Hung Hsueh-chih

1908

Kiangsi, China

From 1948 to 1949 Hung was identified as a deputy commander of the 15th Army Corps of Lin Piao’s Fourth Field Army. It was Lin's army that took over Manchuria for the Communists before moving south to Peking in January 1949 and then again sweeping south to Kwangsi and Kwangtung to reach Hainan Island in April 1950. The best equipped and the elite of PLA armies, the Fourth Field Army had no sooner conquered its southernmost target than much of it was transferred to Korea where it bore the brunt of the fighting done by the “Chinese People’s Volunteers” in Korea. In the years between 1948 and 1954 Hung’s career is closely linked with this army. Once it had reached Kwangtung he became a deputy commander of the Kwangtung Military District (1949-50), ranking below only Yeh Chien-ying and Teng Hua, the top military commanders In the area. At the same time he was a member of Military Control Commission for Canton, headed by Yeh and Lai Ch’uan-chu. In January 1950 the Communists established their civil government in Kwangtung, known as the Kwangtung Provincial People’s Government; Yeh Chien-ying was named as governor and Hung as one of the members. Hung nominally held a position there until June 1954, a few months prior to the inauguration of the constitutional government (September). But in fact he spent little time in Kwangtung because by 1951 he had been transferred to Korea. By 1950 Hung was identified as political commissar of the 16th Corps of the Fourth Field Army, the corps commanded by Ch’en Tsai-tao, military commander in Wuhan after 1955. This corps went to the battlefields of Korea where Hung was also sent sometime in 1951. He was identified in 1952 as director of the Rear Services Department of the CPV. He probably remained in Korea until 1954, for there is no report of his activities elsewhere until September 1954 when he returned to China to attend the First NPC, sitting in the Congress as a deputy from the CPV. He served throughout the First NPC but was not re-elected to the Second Congress, which opened in April 1959. With the establishment of the constitutional government brought into being by the First NPC, Hung was also elected to the newly created National Defense Council. In April 1959 the membership of the National Defense Council was reappointed, with Hung continuing to serve there. In the fall of 1954, Hung’s wartime chief, Huang K’o-ch’eng, became director of the PLA General Rear Services Department. Hung was appointed simultaneously to serve under him as a deputy director, a post he held until he succeeded Huang in December 1956 as Department director. Hung was Rear Services director for three years. Soon after his appearance in Tibet, he was replaced as director of the PLA Rear Services Department by Ch’iu Hui-tso, a relatively obscure officer. The reasons for Hung’s disappearance after this time are clearly connected with the dismissal of certain high-ranking military leaders in 1959, most notably Defense Minister P’eng Te-huai and PLA Chief-of-Staff Huang K’o-ch’eng. Hung’s dismissal from the Rear Services Department (October 1959) occurred just one month after the removal of Huang K’o-ch’eng, his former chief. Hung’s political troubles were confirmed by the secret Chinese Communist military journal known as the Kung-tso t’ung-hsun (Bulletin of activities). Issues of this journal for the year 1960-61 were released by the U.S. Government in 1963. They specifically linked Hung with both P’eng Te-huai and Huang K’o-ch’eng. It was claimed that at a meeting of the Rear Services Department in October-November 1960 the “harmful influence” of P’eng, Huang, and Hung had been “further eliminated.” It was also asserted that an “anti-dogmatist” movement of 1958 was thwarted as a result of Hung’s “resistance.” He was further charged with “liquidationism” in the handling of the logistics for the PLA, having “blindly made big reductions and cancellations, being destructive without being constructive.” The one mitigating factor in these charges is that the journal continued to refer to Hung by the appelation “comrade,” suggesting that although he is in serious political trouble, he retains his Party membership. The final blow to Hung’s career occurred in January 1965 at the close of the first session of the Third NPC. At this time the members of the National Defense Council were reappointed. All but a small handful-including Hung, as well as P’eng Te-huai and Huang K’o-ch’eng were again named to membership. For all practical purposes, Hung’s career as a senior PLA officer appears to be closed.

Hung Hsueh-chih

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politician

Background

Reports that Hung Hsueh-chih is a native of Kiangsi conflict with others calling him a Honanese, but the best evidence suggests Kiangsi as his birthplace.

Education

Little is known of his career until the closing years of the Sino-Japanese War. By that time he had already served as a battalion and regimental commander, before being identified about 1945 as the chief-of-staff of the Third Division of the Communist New Fourth Army. (For the history of this division, see under Huang K'o-ch’eng.) In 1955 Hung was given the highest national military honors for his services since the late 1920’s or'early 1930’s, a clear indication that his earlier career was more outstanding than the available record indicates.

