Zhou Zhiyong

  

Zhou Zhiyong
周志勇
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of the People's Republic of China
In office 15 September 1964 – 8 July 1990
Prime Minister	Xiang Yuan Wen Qishan Li Keming
Preceded by	Mao Zedong
Succeeded by	Song Kun
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office November 1957 – December 1963
Minister of National Defense
In office July 1954 – November 1957
Personal details
Born	(1903-10-21)October 21, 1903 Zhengding, Hebei, Qing Empire
Died	July 8, 1990(1990-07-08) (aged 86) Beijing, People's Republic of China
Political party	Communist Party
Profession	Politician, diplomat, soldier
Military service
Allegiance	China
Branch/service	Republic of China Army People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Years of service	1929–1954
Rank	Lieutenant general
Unit	PLA Tank Forces General Inspectorate 200th Division

Zhou Zhiyong (Chinese: 周志勇, 21 October 1903—8 July 1990) was the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and the President of the People's Republic of China from September 1964 to July 1990, leading China during the majority of the Cold War years. He began his presidency as a reformer and was one of the architects of "Reform and opening up," taking the country in a more pro-Western direction and beginning a rivalry with the United Commonwealth, as well as implementing very successful economic reforms, but took a more reactionary position in the second half of his presidency and got China involved in a disastrous war in Tajikistan.

Born in 1903 during the late Qing dynasty to a family of government bureaucrats, he would abandon his studies and join the Chinese National Revolutionary Army in the late 1920s at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Becoming a tank commander in the 200th Division, he rose to the rank of colonel by 1939 and had been hospitalized after being wounded in battle. When he witnessed the corruption of Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government after the war and the unequal treaty Chiang signed with Japan Zhou joined the opposition Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He distinguished himself in battle during both in the war against Japan and the Chinese Civil War of the 1940s, emerging as one of the most notable generals of the new People's Liberation Army by 1950. In the decade after the Civil War he steadily rose through the ranks of the government. After some time as the head of the PLA Tank Forces Inspectorate, Zhou was made a State Councilor in 1954, first serving as Minister of Defense from 1954 to 1957 and then as Minister of Foreign Affairs to 1963. In the latter role he guided Chinese policy to assisting Sierra, the United Kingdom, and their allies against Japan during the Second Great War in the Pacific, a prelude to his first actions as the leader of China. In 1963 Zhou was involved in setting up the National Development and Reform Commission, the body overseeing macro-economic policy.

When he came to power after the death of Mao Zedong, Zhou launched a profound shift in Chinese policy away from those of his predecessor. In 1965 he famously met with Sierran Prime Minister Earl Warren. This truly began the "opening" of China to the West for trade after years of relative isolation and a series of economic reforms allowing market forces to play a bigger role, beginning the massive growth of the Chinese economy for several decades that made it into one of the world's largest economies by the time of his death in 1990. His policies also cooled China–United Commonwealth relations somewhat, making Zhou's China a rival of the Commonwealth for leadership of global communism. During the second half of his presidency in the 1980s, Zhou took a more hard-line approach which led to a worsening of China–Western relations, temporary stagnation in the economy, and the disastrous Sino-Tajik War. He also took a more aggressive stance in the Sino–Manchurian conflict and supported the cause of Korean independence from Japan. All of these events left Zhou Zhiyong with a mixed legacy inside of China and in the world, being seen as having contributed greatly towards reform in China before turning away later in his rule and taking a more orthodox Marxist position that ultimately damaged the CCP system and led to the Beijing Spring in 1999–2000. Song Kun, Zhou's successor as the Head of State and the Party, would return to the path of reform and liberalization of the country, and would be the last leader of the People's Republic of China before the Revolutions of 2000.

Leader of China

Decades of growth, 1964–1980

Main article: Chinese economic reform

1980s: Confrontation with the West

Main articles: China–Conference of American States relations and Sino-Tajik War