Zhou Enlai

Zhou Enlai was premier of the People’s Republic of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976 and also served as foreign minister until 1958. Born in 1898, he studied in Japan and France before becoming a Communist organizer. He directed political work at the Whampoa Military Academy in 1924 and later became a principal negotiator with Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists, including during efforts to organize resistance to Japan. ^{1, 2}

Zhou helped direct the new state’s relations with the Soviet Union and its diplomacy during the Korean War. At the Geneva Conference in 1954, he sought a negotiated settlement in Indochina and urged Ho Chi Minh to accept a compromise that would avoid a wider war. At the Bandung Conference in 1955, he presented cooperation among Asian and African states as possible despite differences in ideology, emphasizing their shared experience of colonial rule. ^{2, 3, 1}

As relations with Moscow deteriorated, Zhou combined confrontation with efforts to limit escalation, meeting Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin at Beijing airport in 1969. He received Henry Kissinger during the opening to Washington and conducted extensive talks with Richard Nixon in 1972. The resulting Shanghai Communiqué committed the two governments to further contacts, trade and progress toward normalization. It also recorded their differing positions on Taiwan, leaving a central dispute unresolved. ^{1, 4}

His authority also rested on administering Mao Zedong’s government. Zhou initially warned against excessively rapid economic advance but withdrew his criticism under pressure in 1958. During the Cultural Revolution he worked to keep parts of the administration functioning and at times protected colleagues. He continued to support Mao’s leadership, however: his government report of January 1975 publicly praised the Cultural Revolution and called for further political campaigns. ^{2, 5}

That report also reaffirmed the goal of modernizing agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology before the end of the century. It combined this economic program with the continued authority of the Communist Party and Mao’s political line. Zhou died on January 8, 1976, after more than a quarter century at the center of China’s government and international relations. ^{5, 1}