INTELLIGENCE REPORT LEADERS OF COMMUNIST CHINA III. CH'EN PO-TA

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: The Nixon Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06928154
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 16
• Document Creation Date: February 23, 2022
• Document Release Date: February 11, 2022
• Publication Date: August 1, 1971

Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
ecre
EO 13526 6.2(d)
EO 13526 3.3(h)(2)
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Report
LEADERS OF COMMUNIST CHINA
III CHEN Po-ta
ecre
CR R 71-5.3
August 1971
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
WARNING
This docu nt contains information affecting the national
defense of th nited States, within the meaning of Title
18, sections 793 d 794, of the US Code, as amended.
Its transmission or velation of its contents to or re-
ceipt by an unauthoriz person is prohibited by law.
GROUP i
EJtettcred o4tcmot
dawngred,q ond
dectotsircat; an
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
SECRET
PREFACE
This report is the third in a series of
in-depth biographic studies of Communist China's
top leaders. The series will fill a gap in our
biographic coverage of China's senior leadership
and is launched in anticipation of future leader-
ship changes.
The additional length of these reports over
our conventional product is primarily attributable
to the inclusion of more background information
and speculative comment than is our usual custom.
Information in this report is current as of
15 July 1971.
This report was prepared by the Central Reference
Service and was coordinated within IA zs appro-
priate.
- -
SECRE1
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
SLCR LT
BIOGRAPHIC BRIEF
Ch'en Po-ta's rise to fourth place in the
Chinese Communist hierarchy resulted from his
close personal relationship with Mao Tse-tung,
whom he has served as personal secretary, ghost-
writer and troubleshooter. Ch'en is a prolific
writer, a Communist ideologist and a major figure
in the propaganda apparatus. Be has no indivi-
dual authority or power base, however. .Prom July
1966 through at least 1969 Ch'en was head of the
Cultural Revolution Group of the Central Commit-
tee, with full responsibility for implementing
Mao's directives on the Cultural Revolution.
Ch'en has not appeared in public since
August 1970. His absence could be due to a heavy
workload or illness* or he could be the object
of official criticism for involvement with the
extremist-oriented "May 16 Group." The Politburo
supposedly censured Ch'en in 1970 for endorsing
radical tactics during the Cultural Revolution,
but he has not been criticized publicly in offi-
cial Chinese news media, and he has not submitted
a self-criticism to the Politburo.
- v
I
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
GROUP I
Excluded from automatic
dowmpoding Dad
doclossifleatiow
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
SECRET
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Member, Standing Committee,
Politburo, Chinese Communist
Party Central Committee
Ch'en Po-ta, longtime
personal secretary and polit-
ical agent of Mao Tse-tung,
ranks fourth in the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) hier-
archy, although his status
and political future are
presently clouded. Ch'en
has been a full member of
the Politburo of the Central
Committee (CCP-CC) since
August 1966 and a member of
the Politburo Standing Com-
mittee since October of
that year.
A prolific writer, a
Communist ideologist and a
major figure in the propa-
ganda apparatus, Ch'en is,
next to Mao, the leading
philosopher and theoretician
of the CCP. He has devoted
his career to bolstering and
praising Mao, who has in turn
called on Ch'en frequently during the past 30 years to help
him develop his revolutionary society. In July 1966 Mao
selected Ch'en to head the Cultural Revolution Group (CRG)
of the CCP-CC, a position of great responsibility. As CRG
head Ch'en was the chief administrative officer of the
Cultural Revolution, Mao's attempt to eradicate all opposi-
tion to his will--both real and imagined--in the CCP and
Chinese society.
CH'EN Po-ta
(7115/0130/6671)
Without Mao's support Ch'en would have little prom_
nence. He has no individual authority or power base.
SECRET
GROUP 1
Excluded f ro m automatic
downgroding and
ritu..;t",fon
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Current Status
Ch'en has not appeared in public since August
1970. The New China News Agency (NCNA) press
release on the 1 October 1970 National Day rally
barely noted his absence. After the 1971 May Day
rally in Peking, NCNA commented that there were
members of the Politburo (unnamed) who were not in
attendance because of "work or illness."
