Liu Shaoqi

Liu Shaoqi (1898-1969) was the Chinese head of state who died of abuses suffered during the Cultural Revolution.

Liu had worked covertly as a revolutionary in 'White' (Guomindang-controlled) areas of China in the 1930s and later built up Chinese Communist Party cells in areas occupied by Japan. In 1959, as part of the moderate reaction within the party leadership against the excesses of the Great Leap Forward which had been championed by Mao Zedong, Liu replaced Mao as Chairman of the People's Republic of China - in effect, as head of state, although Mao remained Chairman of the CCP. Mao distrusted Liu, suspecting him of bureaucratism and bourgeois tendencies (although the evidence is that Liu was an orthodox communist), and he brought about the Cultural Revolution in part to remove Liu and his supporters (including Deng Xiaoping) from power. Liu was dismissed from office, humiliated by Red Guards and imprisoned in wretched conditions which contributed directly to his death.