Song Ping

Song Ping (Chinese: 宋平; born 30 April 1917) is a Chinese Communist revolutionary and a retired high-ranking politician. He was a member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee, which effectively rules China, and is considered the only living member of the Second Generation of Chinese Leadership.

Song Ping
宋平
Politburo Standing Committee member of the Communist Party of China
In office June 1989 – September 1992 Serving with Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Qiao Shi, Yao Yilin, Li Ruihuan
General Secretary	Jiang Zemin
Head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China
In office June 1987 – December 1989
General Secretary	Zhao Ziyang Jiang Zemin
Preceded by	Wei Jianxing
Succeeded by	Lu Feng
State councillor of the State Council
In office June 1983 – April 1988
Premier	Zhao Ziyang
Personal details
Born	30 April 1917 Ju County, Shandong, China
Political party	Communist Party of China
Spouse(s)	Chen Shunyao (d. 2019)
Children	Song Yichang (宋宜昌)
Chinese name
Chinese	宋平
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sòng Píng Wade–Giles Sung P'ing

Biography

He rose through the ranks of the party to become First Party Secretary of Gansu Province, and later Minister of Organization of CPC. Song was in charge of senior cadres' recommendation, candidacy and promotion.

During his time as Party Chief of Gansu, Song Ping became mentor of two young protégés - Hu Jintao[1] and Wen Jiabao - who were to become the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and the Premier of the Chinese State Council, respectively.[2]

In 1987, Song left the Planning Commission to replace Wei Jianxing as head of the CPC Central Organization Department.[3] Song announced a decision by the Communist Party of China to expel members of the communist party who were sympathetic to pro-democracy demonstrations in the spring of 1989.[4]

He stepped down as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee on October 19, 1992.[5]

References

1. "Who's Hu? Meet this engineer-Prez". IBNLive. IBNLive.com. November 20, 2006. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
2. Yao, Jin (pen name) (November 21, 2001). "Hu Jintao: The Bird that Keeps its Head Down". China Brief (Volume: 1 Issue: 10). The Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
3. Thomson, Robert (June 24, 1987). "Beijing shuffle points to growing Cabinet intrigues". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 18. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
4. "Party to purge its ranks". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 11. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
5. Kristof, Nicholas D. (October 20, 1992). "CHINESE SHAKE UP TOP PARTY GROUP; FREE MARKET GAINS". New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 28 March 2010.