Keng Piao

1909

Li-ling, China

By 1930 he had joined the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, the force led by Chu Te and Mao Tse-tung, which was head-quartered in Juichin in southeastern Kiangsi. Keng made the Long March in 1934-35 as commander of the Fourth Regiment of the Second Division commanded by Liu Ya-lou. The Second Division was one of the major components of the First Army Corps led by Lin Piao and Nieh Jung-chen. During the Long March, Keng is credited with a major role in the crossing of the Wu River in Kweichow in January 1935, an episode described in the biography of Liu Ya-lou. After arriving in northern Shensi at the end of the Long March, Keng was sent to the Red Army Academy at Wa-yao-pao, a small town a little to the east of Pao-an, then the Communist capital. After graduating in 1936, he remained as an instructor, he was thus probably still with the academy after it moved to Yenan in early 1937, when it was renamed the Anti-Japanese Military and Political Academy, more familiarly known by its abbreviated Chinese name, K’ang-ta. Keng’s activities during the early and middle stages of the Sino-Japanese War are not documented, except for the fact that he worked in Yenan at the Eighth Route Army Headquarters. In 1944 he was serving as director of the Liaison Bureau of the Shansi-Chahar-Hopeh (Chin-Ch’a- Chi) Border Region Government (see under Sung Shao-wen), and from the same year to 1946 he was deputy chief-of-staff of the Chin-Ch’a-Chi Military Region. This important military command was headed by Nieh Jung-chen, under whom Keng had served during the Long March. After the Korean War ended in mid-1953, the Communists made greater efforts to expand their contacts abroad. As a consequence, resident envoys were assigned to Finland in the fall of 1954 and to Denmark in the spring of 1955, Keng thus being relieved of two of his posts. Then, after more than five years in Stockholm, he was replaced in February 1956 by Han Nien-lung and was himself appointed ambassador to Pakistan. He returned home from Stockholm for a brief visit and then in March accompanied Vice-premier Ho Lung to Karachi to take part in the ceremonies inaugurating the Pakistan Islamic Republic. A few days later, on April 10, he presented his credentials. Of interest is the fact that Keng was still identified as a major-general. During his three and a half years in Karachi, Sino-Pakistani relations were probably best described as cool and correct. Pakistan was formally allied to the West under the SEATO arrangement; more important, in the mid-fifties the Chinese were making a major effort to curry the favor of the Indians. Notwithstanding these facts, steps were taken by the Chinese to increase diplomatic contacts and to foster increased trade. The first of these moves was an invitation to the Pakistani prime minister to make a state visit to China. In preparation for this, Keng returned to Peking in June 1956. The visit was temporarily postponed, however, and he returned to Pakistan where on July 13, 1956, he signed a contract for the sale of rice to the Pakistanis and announced Chinese intentions to donate rice to alleviate famine conditions in East Pakistan. Keng was back in China in August, remaining there through October, the month when the Pakistani prime minister made his state visit. Except for two further trips back to Peking, in mid-1957 and mid-1958, Keng remained at his post for the balance of his tour. On a number of occasions he took part in talks with Pakistani leaders when important Chinese visitors were in Karachi. The most notable of these occasions was in December 1956 when Chou En-lai traveled to Pakistan as part of a goodwill mission to several south and southeast Asian nations. Keng was replaced in December 1959 as Peking’s ambassador in Karachi by Ting Kuo-yii, who had formerly been ambassador to Afghanistan. Keng returned home with over nine years’ experience abroad and was thus one of China’s most seasoned diplomats. Immediately thereafter, in January 1960, he was assigned to the Foreign Ministry as a vice-minister, a post he was to hold for three and a half years. During this period he was reported with great regularity in the Chinese press; he dealt with foreign envoys and visitors from virtually all nations having diplomatic relations with Peking, but he was particularly active in the handling of relations with south and southeast Asian countries. In several instances he signed protocols on behalf of the Chinese government, as in November 1961 when he signed the protocol on the exchange of the instruments of ratification of the Sino-Nepalese Treaty of Peace and Friendship. On three occasions he accompanied top Chinese officials abroad, the first of which occurred in August 1960 when he went to Afghanistan with Foreign Minister Ch’en I to attend Afghan independence celebrations. In January 1961 he was in Burma as a member of the huge 400-member delegation led by Chou En-lai and Ch’en I to attend the celebrations commemorating the 13th anniversary of Burmese independence and to exchange the instruments of ratification of the Sino-Burmese Boundary Treaty. He was again with Ch’en I in March-April 1961 on a friendship visit to Indonesia, and back in Peking on June 19 he signed the instruments of ratification of the Treaty of Friendship, which had been negotiated by Ch’en in Jakarta on April 1. Keng’s most dramatic moment came in the early hours of the morning of October 21, 1962, when he summoned the Indian chargé d’affaires to deliver a note of protest against the alleged “massive general attacks launched by the Indians” on the Sino-Indian border. In fact, of course, Chinese military forces had just moved into Indian territory in the prelude to the brief Sino-Indian border war. In June 1963 he was named to membership on the Preparatory Committee for Participation in the Games of the New Emerging Forces, better known by its abbreviated name “GANEFO” (see under Jung Kao- t’ang).

