino-Vietnamese War
, possibly due to his close workings with the Vietnamese in the 1950s and 1960s.
In August 1982, Liberation Army Daily, the newspaper directly under General Political Department Director Wei’s authority, published a broadside against “bourgeois liberalization” that was seen as an attack on Deng Xiaoping’s policies just prior to the 12thParty Congress. As a result, Wei was dismissed, and replaced by General Yu Qiuli.
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
's Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
(1973–82) and as Director of the People’s Liberation Army’s General Political Department (1977–82). Wei was one of the few members of the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Central Committees
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is the highest authority within the Communist Party of China. Its approximately 350 members and alternates are selected once every five years by the National Party Congress....
(1969–87) and the 10th through 12th politburos not purged during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR) or 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...
’s backlash. He was also a Vice Chair of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (1975–89) and of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (1964–83).
Wei was born in Donglan, Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
, to a poor Zhuang minority family. He joined the Chinese Red Army at the age of 16 (1929) and the CPC in 1931. He rose to the rank of battalion commander in the Seventh Army under Deng Xiaoping and was a regimental commander on the Long March
Long March
The Long March was a massive military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. There was not one Long March, but a series of marches, as various Communist armies in the south...
. After the Long March he served in the 344th Brigade, and then marched south under Huang Kecheng
Huang Kecheng
Huang Kecheng was one of ten senior generals of People's Liberation Army.-Biography:General Huang Kecheng was born in Yongxing, Hunan, China, and he was the third of four children...
's 5th Column in January 1940. By 1944, he commanded the 4th Division of the New Fourth Army
New Fourth Army
The New Fourth Army was a unit of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China established in 1937. In contrast to most of the National Revolutionary Army, it was controlled by the Communist Party of China and not by the ruling Kuomintang. The New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army...
, and later three columns (the 2nd, 10th and 12th) of the North Jiangsu Army in the Huai-Hai Campaign. In 1948, Wei held off the Nationalist 2nd Army Corps of Qiu Qingquan and 100 tanks of the 5th Corps under the command of Jiang Weiguo (Chiang Wei-kuo
Chiang Wei-kuo
Chiang Wei-kuo was an adopted son of President Chiang Kai-shek, adoptive brother of President Chiang Ching-kuo, and an important figure in the Kuomintang . His courtesy names were Jianhao and Niantang .- Early life :...
, Chiang Kai-shek’s son) in a decisive delaying action in the Huai-Hai Campaign. In 1949, Wei was deputy political commissar of General Ye Fei's Tenth Army Group of the Third Field Army.
Vietnam
Wei was deeply involved in China’s relations with North Vietnam from 1950. In April of that year, Liu ShaoqiLiu Shaoqi
Liu Shaoqi was a Chinese revolutionary, statesman, and theorist. He was Chairman of the People's Republic of China, China's head of state, from 27 April 1959 to 31 October 1968, during which he implemented policies of economic reconstruction in China...
sent him to Vietnam as head of the Chinese Military Advisory Group, to advise Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
on fighting the French; Wei remained in Vietnam until September 1955. In this role he led a group of 281 experienced military officers from the Second, Third and Fourth Field Armies in a mission that began within days of the outbreak of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. Wei's work across Field Army lines would stand him in good stead later in his career. General Chen Geng
Chen Geng
Chen Geng was a Chinese communist military leader.-Early life:Born in Hunan province, Chen was second of 12 siblings. However, because his elder brother died early due to illness, Chen became the eldest son. His grandfather, Chen Yiqong was an officer in the imperial Chinese army and was rewarded...
joined the CMAG in July as the representative of the Central Committee
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is the highest authority within the Communist Party of China. Its approximately 350 members and alternates are selected once every five years by the National Party Congress....
, but left for Korea in November, leaving Wei as the senior Chinese official in Vietnam.
In October 1953, Wei reportedly personally gave Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
a copy of the French Navarre plan. In response, the Viet Minh pushed on to Lai Chau and toward northern Laos, rather than the Red River Delta
Red River Delta
The Red River Delta is the flat plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries joining in the Thai Binh River in northern Vietnam. The delta measuring some 15,000 square km is well protected by a network of dikes. It is an agriculturally rich area and densely populated...
. Some months later, in 1954, Wei is said to have advised General Vo Nguyen Giap
Vo Nguyen Giap
Võ Nguyên Giáp is a retired Vietnamese officer in the Vietnam People’s Army and a politician. He was a principal commander in two wars: the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War...
to surround and attack General Navarre at Dien Bien Phu
Dien Bien Phu
Điện Biên Phủ is a city in northwestern Vietnam. It is the capital of Dien Bien province, and is known for the events there during the First Indochina War, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, during which the region was a breadbasket for the Việt Minh.-Population:...
, a strategy that eventually led to complete French withdrawal from Indochina.
In June 1954, Wei attended the 1954 Geneva Conference on Indochina with Premier Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
, USSR Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
, Vietnamese representative Phạm Văn Đồng, US State Department official Bedell Smith
Walter Bedell Smith
Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith was a senior United States Army general who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forces Headquarters during the Tunisia Campaign and the Allied invasion of Italy...
and UK Deputy Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs for Administration Anthony Eden
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
. Wei was specifically instructed to discuss military matters with the Vietnamese delegation when Molotov, Smith and Eden were not present. Wei, Pham, Ho, General Giap and others went to Nanning, Guangxi, in late June 1954 to discuss strategy for Indochina.
When formal military ranks were introduced in 1955, Wei Guoqing was made a general, and in 1956 became an Alternate Member of the Central Committee
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is the highest authority within the Communist Party of China. Its approximately 350 members and alternates are selected once every five years by the National Party Congress....
at the Eighth National Party Congress.
Guangxi and Guangdong
After returning to China, Wei moved to Nanning, Guangxi, where he was the senior party (1961-GPCR) and government (1955-GPCR) official in Guangxi Autonomous Region for an unusually long period. It was from Guangxi and Yunnan that Chinese troops entered Vietnam in 1965-70.In his role as the senior-most official in Guangxi, Wei hosted the January 1958 Nanning Conference, attended by Chairman Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
and most of the very top leadership. While Wei was a junior among the heavyweights, he was present at one of the decisive Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
discussions where outrageous targets were approved.
General Wei was named 1st Political Commissar of the Guangxi Military District (MD) in January 1964, a post he held until October 1975. He added the leadership of the CPC committee in February 1971.
During the Cultural Revolution, Wei managed to keep control of Guangxi. In March 1967, Zhou Enlai ordered the establishment of the “Guangxi Revolutionary Preparatory Group,” headed by incumbent CPC 1st Party Secretary Wei. However, Wei was beaten by a Guangxi-origin mob in August while visiting Beijing. In 1968, the “Guangxi April 22 Revolutionary Action Command” opposed Wei Guoqing’s leadership while the “Guangxi United Command of Proletarian Revolutionaries” supported him. After the PLA backers of the former group were transferred to Beijing, Wei launched an artillery bombardment on parts of the city controlled by his opponents. The resulting conflict saw the destruction of some 166 boats on the Nanning river, and dozens of buildings. The results were endorsed by the faction in charge in Beijing. He was named Chairman of the Guangxi Revolutionary Committee in August 1968, and remained in that post, and the province, until October 1975.
As concerns about Marshall Lin Biao
Lin Biao
Lin Biao was a major Chinese Communist military leader who was pivotal in the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeastern China...
’s loyalties began to arise, Mao Zedong in August 1971 met with regional leaders in Changsha, including Hua Guofeng
Hua Guofeng
Su Zhu, better known by the nom de guerre Hua Guofeng , was Mao Zedong's designated successor as the Paramount Leader of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China. Upon Zhou Enlai's death in 1976, he succeeded Zhou as the second Premier of the People's Republic of China...
, and Wei to criticize Lin; and in Nanchang with Xu Shiyou and Han Xianchu
Han Xianchu
Han Xianchu was a general of the Chinese Communist Party. Han participated in many military campaigns and battles such as Battle of Pingxingguan, Liaoshen Campaign, Pingjin Campaign, Hainan Campaign, and the Korean War...
.
Central Leadership
In December 1973, Wei was named 1st Political Commissar of the Guangzhou Military Region (MR), a post he held until the end of 1978. The MR Commander, General Xu ShiyouXu Shiyou
Xu Shiyou was a general in the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Born in Hubei, Xu grew up studying martial arts at the Shaolin Temple for eight years and he later became a soldier in Wu Peifu's warlord army...
, was an old ally of Deng Xiaoping and together they sheltered him from the Gang of Four after the April 1976 Tiananmen Incident and Deng’s third purge.
In the post-Mao reshuffle, General Wei took over the PLA General Political Department
General Political Department
General Political Department is the chief political organ under Central Military Commission of CPC. It leads all political activities in the People's Liberation Army....
(GPD) from Gang of Four member Zhang Chunqiao, thus becoming the political commissar for the entire People's Liberation Army. He was also named to the 11th Central Committee Politburo, in 1977. Wei served in the GPD and Deputy Secretary-General and Standing Committee member of the CPC Military Affairs Commission, 1977-82.
Wei's old Guangzhou MR partner, General Xu Shiyou, took overall commend (along with General Yang Dezhi) of the Chinese invasion of Vietnam in February 1979. However, General Wei does not appear to have had a direct role in the Sino-Vietnamese War
Sino-Vietnamese War
The Sino–Vietnamese War , also known as the Third Indochina War, known in the PRC as and in Vietnam as Chiến tranh chống bành trướng Trung Hoa , was a brief but bloody border war fought in 1979 between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam...
, possibly due to his close workings with the Vietnamese in the 1950s and 1960s.
In August 1982, Liberation Army Daily, the newspaper directly under General Political Department Director Wei’s authority, published a broadside against “bourgeois liberalization” that was seen as an attack on Deng Xiaoping’s policies just prior to the 12thParty Congress. As a result, Wei was dismissed, and replaced by General Yu Qiuli.