Chao Chien-min

1910

Shantung, China

By 1936 Chao Chien-min was a Party member, working in northern Honan in the area adjacent to western Shantung. Early in 1936 he was sent from Honan into west Shantung, where he is credited by the Communists with having established the CCP Shantung Provincial Work Committee, which soon became the Provincial Party Committee. He apparently remained in the Shantung area, because by 1938 he was a Party organizer in guerrilla units commanded by Fan Chu-hsien. After Fan was killed in 1938 and his guerrilla units were decimated, Chao Chien-min and others reorganized some of the remnant forces. In early 1939 these were merged with a "vanguard" unit (subordinate to the 129th Division of Liu Po-ch’eng), led by Li Chii-k’uei, that had been sent into northwest Shantung to assist the local resistance. Little else is known about Chao’s wartime activities aside from the fact that he was commanding an independent brigade in southern Hopeh in 1945 when the war ended. Liu Po-ch’eng’s Second Field Army (largely composed of his old 129th Division) had pushed into the southwest by the end of 1949. In July 1950 the Communists formed the Southwest Military and Administrative Committee (SWMAC) to control Kweichow, Szechwan, Yunnan, and Sikang. At that time Chao Chien-min was appointed to head the SWMAC Communications Department and was also named a member of its Finance and Economics Committee under Teng Hsiao-p’ing, then the chief political figure in the southwest. Until the latter part of 1950 Chao Chien-min was mainly occupied with the construction of the important rail line between Chengtu and Chungking, Szechwan’s two most important cities. Then, after Chinese forces entered the Korean War in October 1950, Chao Chien-min was briefly assigned to the "Chinese People’s Volunteers," apparently in his capacity as a specialist in logistics. He was back in the southwest by mid-1952. His work in the field of transportation probably attracted the attention of the authorities in Peking, for in January 1953 he was named a vice-minister of railways. Though the overwhelming majority of cabinet-level personnel work in Peking, Chao Chien-min was an exception. He may have been kept in the southwest because that area was a principal center of railway construction. When the regional government in the southwest was abolished in late 1954, Chao Chien-min was transferred to his native Shantung. At a provincial congress that ended in March 1955 he was elected governor, replacing K’ang Sheng. Soon thereafter, Chao Chien-min became one of the secretaries of the Shantung Party Committee, serving under First Secretary Shu T’ung. In mid-1956 he was named as a Shantung deputy to the First NPC to replace a deceased colleague, and when the Congress held its third session in June 1956 he spoke on the development of provincial industry and agriculture. He was not, however, reelected a deputy to the Second NPC (1959-1964). Chao’s work in the southwest and Shantung was rewarded at the Eighth Party Congress held in September 1956 when he was elected to alternate membership on the Party Central Committee. During the next two years he made frequent public appearances in Shantung. At the close of the provincial congress, T’an Ch’i-lung replaced Chao Chien-min as Shantung governor. Although the latter lost all his Shantung posts, he was not removed as an alternate member of the Party Central Committee. Over four years passed before anything further was heard of Chao Chien-min. Then in April 1963 he reappeared in the southwest, the region where he had worked in the early 1950’s. His new assignment was as secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee under First Secretary Yen Hung-yen. This pattern of accusation-purge-reappearance is not peculiar to Chao Chien-min. Since his identification in Yunnan in 1963, Chao Chien-min has received rather substantial press coverage, partly because the Yunnan capital, Kunming, is a point of entry to and exit from China for both foreign visitors and Chinese leaders traveling in Southeast Asia. For instance in July 1964 Chao Chien-min was on hand to bid farewell to Chou En- lai, then en route to Burma, in addition to the provincial Party secretaryship, in January 1965 he received one other rather minor post when he was named to the preparatory committee for the Second National Sports Meet held later in 1965.

Chao Chien-min

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趙建銘

politician

Background

Chao Chien-min was born into a landlord family in Shantung about 1910.