Career

From 1948 to 1949 Hung was identified as a deputy commander of the 15th Army Corps of Lin Piao’s Fourth Field Army. It was Lin's army that took over Manchuria for the Communists before moving south to Peking in January 1949 and then again sweeping south to Kwangsi and Kwangtung to reach Hainan Island in April 1950. The best equipped and the elite of PLA armies, the Fourth Field Army had no sooner conquered its southernmost target than much of it was transferred to Korea where it bore the brunt of the fighting done by the “Chinese People’s Volunteers” in Korea. In the years between 1948 and 1954 Hung’s career is closely linked with this army. Once it had reached Kwangtung he became a deputy commander of the Kwangtung Military District (1949-50), ranking below only Yeh Chien-ying and Teng Hua, the top military commanders In the area. At the same time he was a member of Military Control Commission for Canton, headed by Yeh and Lai Ch’uan-chu. In January 1950 the Communists established their civil government in Kwangtung, known as the Kwangtung Provincial People’s Government; Yeh Chien-ying was named as governor and Hung as one of the members. Hung nominally held a position there until June 1954, a few months prior to the inauguration of the constitutional government (September). But in fact he spent little time in Kwangtung because by 1951 he had been transferred to Korea.

By 1950 Hung was identified as political commissar of the 16th Corps of the Fourth Field Army, the corps commanded by Ch’en Tsai-tao, military commander in Wuhan after 1955. This corps went to the battlefields of Korea where Hung was also sent sometime in 1951. He was identified in 1952 as director of the Rear Services Department of the CPV. He probably remained in Korea until 1954, for there is no report of his activities elsewhere until September 1954 when he returned to China to attend the First NPC, sitting in the Congress as a deputy from the CPV. He served throughout the First NPC but was not re-elected to the Second Congress, which opened in April 1959. With the establishment of the constitutional government brought into being by the First NPC, Hung was also elected to the newly created National Defense Council. In April 1959 the membership of the National Defense Council was reappointed, with Hung continuing to serve there.

In the fall of 1954, Hung’s wartime chief, Huang K’o-ch’eng, became director of the PLA General Rear Services Department. Hung was appointed simultaneously to serve under him as a deputy director, a post he held until he succeeded Huang in December 1956 as Department director. Hung was Rear Services director for three years.

Soon after his appearance in Tibet, he was replaced as director of the PLA Rear Services Department by Ch’iu Hui-tso, a relatively obscure officer. The reasons for Hung’s disappearance after this time are clearly connected with the dismissal of certain high-ranking military leaders in 1959, most notably Defense Minister P’eng Te-huai and PLA Chief-of-Staff Huang K’o-ch’eng. Hung’s dismissal from the Rear Services Department (October 1959) occurred just one month after the removal of Huang K’o-ch’eng, his former chief. Hung’s political troubles were confirmed by the secret Chinese Communist military journal known as the Kung-tso t’ung-hsun (Bulletin of activities). Issues of this journal for the year 1960-61 were released by the U.S. Government in 1963. They specifically linked Hung with both P’eng Te-huai and Huang K’o-ch’eng. It was claimed that at a meeting of the Rear Services Department in October-November 1960 the “harmful influence” of P’eng, Huang, and Hung had been “further eliminated.” It was also asserted that an “anti-dogmatist” movement of 1958 was thwarted as a result of Hung’s “resistance.” He was further charged with “liquidationism” in the handling of the logistics for the PLA, having “blindly made big reductions and cancellations, being destructive without being constructive.” The one mitigating factor in these charges is that the journal continued to refer to Hung by the appelation “comrade,” suggesting that although he is in serious political trouble, he retains his Party membership.

The final blow to Hung’s career occurred in January 1965 at the close of the first session of the Third NPC. At this time the members of the National Defense Council were reappointed. All but a small handful-including Hung, as well as P’eng Te-huai and Huang K’o-ch’eng were again named to membership. For all practical purposes, Hung’s career as a senior PLA officer appears to be closed.

Politics

The decade of the 1950’s was an active time for Hung, whose services were frequently in demand at military meetings, especially those concerned with matters of logistics. In April 1957 and again in January 1958, he addressed important conferences on logistics. Also during the fifties he often attended Party functions held in Peking to honor important foreigners, especially visiting military delegations. In September 1955, when the first PRC national military honors were awarded, Hung received the three PRC top honors, the August First, the Independence and Freedom, and the Liberation Orders, important military decorations given for distinguished service in three periods of Communist history between 1927 and 1950. Personal military ranks were designated by the PLA for the first time that same year, with Hung being given the rank of colonel-general. A year later, at the Eighth Party Congress in September 1956, he was elected an alternate member of the Central Committee.

In November-December 1957 Hung was a member of P’eng Te-huai’s military mission (an important part of the Chinese delegation headed by Mao Tse-tung), which visited the Soviet Union for the 40th anniversary of the founding of the USSR. The delegation returned home via Khabarovsk and Vladivostok. Then in June 1959 Hung was in Tibet on what, in hindsight, would seem to have been a trip to inspect conditions in the PLA in Tibet shortly after the Dalai Lama escaped to India. The Tibetan papers spoke only of Hung’s being there to give an important report at a logistics conference of the Tibetan Military District.

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Hung Hsueh-chih

Background

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Career

1948 - 1954

1950

1954