Chen Lifu or Ch'en Li-fu (; 21 August 1900 – 8 February 2001) was a politician in the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. He was a close advisor of Chiang Kai-shek. With his brother Chen Guofu, he led the CC Clique.

Life and career

Chen was born in Wuxing,

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

, China (modern

Huzhou Huzhou (, ; Huzhou dialect: Romanization of Wu Chinese, ''ghou² cieu¹'') is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province (Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou Plain, China). Lying south of the Lake Tai, it borders Jiaxing to the east, Hangzho ...

). In 1925, Chen formally joined

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

(KMT) in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

after receiving his master's degree in mining engineering from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

. On January 9, 1926, Chiang Kai-shek hired Chen as his confidential secretary. In 1927, Chiang appointed Chen to head the Investigation Section of the Organization Department of the KMT Chen and elder brother Chen Guofu became heads of the Kuomintang's secret service, leading a political faction known as the CC Clique. In late 1935, China faced the looming threat of war with Japan, and Chiang decided to Chen to the Soviet Union to negotiate a treaty of mutual military assistance. However, although Chen flew to Berlin in disguise, prepared to go on to Moscow, preliminary negotiations broke down and he was recalled. In the fall of 1936, Chen was Chiang's representative at a series of secret meetings with

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

representative Pan Hannian, where the two sides attempted to negotiate a united front against the Japanese. This attempt failed, leading to the

Xi'an Incident The Xi'an Incident was a Chinese political crisis that lasted from 12 to 26 December 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Nationalist government of China, was arrested in Xi'an by soldiers of the Northeastern Army under the command of Ge ...

. In 1938, Chen was again promoted, becoming the minister of education. Chen held this position until 1944.

References

Bibliography

* * * * 1900 births 2001 deaths Members of the Kuomintang Chinese anti-communists Chinese people of World War II Politicians from Huzhou Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Taiwanese people from Zhejiang University of Pittsburgh alumni Chinese men centenarians Taiwanese men centenarians Members of the 1st Legislative Yuan {{China-politician-stub