Zhou Enlai

Zhou Enlai ( Chou En-lai) (b. 1898, d. 8 Jan. 1976). Premier of the People's Republic of China 1949–76 Born in Huaian (Jiangsu Province) into a wealthy Mandarin family, he studied in Japan and France, where he joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1922. After further study in Germany (1923–4), he returned to Guangzhou (Canton), where he was appointed commander of the political department of the Whampoa Military Academy, which was led by Chiang Kai-shek. He was dismissed by Chiang in 1926, whereupon he became head of the CCP's military department, in which capacity he took part in the first stage of the Northern Expedition, until the Guomintang's crackdown on the Communists in 1927. He went to Moscow as the party's representative to Comintern, but returned and joined the Jianxi Soviet in 1931. Although initially not an ally of Mao Zedong, he became his most important aide after Mao's assumption of the CCP leadership during the Long March in January 1935. In 1936, he led negotiations with Chang Hsüeh-liang about cooperation with the National Republican Army and, although not directly involved, he came to Chang's help at the Xi'an Incident. During the Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, he emerged as one of the principal political as well as military leaders, and became a chief negotiator with the Nationalists.

In the new People's Republic of China, Zhou served as Premier of the Government Administration Council and, from 1954, of the State Council. In these positions, he was responsible for the day-to-day execution of Mao's policies, which he accomplished with great skill. He was Foreign Minister until 1958, though he continued to be a major influence in China's foreign policy until his death. Thus, he brought the Korean War to an end in 1953, and succeeded in achieving membership of the UN in 1971, at the height of the Cultural Revolution. He survived the latter, and even used it to get rid of his closest rival, Lin Biao. Despite the fact that, as Mao's deputy, he bore substantial responsibility for the excesses of Mao's rule, most notably the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, he promoted a generation of more moderate leaders to high office, among them Deng Xiaoping. His death resulted in large protest demonstrations at Tiananmen Square.