Keng Piao

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politician

Background

Keng was born in Li-ling hsien, which lies in east-central Hunan near the Kiangsi border and is the home of a number of important Communists, among them Li Li-san, Chang Chi-ch un, Yang Te-chih, and Liao Han-sheng.

Education

Although Li and Chang are several years older than Keng, Yang and Liao are almost exact contemporaries. In the mid-twenties, while still a teenager, Keng was already participating in the Communist Party underground and engaging in guerrilla activities, presumably in his native Hunan.

Career

By 1930 he had joined the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, the force led by Chu Te and Mao Tse-tung, which was head-quartered in Juichin in southeastern Kiangsi. Keng made the Long March in 1934-35 as commander of the Fourth Regiment of the Second Division commanded by Liu Ya-lou. The Second Division was one of the major components of the First Army Corps led by Lin Piao and Nieh Jung-chen. During the Long March, Keng is credited with a major role in the crossing of the Wu River in Kweichow in January 1935, an episode described in the biography of Liu Ya-lou.

After arriving in northern Shensi at the end of the Long March, Keng was sent to the Red Army Academy at Wa-yao-pao, a small town a little to the east of Pao-an, then the Communist capital. After graduating in 1936, he remained as an instructor, he was thus probably still with the academy after it moved to Yenan in early 1937, when it was renamed the Anti-Japanese Military and Political Academy, more familiarly known by its abbreviated Chinese name, K’ang-ta. Keng’s activities during the early and middle stages of the Sino-Japanese War are not documented, except for the fact that he worked in Yenan at the Eighth Route Army Headquarters.

In 1944 he was serving as director of the Liaison Bureau of the Shansi-Chahar-Hopeh (Chin-Ch’a- Chi) Border Region Government (see under Sung Shao-wen), and from the same year to 1946 he was deputy chief-of-staff of the Chin-Ch’a-Chi Military Region. This important military command was headed by Nieh Jung-chen, under whom Keng had served during the Long March.

After the Korean War ended in mid-1953, the Communists made greater efforts to expand their contacts abroad. As a consequence, resident envoys were assigned to Finland in the fall of 1954 and to Denmark in the spring of 1955, Keng thus being relieved of two of his posts. Then, after more than five years in Stockholm, he was replaced in February 1956 by Han Nien-lung and was himself appointed ambassador to Pakistan. He returned home from Stockholm for a brief visit and then in March accompanied Vice-premier Ho Lung to Karachi to take part in the ceremonies inaugurating the Pakistan Islamic Republic. A few days later, on April 10, he presented his credentials. Of interest is the fact that Keng was still identified as a major-general. During his three and a half years in Karachi, Sino-Pakistani relations were probably best described as cool and correct. Pakistan was formally allied to the West under the SEATO arrangement; more important, in the mid-fifties the Chinese were making a major effort to curry the favor of the Indians. Notwithstanding these facts, steps were taken by the Chinese to increase diplomatic contacts and to foster increased trade. The first of these moves was an invitation to the Pakistani prime minister to make a state visit to China. In preparation for this, Keng returned to Peking in June 1956. The visit was temporarily postponed, however, and he returned to Pakistan where on July 13, 1956, he signed a contract for the sale of rice to the Pakistanis and announced Chinese intentions to donate rice to alleviate famine conditions in East Pakistan. Keng was back in China in August, remaining there through October, the month when the Pakistani prime minister made his state visit. Except for two further trips back to Peking, in mid-1957 and mid-1958, Keng remained at his post for the balance of his tour. On a number of occasions he took part in talks with Pakistani leaders when important Chinese visitors were in Karachi. The most notable of these occasions was in December 1956 when Chou En-lai traveled to Pakistan as part of a goodwill mission to several south and southeast Asian nations.

