Liao Zhongkai (or Liao Chung-k'ai) (1878-1925)

Chinese politician. Born in the USA, he studied in Japan before becoming the leading financial expert of the Guomindang (Kuomintang) after 1912. Associated with the left wing of the party, he supported the United Front with the communists in 1923, advocating a planned economy along socialist lines. In 1924 he played an important role in setting up both the workers' and peasants' departments under Guomindang auspices as part of its new strategy of mass mobilization.

As the leading Guomindang representative at the Whampoa Military Academy, he also laid the basis for the political commissar system that was to be used throughout the National Revolutionary Army. He aroused opposition from right-wing members of the Guomindang who opposed the United Front, and who may have been involved in his assassination.