Background
He was born in 1909 in Hong'an County, Hubei and died in Beijing in 1972.
He was born in 1909 in Hong'an County, Hubei and died in Beijing in 1972.
He joined the Communist Party of China in 1931, at the age of 22.
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 victorious Huai Hai Campaign against the right-wing Kuomintang, 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 figure in support of Chairman Mao.
After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and his military activities, Xie was appointed Deputy Minister of Public Security, the number two figure in the security establishment. He also became first secretary of the CPC Yunnan Committee, serving in these capacities until 1959, when by decision of Mao he replaced Luo Ruiqing as Minister of Public Security
In 1955 he was conferred the rank of Da Jiang, i.e., General of the Army.
He was elected member of the CPC Central Committee at the Eight National Congress in 1956, and a member of the Central Military Commission.
In 1967, as it was happening throughout the country starting from Shanghai, in Beijing all power was passed to a new revolutionary committee, of which Xie Fuzhi was elected chairman. He was preferred over CPC Beijing Committee Secretary Li Xuefeng who was deemed to be too hostile to the Red Guards. He was also first political commissar of the Beijing Military Region.
At the same time, Xie launched an anti-revisionist campaign within the security and intelligence personnel of the Ministry of Public Security, declaring it had followed a counter-revolutionary line under Luo Ruiqing. His active support for the Cultural Revolution led him to be elected full member of the Politburo at the Ninth Congress in 1969. In 1971, when the Beijing Party Committee was re-elected, he was appointed its first secretary.
Xie remained in charge of state security until his sudden death in 1972.