Some observers feel that Ch'en's absence may
be due to his involvement in the selection of slates
of candidates for the new provincial Party commit-
tees that have been formed since December 1970.
Others believe he may be ill. Still others feel
that he has declined politically because of a long-
standing dispute within the Politburo over power
and policy.
Recent reports state that Ch'en was involved
with the "May 16 Group," an organization formed in
1966 by high-level, Peking-based dissident radicals.
The group has been associated with political attacks
on Chou En-lai, members of the State Council, and
several military figures who are now on the Polit-
buro. It was also accused of directing a destructive
attack against the British Embassy in Peking in 1967.
In late 1967 the group was denounced for espousing
extreme, violent tactics.
A yearlong investigation of the "May 16 Group"
by the Politburo appears to have been completed in
the spring of 1971. Official Chinese news media
then initiated a major political campaign on the
anniversary of the group's founding by denouncing
"sham Marxists" and the group's leaders who were
originally criticized in 1967. Private study com-
mittees in China are now reviewing the report, which
apparently includes criticism of Ch'en Po-ta. As
yet, however, Ch'en has not been named publicly as
the target of this campaign.
At several unpublicized Politburo meetings in
late 1970, both Ch'en Po-ta and fellow Standing
Committee Member K'ang Sheng were supposedly cen-
sured for espousing extremism during the Cultural
- 2 -
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Revolution. K'ang submitted a self-criticism to
the Politburo, but to date Ch'en is not known to
have offered an official explanation of his actions
or a self-criticism.
Early Life
Chien Po-ta was born about 1905 in Huian hsien,
Fukien Province, to a poor peasant family and was
originally named Ch'en Shang-yu (7115/1424/0671).
He received some education at a village school near
Amoy established by the overseas Chinese leader Tan
Kah Kee (7115/0857/1649). Ch'en then joined the
army of the local warlord Chang Chen (1728/6966),
but he worked only as a clerk and secretary.
In 1927, shortly after joining the CCP, Ch'en
enrolled in the Labor University in Wusung. He
participated in Party work in nearby Shanghai, was
arrested by police authorities, and was briefly
imprisoned.
Released from prison in 1927, Ch'en went to
Moscow, where for 3 years he studied Communist
ideology and propaganda tactics at the Sun Yat-
sen University. While there, Ch'en remained
aloof from the "28 Bolsheviks," a group of Chinese
students who later returned to China and followed
Comintern policies. Because of his attitude, the
group ostracized Chien, and in 1930 one of its
members, Ch'in Pang-hsien (4440/6721/2009), offi-
cially criticized him for practicing "factionalism."
Teacher and Writer
Returning to China in 1930, Ch'en, using the
alias Ch'en Chih-mei (7115/1807/2734), became a
history lecturer at Peking's China University.
This school had the largest number of underground
Communist Party members of any college or univer-
sity in Peking. Ch'en actively supported the CCP
during political demonstrations that occupied the
student community in Peking during the mid-1930's.
Also, along with a number of others, he carried on
underground Party work in nearby Tientsin.
While teaching in Peking, Ch'en, under the
name Po-ta, wrote a series of articles advocating
- 3 -
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
a new enlightenment movement for China. When
war with Japan appeared imminent he supported the
Chinese Communist call for a united front with
the Chinese Nationalists of Chiang Kai-shek.
He urged Chinese intellectuals and students to
resist all foreign aggression, and he vigorously
rejected all attempts to revive Confucianism.
Chten's articles were generally read by the young
Chinese leftist intelligentsia and gained him his
first claim to fame.
The Propagandist
After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War
in 1937, Ch'en went to Yenan, the remote Communist
headquarters Mao had established in Shensi Province.
He was assigned as an instructor in the CCP Party
School and as director of the research section of
the CCP Propaganda Department. He has not been
identified in the latter post for a long time but
is probably still the Politburo member who exer-
cises the most influence over the research section's
operation.