Education

By 1936 he was a Party member, working in northern Honan in the area adjacent to western Shantung. Early in 1936 he was sent from Honan into west Shantung, where he is credited by the Communists with having established the CCP Shantung Provincial Work Committee, which soon became the Provincial Party Committee.

Career

By 1936 Chao Chien-min was a Party member, working in northern Honan in the area adjacent to western Shantung. Early in 1936 he was sent from Honan into west Shantung, where he is credited by the Communists with having established the CCP Shantung Provincial Work Committee, which soon became the Provincial Party Committee.

He apparently remained in the Shantung area, because by 1938 he was a Party organizer in guerrilla units commanded by Fan Chu-hsien. After Fan was killed in 1938 and his guerrilla units were decimated, Chao Chien-min and others reorganized some of the remnant forces. In early 1939 these were merged with a "vanguard" unit (subordinate to the 129th Division of Liu Po-ch’eng), led by Li Chii-k’uei, that had been sent into northwest Shantung to assist the local resistance. Little else is known about Chao’s wartime activities aside from the fact that he was commanding an independent brigade in southern Hopeh in 1945 when the war ended.

Liu Po-ch’eng’s Second Field Army (largely composed of his old 129th Division) had pushed into the southwest by the end of 1949. In July 1950 the Communists formed the Southwest Military and Administrative Committee (SWMAC) to control Kweichow, Szechwan, Yunnan, and Sikang. At that time Chao Chien-min was appointed to head the SWMAC Communications Department and was also named a member of its Finance and Economics Committee under Teng Hsiao-p’ing, then the chief political figure in the southwest. Until the latter part of 1950 Chao Chien-min was mainly occupied with the construction of the important rail line between Chengtu and Chungking, Szechwan’s two most important cities. Then, after Chinese forces entered the Korean War in October 1950, Chao Chien-min was briefly assigned to the "Chinese People’s Volunteers," apparently in his capacity as a specialist in logistics. He was back in the southwest by mid-1952. His work in the field of transportation probably attracted the attention of the authorities in Peking, for in January 1953 he was named a vice-minister of railways. Though the overwhelming majority of cabinet-level personnel work in Peking, Chao Chien-min was an exception. He may have been kept in the southwest because that area was a principal center of railway construction.

When the regional government in the southwest was abolished in late 1954, Chao Chien-min was transferred to his native Shantung. At a provincial congress that ended in March 1955 he was elected governor, replacing K’ang Sheng. Soon thereafter, Chao Chien-min became one of the secretaries of the Shantung Party Committee, serving under First Secretary Shu T’ung. In mid-1956 he was named as a Shantung deputy to the First NPC to replace a deceased colleague, and when the Congress held its third session in June 1956 he spoke on the development of provincial industry and agriculture. He was not, however, reelected a deputy to the Second NPC (1959-1964).

Chao’s work in the southwest and Shantung was rewarded at the Eighth Party Congress held in September 1956 when he was elected to alternate membership on the Party Central Committee. During the next two years he made frequent public appearances in Shantung.

At the close of the provincial congress, T’an Ch’i-lung replaced Chao Chien-min as Shantung governor. Although the latter lost all his Shantung posts, he was not removed as an alternate member of the Party Central Committee. Over four years passed before anything further was heard of Chao Chien-min. Then in April 1963 he reappeared in the southwest, the region where he had worked in the early 1950’s. His new assignment was as secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee under First Secretary Yen Hung-yen. This pattern of accusation-purge-reappearance is not peculiar to Chao Chien-min. Since his identification in Yunnan in 1963, Chao Chien-min has received rather substantial press coverage, partly because the Yunnan capital, Kunming, is a point of entry to and exit from China for both foreign visitors and Chinese leaders traveling in Southeast Asia. For instance in July 1964 Chao Chien-min was on hand to bid farewell to Chou En- lai, then en route to Burma, in addition to the provincial Party secretaryship, in January 1965 he received one other rather minor post when he was named to the preparatory committee for the Second National Sports Meet held later in 1965.

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Chao Chien-min

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1938

1950

January, 1953

March, 1955

1957