Ch'en I (1901–1972)

Vice-Premier and Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China. In 1941 Ch'en was given command of the New Fourth Army in the war against Japan. In the civil war which followed he was commander of the Third Field army in eastern China and as such took Shanghai in 1949. He was mayor of Shanghai from 1949–58. Concurrently he held several important posts in the national government. In 1958 he became foreign minister and frequently represented his country abroad. During the Cultural Revolution he was attacked by the Red Guards, but, thanks to Chou En-lai's protection, was spared humiliation.

Ch'en was born in Szechwan province, China. He was educated at the Shanghai University of Communications. On graduating in 1919 he went to France to study, but was forced to return after a year on account of his political activities. Once home he started the New Szechwan Paper. In 1923 he went to Peking and joined the Chinese Communist Party. Later he took a political post at the Whampoa Military Academy and participated in the Northern Expedition against the warlords. When the Guomindang began a purge of communists he joined the Nanchang Uprising of 1927, and subsequently took part in the Long March, from which emerged many of the major players in the party leadership.