Ch'en's literary output during the 1930's was
mainly confined to rewriting and interpreting party
doctrine on a wide variety of topics. The subject
matter of his articles included Chinese classical
philosophy, 19th century Chinese history (an Ameri-
can scholar describes Chien as a competent historian
of this period), and attacks on various Chinese
warlords and nationalist leaders of the 20th century.
After his arrival in Yenan, Ch'en wrote
commentaries focused on Communist Party topics.
These included articles on the Chinese Civil War
of 1927-36; notes on Mao's Hunan peasant report;
critiques of the land tax in China; and several
works commenting on and praising Mao Tse-tung.
Mao's "Brain Trust"
When Mao arrived in Yenan in late 1936, he was
not regarded as a serious Communist theorist. He
- 4 -
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
was criticized by influential and powerful Moscow-
trained Party members, who tended to demean him as
a "local Communist" who did not really understand
Marxism-Leninism. Mao therefore enlisted a number
of intellectuals and writers to aid him in develop-
ing a reputation as a theoretician, to formulate
doctrine, and to serve as his spokesmen on ideo-
logical subjects. These men were all trained
propagandists.
Initially, Mao ignored Ch'en Po-ta because he
was a poor public speaker and an introvert. Upon
reading some of Ch'en's works, however, he became
impressed by the latter's intellect, fervor and
writing style and added him to his inner group of
theoreticians. Ch'en soon became one of Mao's
political secretaries.
Soon after the organization of his "brain
trust" a prolific production of political articles
by Mao began. The relative proportion of these
works drafted by his team and by Mao himself is
unknown, but all are indelibly stamped with Mao's
imprimatur and are part of his theoretical arsenal.
All members of the "brain trust" benefited person-
ally from their close association with Mao,
receiving various promotions and important Party
assignments. (All but Ch'en have now either died
or been purged.)
Ch'en remained in Yenan until 1942, when he
was sent to Chungking to become an editor of the
local CCP journal, Hsin-hua Jih-pao, and to work
at the Shenghuo Bookstore. While there, Ch'en was
presumably under the direction of Chou En-lai,
then the principal CCP representative in China's
wartime capital. By 1943 Ch'en was back in Yenan,
where he resumed his duties with the CCP Propaganda
Department.
Late 1940's--Early 1950's
After World War II Ch'en produced several
polemical works attacking the political and economic
leaders of the Chinese Nationalists. His 1948-49
critiques of Chiang Kai-shek's China's Destiny were
bitter, effective and widely read.
- 5 -
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
As a representative of the social sciences,
Ch'en attended the united front Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which
met in September 1949 to establish the People's
Republic of China on 1 October. (He was also
elected a delegate to the Second, Third and Fourth
CPPCCs, in 1954, 1959 and 1964, respectively.)
Ch'en's activities in the early 1950's were
focused primarily on propaganda. He shared
responsibility for writing many of the important
editorials in the Party's central daily newspaper,
Jen-min Jih-pao. He also published several pro-
Stalin and pro-Mao articles; one important article--
"Mao Tse-tung's Theory of the Chinese Revolution
is the Combination of Marxism-Leninism with the
Chinese Revolution"--appeared on the 30th anniver-
sary of the CCP, in 1951. Other articles criticized
Chang Wen-t'ien, Ch'en Shao-yil and Li Li-san, all
members of the CCP-CC and former leaders of the
Party. The attack against Ch'en Shao-yil (Wang Ming)
was the most extreme the CCP had published to that
point.
In 1953 Ch'en Po-ta retired into an unexplained
2-year period of relative seclusion from public
affairs.
Agricultural Spokesman--The Collective, the Commune
and Hung Ch'i
In March 1955 Ch'en reemerged into public view
as deputy director of the Rural Work Department of
the CCP-CC. He was not entering an unfamiliar
area, for in the past 20 years he had steeped him-
self in Mao's concepts of the Chinese peasant and
land system. Chien was given the task of promoting
agricultural collectivization, under Mao's direction.
