Wang Guangmei (1922–)

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Wang Guangmei (1922–)

Chinese politician. Born 1922 in US; m. Liu Shaoqi (leader of Chinese Communist Party), 1948 (died 1969); children: Liu Ting.

Born in US but went to China as child; studied physics at Furen University; worked as interpreter for Communists in mediation talks with Guomindang (1949) and was appointed to Central Committee Foreign Affairs Department; traveled with husband to Indonesia, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and helped start anti-corruption investigations known as Taoynan Experience; elected deputy for Hebei Province (1964) and directed Cultural Revolution activities at Qinhua University (1966); was criticized, tried, and imprisoned by Red Guards for suppressing students' revolutionary fervor; later elected member of Fifth Central Committee (1979) and became director of Foreign Affairs Bureau at Academy of Social Sciences.