Li Chih-min

1908

Hunan, China

Li’s record until the 1940’s is obscure. By 1949 he was serving as the political commissar of the 19th Corps, which was fighting in the northwest as a part of P’eng Te-huai’s First Field Army. The 19th Corps was commanded by Yang Te-chih, a fellow Hunanese who, like Li, had fought with P’eng Te-huai from the early 1930’s. Also, from 1949 he was a member of the Shensi Provincial People’s Government, relinquishing the post about 1953. From 1950 to 1953 Li was a member of the regional administration for northwest China, the Northwest Military and Administrative Committee (NW-MAC). He received this appointment in June 1950 but it is unlikely that he devoted much time to it, for about that time he was sent to Korea where he served as a political commissar with the 19th Corps, commanded by Yang Te-chih. The Corps entered the Korean War in early 1951. By February 1953 he had succeeded Kan Szu-ch’i, also an alternate Central Committee member, as director of the Political Department of the Chinese People’s Volunteers (CPV), the Chinese forces in Korea, while he held this position he was awarded the Korean National Flag Medal in February 1953. In September 1953, after the truce in Korea had been signed, Li was deputy chief of a delegation sent from CPV to Peking for the celebration of National Day on October 1. By August 1954 he was further identified as a deputy political commissar of the CPV, he was promoted to political commissar by October 1955. From 1954 Li also began to represent the CPV in various organizations of the national government. He was chairman of the CPV committee appointed to discuss the draft constitution before it was promulgated at the First NPC in September 1954, and he represented the CPV at the Congress for the term of the First NPC from 1954 to 1959. In the meantime, Li was also active in Korea as a top representative of the CPV. In May 1956, for example, he led a CPV delegation to Pyongyang for May Day celebrations, and in that same month he spoke before the first congress of the CCP organization of the CPV. In September of 1956, at the Eighth National Party Congress in Peking, Li was elected (possibly in absentia) as an alternate member of the Party Central Committee. In view of the fact that his pre-1949 record is rather unnoteworthy, it may be that Li’s election to the Central Committee was based principally upon his Korean War service. His tour of duty in Korea approximately six years was one of the longest of any Chinese officer of his rank. He returned to China to speak before the Fourth Session of the First NPC (June-July 1957) on “rightists.” This came at the time of the Party’s drive against the “rightists,” which followed in the wake of the “blooming” period of the Hundred Flowers Movement. Li presumably did not return to Korea, because not long after (October 1957), Wang P’ing was identified as the new political commissar of the Chinese forces in Korea. Moreover, the fact that Li was not re-elected as a deputy from the CPV to the Second NPC (opening in April 1959) provided another indication that he had been transferred permanently away from Korea.

Li Chih-min

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politician

Background

Li Chih-min was born in Hunan about 1908, he was associated with the Communists by 1930 when he was a regimental commander in the Third Army Corps of P’eng Te-huai.

Education

He was educated locally.

Career

Li’s record until the 1940’s is obscure. By 1949 he was serving as the political commissar of the 19th Corps, which was fighting in the northwest as a part of P’eng Te-huai’s First Field Army. The 19th Corps was commanded by Yang Te-chih, a fellow Hunanese who, like Li, had fought with P’eng Te-huai from the early 1930’s. Also, from 1949 he was a member of the Shensi Provincial People’s Government, relinquishing the post about 1953. From 1950 to 1953 Li was a member of the regional administration for northwest China, the Northwest Military and Administrative Committee (NW-MAC). He received this appointment in June 1950 but it is unlikely that he devoted much time to it, for about that time he was sent to Korea where he served as a political commissar with the 19th Corps, commanded by Yang Te-chih. The Corps entered the Korean War in early 1951. By February 1953 he had succeeded Kan Szu-ch’i, also an alternate Central Committee member, as director of the Political Department of the Chinese People’s Volunteers (CPV), the Chinese forces in Korea, while he held this position he was awarded the Korean National Flag Medal in February 1953. In September 1953, after the truce in Korea had been signed, Li was deputy chief of a delegation sent from CPV to Peking for the celebration of National Day on October 1. By August 1954 he was further identified as a deputy political commissar of the CPV, he was promoted to political commissar by October 1955. From 1954 Li also began to represent the CPV in various organizations of the national government. He was chairman of the CPV committee appointed to discuss the draft constitution before it was promulgated at the First NPC in September 1954, and he represented the CPV at the Congress for the term of the First NPC from 1954 to 1959.

In the meantime, Li was also active in Korea as a top representative of the CPV. In May 1956, for example, he led a CPV delegation to Pyongyang for May Day celebrations, and in that same month he spoke before the first congress of the CCP organization of the CPV. In September of 1956, at the Eighth National Party Congress in Peking, Li was elected (possibly in absentia) as an alternate member of the Party Central Committee. In view of the fact that his pre-1949 record is rather unnoteworthy, it may be that Li’s election to the Central Committee was based principally upon his Korean War service. His tour of duty in Korea approximately six years was one of the longest of any Chinese officer of his rank. He returned to China to speak before the Fourth Session of the First NPC (June-July 1957) on “rightists.” This came at the time of the Party’s drive against the “rightists,” which followed in the wake of the “blooming” period of the Hundred Flowers Movement. Li presumably did not return to Korea, because not long after (October 1957), Wang P’ing was identified as the new political commissar of the Chinese forces in Korea. Moreover, the fact that Li was not re-elected as a deputy from the CPV to the Second NPC (opening in April 1959) provided another indication that he had been transferred permanently away from Korea.

Politics

After returning from Korea to Peking in 1957, Li was apparently assigned to the Ministry of National Defense. Although he was identified in late 1958 as a “representative” of the ministry, the exact nature of his work was not revealed in the press. It was also in 1958 that he was first identified as a colonel-general (the equivalent to a three-star general in the U.S. Army), although it is possible that he held this rank from 1955 when the Chinese Communists first created personal military ranks.

Since his return from Korea in 1957, Li has been reported in the press with regularity. He has usually been cited by his military rank and on occasion as the “former political commissar” of the CPV. As a consequence of his lengthy tour in Korea, he was apparently assigned the task of conferring with and entertaining many of the visitors from North Korea to China. Though he was obviously engaged in tasks more important than merely serving as host to foreign guests, the nature of his work remained unclear until October-November 1963 when he led a military delegation to Algeria for 20 days for the celebration of Algerian National Day. At this time he was identified as the political commissar of the PLA Military Academy (Chiin- shih hsueh-yuan) in Peking.

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Li Chih-min

Background

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Career

1949

1950

May, 1956

1957