Chen Yi

Chen Yi , 1901-72, Chinese Communist general and statesman. Chen was a political instructor (1925) in the Kuomintang Whampoa Military Academy. After the Kuomintang-Communist alliance collapsed (1927), he joined the Fourth Red Army (1928) and was an early supporter of Mao Zedong . One of the outstanding Communist military commanders, Chen became acting commander (1941) and then commander (1946) of the New Fourth Army. After 1949 he was mayor of Shanghai and a dominant figure in E China. He succeeded Zhou Enlai as foreign minister (1958), serving during a period of intense rivalry between China and Russia for influence among developing nations. Chen was severely criticized during the Cultural Revolution despite attempts by Zhou to protect him. After 1967 his role was eclipsed by Zhou, who resumed the direction of foreign policy in his capacity as premier.

Chen Yi ( Ch'en I) (b. 1901, d. 6 Jan. 1972). Chinese general Born at Loshan (Sichuan province), he studied in St Germain and Grenoble (France) 1919–21, where he met Zhou Enlai. On his return he joined the newly formed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as well as the Guomindang. At Zhou Enlai's invitation he went to the Whampoa Military Academy in 1926. When the coalition between the Guomindang and the CCP ended in 1927, he escaped to join Mao Zedong and Zhu De in Jianxi. He soon became a leading figure in the Communist army. He did not take part in the Long March, but organized instead the 22nd Red Army to pursue guerrilla warfare in central and southern China. In the Sino-Japanese War he became commander of the New 4th Army, which by 1947 comprised over 200,000 men. He thus played a central role in the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War. On the establishment of the People's Republic he became Mayor of reoccupied Shanghai and was then chosen by his old friend, Zhou Enlai, to become Foreign Minister (1958–66). He was deposed in the Cultural Revolution and stripped of all his offices.