Keng was replaced in December 1959 as Peking’s ambassador in Karachi by Ting Kuo-yii, who had formerly been ambassador to Afghanistan. Keng returned home with over nine years’ experience abroad and was thus one of China’s most seasoned diplomats. Immediately thereafter, in January 1960, he was assigned to the Foreign Ministry as a vice-minister, a post he was to hold for three and a half years. During this period he was reported with great regularity in the Chinese press; he dealt with foreign envoys and visitors from virtually all nations having diplomatic relations with Peking, but he was particularly active in the handling of relations with south and southeast Asian countries. In several instances he signed protocols on behalf of the Chinese government, as in November 1961 when he signed the protocol on the exchange of the instruments of ratification of the Sino-Nepalese Treaty of Peace and Friendship. On three occasions he accompanied top Chinese officials abroad, the first of which occurred in August 1960 when he went to Afghanistan with Foreign Minister Ch’en I to attend Afghan independence celebrations. In January 1961 he was in Burma as a member of the huge 400-member delegation led by Chou En-lai and Ch’en I to attend the celebrations commemorating the 13th anniversary of Burmese independence and to exchange the instruments of ratification of the Sino-Burmese Boundary Treaty. He was again with Ch’en I in March-April 1961 on a friendship visit to Indonesia, and back in Peking on June 19 he signed the instruments of ratification of the Treaty of Friendship, which had been negotiated by Ch’en in Jakarta on April 1.

Keng’s most dramatic moment came in the early hours of the morning of October 21, 1962, when he summoned the Indian chargé d’affaires to deliver a note of protest against the alleged “massive general attacks launched by the Indians” on the Sino-Indian border. In fact, of course, Chinese military forces had just moved into Indian territory in the prelude to the brief Sino-Indian border war. In June 1963 he was named to membership on the Preparatory Committee for Participation in the Games of the New Emerging Forces, better known by its abbreviated name “GANEFO” (see under Jung Kao- t’ang).

Politics

In accordance with the Cease-fire Agreement worked out in January 1946 between the CCP and the KMT by U.S. Envoy George C. Marshall, the Peking Executive Headquarters was established to monitor the agreement. Holding the simulated rank of major-general, Keng was assigned to head the Communist unit in the Railway Control Section, but later that year was assigned to Szu-p’ing-k’ai (Szeping, located on the rail line between Mukden and Changchun) where he headed the Communist side on the 28th Field Team, which was under the jurisdiction of the Peking Headquarters. In 1947, following the collapse of the truce, Keng returned to active duty with the armed forces and in the later part of the year took part in the attack on Shih-chia-chuang in western Hopeh, the city that served temporarily as the Communist capital until the surrender of Peking in early 1949.

Keng’s exploits in the latter stages of the civil war with the Nationalists are cited in the writings of Mao Tse-tung. Serving as deputy commander of the Communists’ 19th Corps, which was operating to the west of Peking, he took part in the battles of December 1948 that led to the defeat of the strong armies led by KMT General Fu Tso-i. The Communist successes in these battles led directly to the fall of Tientsin and Peking in January 1949. Keng was serving at this time with Lo Jui-ch’ing and Yang Te-chih, his fellow native from Li-ling. Keng’s activities after the end of 1948 are not recorded, but it is probable that he moved westward to Ninghsia province with Yang Te-chih in 1949.

Apart from his brief association with Americans while a member of the Peking Executive Headquarters, Keng had had no contact with foreigners prior to the establishment of the PRC in the fall of 1949. However, he was to spend most of the next decade and a half abroad as a foreign service officer. Sweden, Denmark, and Finland were three of the earliest non-Communist governments to recognize the PRC, and by the time the new Communist government was a year old, Keng had been named as Peking’s first envoy to each of them. On May 9, 1950, he was appointed as ambassador to Sweden, and two days later as minister to Denmark. He presented his credentials in Stockholm on September 19 and in Copenhagen on November 8.

In the interim, in late October, he was also appointed as minister to Finland, presenting his credentials in Helsinki on March 31, 1951. He resided in Stockholm and apparently spent little time in either Denmark, or Finland. However, he did go to these nations from time to time to take part in protocol functions. It should be noted that during Keng’s early years abroad the Korean War was still being fought, a fact that tended to inhibit Chinese relations with non-Communist nations particularly in the field of trade, then subject to a rigorous embargo by the West. This situation is best illustrated by the fact that during Keng’s tour in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, only one government-to-government agreement was signed a trade agreement that Keng signed with the Finns in Helsinki in June 1954. Nonetheless, a Western diplomat familiar with Keng’s work in Stockholm asserts that he was regarded as a competent official.

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Keng Piao

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1944

1956

1960