Xie Fuzhi

Xie Fuzhi (Chinese: 谢富治; pinyin: Xiè Fùzhì; Wade–Giles: Hsieh Fu-chih) was born in 1909 in Hong'an County, Hubei and died in Beijing in 1972. He joined the CCP in 1931, was made Minister of Public Security in 1959, and named Vice Minister for State Affairs in 1965 and a member of the Beijing Municipal Revolutionary Committee (the de facto city government) in 1967. A member of the 8th and 9th Central Committees, Xie was promoted to Politburo Alternate Member in 1966, and Full Member at the 9th National Party Congress in April 1969.. Xie was married to Liu Xiangping.

Military career

Prior to 1949, Xie served as a political commissar in the 4th Column of the 2nd Field Army, under a commissars’ chain of command that led to Field Army Political Commissar Deng Xiaoping.. His unit was involved in the Huai Hai Campaign, after which it was merged into the newly formed 14th Army of the 2nd Field Army as the 41st Division. Xie emerged from the post-liberation reorganization as Political Commissar of the 4th Army, 2nd Field Army. He served with his former co-commander General Chen Geng, and concurrently as Deputy Political Commissar of the 3rd Army, 2nd Field Army under General Chen Xilian, later to become another Cultural Revolution military leftist.

Cultural Revolution

Xie gave a speech in the summer of 1966, in his capacity as Minister of Public Security, that essentially gave carte blanche to the Red Guard to confiscate and kill their opponents. Some consider it to be the trigger for the violence that followed.

The Wuhan Incident

In July 1967, PLA Wuhan Military Region Commander General Chen Zaidao backed the more conservative Million Heroes Red Guard faction against its militant opponents, the Wuhan Workers’ General Headquarters (WWGH). Premier Zhou Enlai ordered General Chen to back down, and support the WWGH, but he refused to do so. Xie and Wang Li were sent to Wuhan to persuade General Chen to obey orders. On July 20, PLA forces detained and beat Xie and allowed Wang to be held by the Million Heroes faction. Premier Zhou flew to Wuhan but was prevented from landing by a show of military force at the airport. At that point, the army sent in three infantry divisions and other units, and forced General Chen to surrender without a fight. Xie and Wang were welcomed back to Beijing by a mass rally in Tiananmen Square on July 25.

After returning to Beijing, Xie played a key role in providing military weapons to favored Red Guard factions, including the supply of 500 rifles to the Jinggangshan Commune of Beijing’s Teacher’s University.

Legacy

Xie died before the denunciation of the Gang of Four in 1976, but he was idenfied in official documents, along with Kang Sheng, as equally responsible for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution and guilty of "anti-party activities".

See also

List of officers of the People's Liberation Army