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Biographies: China's Movers and Shakers

© Maria Christensen

China has occupied a prominent place on the world stage in recent history and media attention sends news and images to the farthest reaches of the globe. While the focus of this site is generally not on current events, it can be interesting to reach back a little into time to see how the past has affected and influences current players in Chinese politics. Following are short biographies of three powerful men in China. Note how Tiananmen Square affected each man.

Li Peng

One of the most hated men in modern Chinese politics is still one of the most powerful, despite having stepped down from the post of Premier of China in 1998. Li Peng, who spent over 10 years as premier, had no choice but to turn over the seat to Zhu Rongji. The constitutional term limits did not allow him any more time. He remains, however, second on the ladder of power within the Communist Party, behind only President Jiang Zemin.

Li, who was born in 1928, had a future carved out for him from an early age. When his father was executed in 1930 by the Nationalists (Kuomintang), Li was adopted by the future first premier of China, Zhou Enlai. Li attended school at the Institute of Natural Sciences and went on to study engineering in the Soviet Union for seven years.

By 1981 he was the minister of the electrical power industry and two years later was a vice-premier of China. In 1985 he was appointed to the Politburo, and in 1987, when Zhao Ziyang resigned, he stepped into the position of premier. Two years later the world would condemn Li for his actions in that position.

1989 was a year of violent upheaval in China, and the name of Tiananmen Square became famous the world over. As premier, Li was directly blamed for the bloody crushing of the student pro-democracy movement that left hundreds dead. Observers noted that he actually had no control over the military, but his position and the fact he unrepentantly called the massacre a victory was enough to condemn him in the eyes of the world. The Communist Party leadership could not admit to making a mistake, however, and so Li kept his position.

By 1993 enough time had passed, and Li had, on the surface at least, bowed to the inevitable economic reforms Deng Xiaoping embraced, thereby securing a second term as premier. Noted for his conservative politics, Li did attempt to change his image in the eyes of the public, often traveling the countryside with his wife, as politicians do the world over, holding babies and smiling for the cameras. He oversaw a booming economy and followed Deng's reforms, however, despite all that, his historical legacy will remain forever associated with Tiananmen Square.

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