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Gao Gang (w=Kao Kang; 1905 – August 1954) was a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader during the Chinese Civil War and the early years of the China (PRC).
Born in rural Shaanxi province in 1905, Gao Gang joined the party in 1926 and led a revolutionary guerrilla base there during the Chinese Civil War.Witold Rodzinski, The People's Republic of China: A Concise Political History (New York, 1988), p. 39. He was of peasant background with a low level of education: he is said to have not been very literate.Kenneth Lieberthal, Governing China: From Revolution Through Reform (New York, 1995) p. 96.Frederick C. Teiwes, Politics At Mao's Court: Gao Gang and Party Factionalism in the Early 1950s (New York, 1990) pp. 36–37. Among his colleagues in the party, he gained a reputation as having great confidence and ambition, as well as of being a womanizer. Trusted by Mao Zedong, Gao was dramatically promoted in the final years of the civil war to become the party state and military head of Manchuria, the key Northeast area of China. In 1952, he was ordered to Beijing to become head of the State Planning Commission of China (SPC).
Beginning in late 1952 or early 1953, he attempted to challenge the political power of Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai and to increase his own standing. This effort failed. During the “Gao Gang Affair,” Party leadership criticized Gao. Based on various grounds — true, false, and contended — Gao was deemed to have created an anti-party clique. Associates of Gao were politically purged and Gao was placed under house arrest. He killed himself in August 1954.
Influence from the nearby Soviet Union meant that Soviet ideas of industrial organization and economic planning were prominent, and Gao strongly supported these methods as the area became China's center of heavy industry.Maurice Meisner, Mao's China: A History of the People's Republic (New York, 1977), pp. 131–132. Northeastern Chinese areas such as Manchuria held further significance to China due to its occupation by the Japanese earlier in the century, and the People's Liberation Army's symbolic liberation of it from the Kuomintang in 1948 gave the region greater appeal for the CCP's industrial plans. Gao Gang, now an influential local party cadre in the Northeastern region, detailed in a 1950 report that the CCP shall "reconstruct the Northeast to serve as a starting point or important base for the industrialization of the whole country" Gao Gang was thus, a key contributing player in the country's economic reconstruction and general production management in the early years of the CCP regime. Due to its economic advancement, the northeast region was often used to test new Communist policies, something that increased both the prestige of the region and that of Gao himself. Gao also received significant propaganda coverage, as workers and peasants were encouraged to respond to his 'call' for increased industrial production; personal letters supporting him and salutations to his health were also published.Lawrence R. Sullivan, "Leadership and Authority in the Chinese Communist Party: Perspectives from the 1950s", Pacific Affairs 59 (4) (1986), p. 618.
In July 1950, shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War, Gao was placed in command of the 260,000-man "Northern Frontier Guards", stationed along the border with North Korea. Gao was then held responsible for preparing his forces for the possibility of China's participation in the war. When China finally entered the Korean War in November 1950, Chinese forces were commanded by Peng Dehuai.Barnouin, Barbara and Yu Changgen. Zhou Enlai: A Political Life . Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. . Retrieved on 12 March 2011. p. 141. During the Korean war, Gao developed a strong working relationship with Zhou Enlai.
Gao advocated the early to mid-1950s policy of centralizing control over China's state-owned enterprises.
Although Gao's transfer to Beijing made him more controllable by the Party center, it motivated him to achieve greater advancement within the Party hierarchy. He saw himself as the second most important leader in China, second only to Mao upon his promotion above Zhou Enlai. After his appointment to Beijing, he openly disagreed with the appointment of party leaders, rather than military leaders, to high government positions. In 1952 and 1953 there were several major changes in the central administrative structure. Peng Dehuai was recalled from Korea and placed in charge of the Central Military Commission, a post which had previously been held by Zhou Enlai. After transferring his military responsibilities to Peng, Zhou focused his efforts on devising China's first Five-Year Plan, with the participation of the Soviet Union. Mao indicated that he was not pleased with Zhou's performance; and, in late 1952 and late 1953, Mao initiated a major reshuffling of the central government hierarchy. Several regional commanders, including Gao Gang, Deng Xiaoping, and Rao Shushi, were also transferred to the Beijing to take over responsibilities from Zhou. Although he technically retained the position of the third most important man in the official hierarchy (after Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi), Zhou's position was considerably weakened.Barnouin, Barbara and Yu Changgen. Zhou Enlai: A Political Life . Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. . Retrieved on 12 March 2011. pp. 164–165 For example, while Zhou was in charge of foreign relations, Mao sent Gao Gang to receive and negotiate plans with the North Korean leader, Kim Il Sung, in 1953 during his arrival in November. A telegram from Zhou Enlai to Chai Junwu, Peng Dehuai, and Gao Gang, confirms that Mao specifically sent Gao to "discuss military operations and supplies in North Korea, the training and arrangement of the North Korea People’s Army and organs after they enter the Northeast, and other questions."
In the period before the Gao Gang Affair, Gao's power in the Party had increased, particularly as a result of Mao's dissatisfaction with Liu Shaoqi.
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