Ji Pengfei (, 2 February 1910 – 10 February 2000) was a Chinese

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Biography

Ji Pengfei was born in Linyi, Yuncheng,

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

in 1910. He joined the Chinese Red Army in 1931, and the Chinese Communist Party in 1933. After the establishment of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, Ji Pengfei worked with the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, and led diplomatic missions to East Germany before being appointed as China's first ambassador to the GDR in 1953, being the youngest Chinese ambassador at 43. He was recalled to serve as vice-minister of Foreign Affairs in 1955. When the Cultural Revolution broke out, he was initially targeted as member of the counter-revolutionary clique ruling the Foreign Ministry, along with Chen Yi and Qiao Guanhua. Nevertheless, he was relatively untouched as he remained at his post. After Chen Yi died in 1972, Ji Pengfei succeeded him as Foreign Minister until 1974, and was elected CCP Central Committee member. He was appointed secretary-general of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in 1975, and confirmed in 1978. In 1972, he signed Japan-China Joint Communiqué with Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and Foreign Minister Masayoshi Ohira of Japan. In the post-Cultural Revolution period, Ji Pengfei held several posts. In 1979 he was appointed head of the International Liaison Department of the CCP Central Committee, then vice premier and secretary-general of the State Council from 1980 to 1982, and finally head of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. He also served as Standing Committee member of the Central Advisory Commission, a Party body aimed at helping the retirement of elder officials. In 1999, his son, Ji Shengde, a senior member of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

intelligence, was arrested and tried for corruption, selling classified information and diverting public funds, and was sentenced to death penalty. The penalty was commuted to 20 years in prison, when he returned stolen money and denounce other abuses. Ji Pengfei was praised by the Xinhua News Agency as an outstanding communist fighter, and greatly lauded again in 2010 at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People to celebrate his 100th birth anniversary.

References

External links

*http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-713327/Ji-Pengfei *http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/ziliao/wjrw/3606/t44149.htm , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ji, Pengfei Ministers of foreign affairs of the People's Republic of China Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shanxi People's Republic of China politicians from Shanxi New Fourth Army generals 1910 births 2000 deaths Ambassadors of China to East Germany Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee members Generals from Shanxi Politicians from Yuncheng 20th-century Chinese politicians State councillors of China Vice chairpersons of the National People's Congress Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery Members of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Heads of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party