Hong Xuezhi

Hong Xuezhi was a general in the Chinese Red Army and a politician in the Peoples Republic of China. He is the only person promoted to general both in 1955 and in 1988.

Biography

Born in Jinzhai county, Anhui Province, Hong joined communist guerrilla in 1928 and the Chinese Communist Party in 1929. He gained power during the Encirclement Campaigns in the Chinese Civil War. In 1935, Hong joined the Long March with the Fourth Red Army. Later he joined the Hundred Regiments Offensive.

During the Korean War, Hong was the deputy commander and director of logistics of the People's Volunteer Army. He joined negotiating the Korean Armistice in 1953, and in 1955, he was promoted to the general rank, the highest rank in the army.

Hong was removed from his position in 1959 for his connection of Peng Dehuai, the defense minister fired for criticizing Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward policies.

After the Cultural Revolution, Hong was rehabilitated. He joined the Central Military Commission and became the vice chairman of the 7th and 8th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committees. In 1989, Hong retired from the position of the deputy secretary-general of the Central Military Commission.

Hong married to Zhang Wen, with her they have three sons and five daughters, including Hong Hu, the Governor of the Jilin Province between 1999 and 2004.