Yun Bulong (; December 1937 – 12 June 2000) was a Chinese politician of

Tumed The Tümed (; ; "The many or ten thousands" derived from Tumen) are a Mongol subgroup. They live in Tumed Left Banner, district of Hohhot and Tumed Right Banner, district of Baotou in China. Most engage in sedentary agriculture, living in mixed ...

Mongol ethnicity. He served as

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

(Governor) of

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

Autonomous Region from 1998 until his accidental death in June 2000, when his car was hit by a train at a railway crossing.

Life and career

Yun Bulong was born in December 1937 in

Tumed Left Banner Tumed Left Banner ( Mongolian: ; zh, c=土默特左旗) is a banner (a county-level division) in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, North China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviat ...

, Inner Mongolia. As a member of the

tribe, he was considered a "western" Mongol. In September 1957, he entered the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Taiyuan Institute of Technology (now Taiyuan University of Technology), and graduated in 1962. He joined the

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 ...

in December 1958. After university, Yun worked as an engineer at

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

Heavy Machinery Plant from 1962 to 1973. He then taught at

Inner Mongolia University of Technology Inner Mongolia University of Technology (IMUT)() is a university in Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China, under the authority of the Autonomous Region government. It was founded in 1951 and was originally known as the Suiyuan Higher Techn ...

from 1973 until 1980, when he became an official at the Inner Mongolia Bureau of Standards. In December 1981 he was appointed Vice President of

Inner Mongolia University Inner Mongolia University (IMU) is a provincial public university in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China. It is affiliated with the People's Government of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and co-funded with the Ministry of Education of China. The ...

, and served as Communist Party Secretary of the university from 1985 to 1990. He became Vice President of the Inner Mongolia High People's Court in August 1990. In May 1992, Yun was appointed Vice Chairman of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In December 1994, he became Deputy Communist Party Secretary, Secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, and a member of the regional party standing committee of Inner Mongolia. In September 1997, Yun was elected a member of the

15th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 15th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1997 to 2002. The 14th Central Committee preceded it. It was followed by the 16th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. This was the first Central Committee ...

. He was promoted to Chairman (Governor) of Inner Mongolia in January 1998, succeeding

Uliji Uliji (; ; August 1933 – February 2, 2001) was an ethnic Mongol politician in the People's Republic of China. He was born in Horqin Right Middle Banner, Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an A ...

, an "eastern" Mongol.

Death and aftermath

On 12 June 2000, Yun Bulong was in Inner Mongolia's

Xilingol League Xilingol League (also transliterated as Xilin Gol or Shiliin Gol; zh, s= ; , , , ) is one of the 3 Leagues of China, leagues of Inner Mongolia. The seat is Xilinhot, and the area is . The Leagues of China, league's economy is based on mining an ...

to inspect the area's

sandstorm A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transported b ...

prevention work.

Deng Nan Deng Nan (; born October 1945 in Guang'an, Sichuan) is a Chinese politician and physicist. Early life Deng was born the second daughter of Deng Xiaoping with his third wife Zhuo Lin. Deng studied physics at Peking University Peking Unive ...

, the daughter of

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

, was visiting Xilingol with funds allocated for combating

desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...

, and Yun planned to meet her. On his way, his car was hit by a train at 7:50 pm at an unguarded railway crossing in Sengedrai, Zhenglan (Xulun Hoh) Banner. Yun was killed, together with his secretary and bodyguard, and his driver was badly injured. Yun's body was cremated a few days later, and more than 1,000 people attended his funeral. Yun Bulong's untimely death caught the Chinese national leaders unprepared, as he had only served half of his five-year term. Premier

Zhu Rongji Zhu Rongji ( zh, s=朱镕基; IPA: ; born 23 October 1928) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the 5th premier of China from 1998 to 2003. He also served as member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP ...

was reportedly angered and alarmed by the poor protection afforded to such a high-ranking leader. It took two months before Yun's successor was chosen. In August 2000,

Uyunqimg Uyunqimg or Oyunchimeg/Oyunqemag (, , ; December 1942 – 30 April 2024) was a Chinese politician of Mongol ethnicity. Between 2008 and 2013, she served as a vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the 10th and 11th National People's Con ...

, a Khorchin Mongol from Liaoning province (just east of the Inner Mongolia border) who was one of the vice regional chairs, was appointed Chairwoman of Inner Mongolia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yun, Bulong 1937 births 2000 deaths Chinese people of Mongolian descent Political office-holders in Inner Mongolia People's Republic of China politicians from Inner Mongolia Chinese Communist Party politicians from Inner Mongolia Taiyuan University of Technology alumni Academic staff of Inner Mongolia University Members of the 15th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Road incident deaths in the People's Republic of China Railway accident deaths