Geng Biao (; 26 August 1909 – 23 June 2000) was a senior official in the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

(CCP) and a leader in Chinese politics, foreign relations and military.

Early life

Geng was born in

Liling Liling () is a county-level city and the List of County-level divisions of Hunan by population, 12th most populous county-level division in Hunan, Hunan Province, China; it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhuzhou. Loca ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangx ...

Province of China. In 1922, Geng was a child worker in a lead-zinc mine in Shuikoushan, south of

Hengyang Hengyang (; ) is the second largest city of Hunan Province, China. It straddles the Xiang River about south of the provincial capital of Changsha. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Its total population was 6,645,243 inhabitants, whom 1,290,715 l ...

City in China. Geng joined the

Communist Youth League of China The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...

in Shuikoushan in 1925. In 1926, he led a miners' military campaign and failed. He then organized and led a militia in

Liuyang Liuyang () is a county-level city, the List of County-level divisions of Hunan by population, most populous and the easternmost county-level division of Hunan, Hunan Province, China; it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city o ...

in 1928. In August of the same year, he joined CCP.

Military career

Red Army

In September 1930, his forces merged into the Third Corps of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

's First

Army Group An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area. An army group is the largest field organization handled ...

and he became the staff of 9th division of Third Corps. In 1933, he became the head of the 4th regiment, 2nd division of the Red First Front Army. On 10 October 1934, he embarked on the

Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Army of the Chinese ...

as the pioneer of 2nd division and, in the beginning of 1935, seized a critical military fortress at Loushanguan in

Guizhou Guizhou (; Postal romanization, formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in the Southwest China, southwest region of the China, People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the pr ...

Province. As a result, he was promoted to the chief of staff of the 1st division of Red 1st Front Army after

Zunyi Conference The Zunyi Conference () was a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in January 1935 during the Long March. This meeting involved a power struggle between the leadership of Bo Gu and Otto Braun and the opposition led by Mao Zedong. The ...

. After arrival in northern

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

, he was severely wounded in combat. In 1936, he graduated from the

Counter-Japanese Military and Political University Counter-Japanese Military and Political University (), also commonly known as Kàngdà () and Kangri Junzheng University (), was a comprehensive public university located in Yan'an, Shaanxi, the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party during t ...

and was appointed the chief of staff of the Fourth Corps of the Red Fourth Front Army. The Fourth Corps had just arrived in northern Shaanxi having been commanded by

Zhang Guotao Zhang Guotao (November 26, 1897 – December 3, 1979), or Chang Kuo-tao, was a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and rival to Mao Zedong. During the 1920s he studied in the Soviet Union and became a key contact with the Com ...

, and Geng took control of the unit.

Sino-Japanese War

After outbreak of

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...

, he became the chief of staff, deputy head and deputy political commissar in 385 brigade, 129 division of

Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army (), officially known as the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party, nominally within the structure of the Chines ...

. His army occupied East

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibe ...

Province, responsible for the safety of west border of Shaan-Gan-Ning Region. He entered the school of the CCP's central committee. After graduation, he went to Jin-Cha-Ji Region and became a military leader there. He led his army to seize

Zhangjiakou Zhangjiakou (; ; ) also known as Kalgan and by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province in Northern China, bordering Beijing to the southeast, Inner Mongolia to the north and west, and Shanxi to the south ...

in 1945.

Chinese Civil War

In 1946, Geng accompanied Ye Jianying to participate in the Beiping Military Conciliatory Commission,

initiated Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

by General George C. Marshall to promote and prevent the outbreak of civil war between the Chinese Communists and Nationalists. Geng was the vice chief of staff of CCP's delegates. After the conciliation failed, he went back to Jin-Cha-Ji Region and became the chief of staff of the Field Army in the military region. In 1948, he was appointed as the vice commander of the second army group in North China Military Region. He fought in Pingjin Campaign and the capture of

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

Political career

Chinese-Ambassador-Keng-Piao-with-Greta-Belfrage-on-diplomatic-dinner-391751910014

After the formation of

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, Geng was appointed as the ambassador to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, and minister to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

on 9 May 1950. He was also the ambassador to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

. He returned to China in 1971, and became the head of CCP's central foreign communication department, in charge of CCP's relations with foreign parties. On 6 October 1976, he was ordered to take control of the broadcast and TV stations in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, during the putsch against

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

. Subsequently, he supervised the propaganda efforts of the CCP. In 1978, he was appointed as

vice-premier of the State Council The vice premiers of the State Council of the People's Republic of China () are high-ranking officials under the premier and above the state councillors and ministers. Generally, the title is held by multiple individuals at any given time, wit ...

, in charge of foreign relations, military industry, civil airlines and tourism. In January 1979, he became the secretary-general and member of Standing Committee of CCP's Central Military Commission. In 1981, he became the first Minister of National Defense of the People's Republic of China not to have held the rank of Marshal, and the only one never to have received a military rank despite his previous combat experience. He was replaced as Minister of Defence and became state councilor the following year. In 1983, he became vice chairman of the

Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state po ...

, and chairmen of foreign relation committee in PNC. He was also a member of Standing Committee of CCP's senior consultative committee. He was awarded First-Class Red Star Medal. He died on 23 June 2000 in Beijing.

References

External links

* http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/chn/ziliao/wjrw/lrfbzjbzzl/t9064.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Geng, Biao 1909 births 2000 deaths Ministers of National Defense of the People's Republic of China People from Zhuzhou People's Liberation Army generals from Hunan Eighth Route Army personnel Ambassadors of China to Pakistan Ambassadors of China to Sweden Ambassadors of China to Denmark Ambassadors of China to Finland Ambassadors of China to Myanmar Ambassadors of China to Albania Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hunan People's Republic of China politicians from Hunan Heads of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party State councillors of China Members of the 11th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Vice Chairpersons of the National People's Congress Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery