Chen Yi

Chen Yi or Ch’en I (1901-1972), Chinese general and statesman, who directed China’s foreign affairs from 1958 to 1969. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1923 and subsequently served on the staff of the Whampoa Military Academy. In 1926 Chen took part in the Northern Expedition, a military campaign undertaken by the Kuomintang (KMT), with assistance by the Communists, against warlords in northern China. In 1927 the KMT broke with the Communists and began to fight them for control of China. In 1934 Chen stayed behind to maneuver in Henan Province when the main Communist force began to flee the KMT in the Long March. In 1937 Chen rejoined the Communists in northern China and subsequently conducted a successful military campaign against the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the civil war between the KMT and the Communists that followed, Chen commanded one of the main columns of the Communist army. Following the Communist victory and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Chen was appointed mayor of Shanghai, a post he held until 1958. He was then named foreign minister. Chen was severely criticized by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976 and then faded from public view.