Wei Guoqing
韦国清
Wei Guoqing
Director of thePeople's Liberation Army General Political Department
In office August 1977 – September 1982
Preceded by	Zhang Chunqiao
Succeeded by	Yu Qiuli
Party Secretary of Guangdong
In office October 1975 – January 1979
Governor	Himself
Preceded by	Zhao Ziyang
Succeeded by	Xi Zhongxun
Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
In office 17 January 1975 – 14 June 1989
Chairperson	Zhu De→Song Qingling→Ye Jianying→Peng Zhen→Wan Li
Party Secretary of Guangxi
In office January 1967 – October 1975
Governor	Himself
Preceded by	Qiao Xiaoguang
Succeeded by	An Pingsheng
In office July 1961 – April 1970
Preceded by	Liu Jianxun
Succeeded by	Qiao Xiaoguang
In office August 1955 – June 1956
Preceded by	Zhang Yunyi
Succeeded by	Chen Manyuan
Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
In office 5 January 1965 – 17 June 1983
Chairperson	Zhou Enlai→Deng Xiaoping
Political Commissar of theGuangzhou Military Region
In office November 1966 – August 1977
Preceded by	Tao Zhu
Succeeded by	Xiang Zhonghua [zh]
Personal details
Born	Wei Bangkuan (1913-09-02)2 September 1913 Donglan County,Guangxi,China
Died	14 June 1989(1989-06-14) (aged 75) Beijing, China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Spouse(s)	Liang Zhengxiang Xu Qiqian
Children	5
Alma mater	Counter-Japanese Military and Political University
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of China
Branch/service	Chinese Red Army Eighth Route Army New Fourth Army  People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Years of service	1929–1982
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Second Sino-Japanese War Chinese Civil War First Indochina War
Awards	Order of August 1 (2nd Class Medal; 1955) Order of Independence and Freedom (1st Class Medal; 1955) Order of Liberation (1st Class Medal; 1955)
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	韦国清
Traditional Chinese	韋國清
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wéi Guóqīng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Wai5 Gwok3-cing1
Wei Bangkuan
Simplified Chinese	韦邦宽
Traditional Chinese	韋邦寬
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wéi Bāngkuān Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Wai5 Bong1-fun1
Zhuang name
Zhuang	Veiz Gozcing

Wei Guoqing (Chinese:韦国清;pinyin:Wéi Guóqīng;Zhuang: Veiz Gozcing; 2 September 1913 – 14 June 1989) was a Chinese government official, military officer and political commissar ofZhuang ethnicity. He served as the Chairman ofGuangxi from 1958 to 1975 and on theChinese Communist Party'sPolitburo (1973–1982) and as Director of thePeople's Liberation Army'sGeneral Political Department (1977–1982). Wei was one of the few members of the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12thCentral Committees (1969–1987) and the 10th through 12th politburos not purged during theCultural Revolution orDeng Xiaoping's backlash.^[1] He was also a Vice Chair of theNational People's Congress Standing Committee (1975–1989) and of theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference (1964–1983).

Wei was born inDonglan, Guangxi, to a poor Zhuang minority family.^[2] He joined theChinese Red Army at the age of 16 (1929) and the CCP in 1931. He rose to the rank of battalion commander in the Seventh Army under Deng Xiaoping and was a regimental commander on theLong March. After the Long March he served in the 344th Brigade, and then marched south underHuang Kecheng's 5th Column in January 1940.^[3] By 1944, he commanded the 4th Division of theNew Fourth Army, and later three columns (the 2nd, 10th and 12th) of theNorth Jiangsu Army in theHuai-Hai Campaign. In 1948, Wei held off the Nationalist 2nd Army Corps of Qiu Qingquan and 100 tanks of the 5th Corps under the command of Jiang Weiguo (Chiang Wei-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek's son) in a decisive delaying action in the Huai-Hai Campaign.^[4] In 1949, Wei was deputy political commissar of GeneralYe Fei's Tenth Army Group of theThird Field Army.^{[citation needed]}

Wei was deeply involved in China's relations with North Vietnam from 1950. In April of that year,Liu Shaoqi sent him to Vietnam as head of the Chinese Military Advisory Group, to adviseHo Chi Minh on fighting the French.^[5]

In October 1953, Wei reportedly personally gaveHo Chi Minh a copy of the French Navarre plan.^[6]

In June 1954, Wei attended the 1954 Geneva Conference on Indochina with PremierZhou Enlai, USSR Foreign MinisterVyacheslav Molotov, Vietnamese representativePhạm Văn Đồng, US State Department officialBedell Smith and UK Deputy Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs for AdministrationAnthony Eden. Wei was specifically instructed to discuss military matters with the Vietnamese delegation when Molotov, Smith and Eden were not present.^[7]

When formal military ranks were introduced in 1955, Wei Guoqing was made a general, and in 1956 became an Alternate Member of theCentral Committee at theEighth National Party Congress.^[8]

After returning to China, Wei moved to Nanning, Guangxi, where he was the senior party (1961-Cultural Revolution) and government (1955-Cultural Revolution) official in Guangxi Autonomous Region for an unusually long period. It was from Guangxi and Yunnan that Chinese troops entered Vietnam in 1965–70.^[9]

In his role as the senior-most official in Guangxi, Wei hosted the January 1958 Nanning Conference, attended by ChairmanMao Zedong and most of the very top leadership.^[10] While Wei was a junior among the heavyweights, he was present at one of the decisiveGreat Leap Forward discussions where outrageous targets were approved.^[11]

General Wei was named 1st Political Commissar of theGuangxi Military District (MD) in January 1964, a post he held until October 1975. He added the leadership of the CCP committee in February 1971.^[12]

During the Cultural Revolution, Wei managed to keep control of Guangxi. In March 1967, Zhou Enlai ordered the establishment of the "Guangxi Revolutionary Preparatory Group", headed by incumbent CCP 1st Party Secretary Wei. However, Wei was beaten by a Guangxi-origin mob in August while visiting Beijing. In 1968, the "Guangxi April 22 Revolutionary Action Command" opposed Wei Guoqing's leadership while the "Guangxi United Command of Proletarian Revolutionaries" supported him.^[13]

In August 1982, Liberation Army Daily, the newspaper directly under General Political Department Director Wei's authority, published a broadside against "bourgeois liberalization" that was seen as an attack on Deng Xiaoping's policies just prior to the 12th Party Congress. As a result, Wei was dismissed, and replaced by General Yu Qiuli.^[14] He resigned from his posts in 1985 and died in Beijing in June 1989.^[15][16]

• Guangxi Massacre

• 1913 births
• 1989 deaths
• People from Hechi
• Zhuang people
• Counter-Japanese Military and Political University alumni
• Chinese Communist Party politicians from Guangxi
• People's Republic of China politicians from Guangxi
• Chinese people of World War II
• People of the Cultural Revolution
• Delegates to the 1st National People's Congress
• People of the Chinese Civil War
• People's Liberation Army generals from Guangxi
• Governors of Guangdong
• Political office-holders in Guangxi
• Presidents of Guangxi University
• Members of the 12th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
• Members of the 11th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
• Members of the 10th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
• Members of the 9th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
• Members of the 8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
• Alternate members of the 8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
• Vice Chairpersons of the National People's Congress
• Chairpersons of the CPPCC Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Committee
• Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

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