The Cultural Revolution
As the PLA moved to quell the Red Guards and reestablish governmental institutions during the Cultural Revolution, Li assumed the title of Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee (i.e., government and Party committee simultaneously) of Anhui Province in April 1968, a post he formally held for more than seven years. In October of the same year he took part at the 12th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, during which Liu Shaoqi was officially expelled from the Party. A year later, in 1969, he participated at the 9th CPC National Congress, and was elected member of the CPC Central Committee and alternate member of the Politburo, as well as a member of the Central Military Commission.
He saw his authority increasing during the progressive downfall of Lin Biao and his allies, apparently with support from Mao Zedong himself. In 1970 he got the post of director of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army (a position described as “Military Grand Inquisitor”), and in Autumn 1971 he was appointed first secretary of the CPC Anhui Committee. Shortly after, he was appointed commander of the Beijing Military Region, as part of a plan by Mao to remove Lin Biao's allies from key posts. In September, during Lin's attempted coup and death, Li Desheng took charge of the Beijing defence. In October, he was promoted to vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission.
In 1973, at the 10th CPC Congress, Li was elected a full member of the Politburo, as well as member of the Politburo Standing Committee and Vice-Chairman of the CPC Central Committee. Despite he was credited fifth among the five vice-chairmen, the combination of posts made him very influent in Chinese politics.
Mao Zedong, however, soon started to criticize the activity of the Military Commission and to propose a rotation of military region commanders. On December 22, 1973 Li switched posts with Chen Xilian, so becoming commander of the Shenyang Military Region. In the meantime, he apparently clashed with Jiang Qing.
Li resigned during the 2nd Plenary Session of the 10th CPC Central Committee in January 1975, and politically disappeared until after the coup d’état against the Gang of Four, when he reemerged as a member of the CCP Central Military Commission in August 1977. He also served as head of the Leading Group for the Prevention and Treatment of Endemic Dease in North China in 1977, political commissar of the Leading Group of All-Army Financial and Economical Discipline Inspection, and president of the Chinese Patriotic Programs Federation.
Li’s last jobs were as political commissar of the National Defense University (1985–90) and vice-chairman of the honorary party Central Advisory Commission. At the time of his death he held the honorary presidency of the Beijing Institute of Modernization and the All-China Wushi Association, and had been a senior advisor to the China Society of Military Science since 1991.
Read more about this topic: Li Desheng
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