Chen Xilian - The 1960s, The GPCR and Its Aftermath

The 1960s, The GPCR and Its Aftermath

Chen inherited a region in the grip of starvation, due to the policy mismanagement of the Great Leap Forward. In mid-1963, Chen was promoted to CCP Secretary for the CC Northeast Central Party Bureau, where he worked closely with Song Renqiong. In 1965, Chen was made a member of the National Defense Council, and remained in that post until the organization was abolished in 1975.

Chen was attacked by Red Guards during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution as one who resisted radicalization. Throughout 1967, he sought to survive by minimally acquiesing to Red Guard demands, placing PLA officers in sensitive positions such as provincial Revolutionary Committees and rapidly promoting inexperienced radicals to high positions. It appears that Chen directed radical hostility toward Song and the regional party apparatus. It is less clear if he deliberately launched the March 1969 border incident with the Soviet Union.

Already a powerful figure in regional military affairs, Chen’s career reached its pinnacle during the Cultural Revolution. He was elevated to the Politburo at the 1969 9th National Party Congress and, as the PLA took over regional administration, became CCP 1st Secretary of Liaoning Province (1971–74).

In 1971, Chen was the first MR commander to denounce Lin Biao following his alleged coup d'état attempt and subsequent death. The Writing Group of Liaoning Provincial Party Committee, an origin under General Chen's direct and complete control, launched an attack on Lin in the November 1971 issue of "Red Flag" (Hongqi).

After being reelected to the politburo in 1973, Chen traded his Northeast power base for the leadership of the Beijing Military Region command in January 1974 and remained in that post until January 1980, when he was replaced by Qin Jiwei. He was named Vice Premier in the mid-1970s, a title he retained until his downfall in 1980.

In 1976, following the death of Zhou Enlai and subsequent purge of Deng Xiaoping, General Chen is thought to have briefly acted as Defense Minister and Military Affairs Commission secretary-general, in place of Marshall Ye Jianying. While some sources give credit to Chen for managing the arrest of the Gang of Four in the September coup d'état, others give full credit to Wang Dongxing.

Deng Xiaoping's 1977 re-emergence led to the exoneration of the very people who had facilitated General Chen Xilian's rapid rise in power, by being victims of Mao's purges. Peng Dehuai, Huang Kecheng, Deng Hua and Song Renqiong (along with scores of others) were rehabilitated in 1977-79, at the expense of Chen's power. He was purged in February 1980 along with three other beneficiaries of the Cultural Revolution: Wu De, Ji Dengkui and Wang Dongxing.