In October 1955, before the Sixth Plenum of the CCP-
CC, he delivered an "Explanation on the Draft
Resolution on the Question of Agricultural Cooperation.
This speech was part of a bitter debate within the CC.
Mao's forces eventually won, and collectivization
was adopted as a Party policy.
6
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
SECRET
In 1958 Mao proposed the commune as a new
organizational form for agriculture. Again,
debate on his new idea within and outside the
party was intense. In a move to insure that his
views on the commune and other topics would be
heard, Mao created a new Party journal, Hung
Ch'i, and appointed Ch'en Po-ta as its editor.
(The journal replaced Hs17eh-hsi as the major
theoretical periodical of the CCP.)
Ch'en now had a vehicle through which he
could express himself, and he wrote articles in
the first several issues of the journal. Ch'en
has kept himself directly involved in the publica-
tion of Hung Ch'i since 1958, but when he is
working on other projects for Mao, his associates
direct the journal's activities. He has not
always had complete control of Hung Ch '1. For
instance, during the early stages of the Cultural
Revolution, reports indicated that he was unable
to persuade all the Hung Ch '1 editors to support
the goals of Mao's campaign. Only after the
recalcitrant editors were reprimanded did the
journal join in publicizing the Cultural
Revolution.
The Cultural Revolution
In 1965, as he had so often done before,
Mao called on Ch'en Po-ta to aid him in waging
political and ideological war. Ch'en was one
of Mao's most trusted confidants from the
beginning of the Cultural Revolution. In the
preplanning phases of the campaign and through-
out the violent twistings and turnings of the
revolution, Ch'en remained loyally committed
to Mao.
By early 1366 Mao had decided that P'eng
Chen (1756/4176), the first chief executive of
the Cultural Revolution, was unfit and should
be replaced. In July Mao named Ch'en head of
the reorganized CRG. Ch'en's main associates
in this body were K'ang Sheng, adviser; Chiang
Ch'ing, Mao's wife and first deputy to Ch'en;
Chang Ch'un-ch'iao and Yao Wen-yilan, leaders
from Shanghai who espoused radical solutions;
- 7 -
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
SECRET
and last, but probably most important, Chou En-lai,
who, although not a member of the CRG, appeared
with its leaders before large groups and was its
most effective spokesman.
Some lower-ranking members of the CRG became
identified with certain excesses of the campaign
and were eventually criticized and dropped from
CRG membership. These people endangered the repu-
tation but not the overall authority of the CRG.
The CRG supposedly selected victims for purge
and/or criticism, initially formed the Red Guards,
and in stages approved slates of candidates for
local, provincial and national office of practically
every organization in China from mid-1966 through
1969.
Following the August 1966 Plenum of the CCP-CC,
the Red Guards were given a free hand to purge
anti-Party and antisocialist bourgeois national and
provincial leaders who did not give wholehearted
allegiance to the Cultural Revolution.
MAO, LIN, CHOU, TIAO CHU AND CHIEN APPLAUDING RED GUARDS AT A 1966 RALLY
- 8 -
Li
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
I
As the purge movement spread through the
provinces, the CRG lost control. For a period
during the summer of 1967, the nation was close
to anarchy. The country's leaders were forced
to move rapidly toward restoring order, and this
task was largely carried out by regional military
commanders, many of whom had been under fire from
militant Red Guard factions responsive to the CRG.
This brought about the purge within the lower
echelons of the CRG, but its top leaders, such as
Ch'en Po-ta, sought to disassociate themselves
from events of the period.
The CRG itself has not been mentioned since
late 1969, and with the winding down of the Cultural
Revolution, its authority has undoubtedly been
circumscribed.
Scientific and Economic Planning Positions
Ch'en Po-ta has represented Mao on several
important planning committees. He was named to the
ad hoc Scientific Planning Committee when it was
organized in 1956 to formulate a long-range plan
for the social and natural sciences.
In November 1962 Ch'en became one of seven
new vice chairmen of the State Planning Commission
(responsible for long-range economic planning) of
the State Council. The organization soon began
work in earnest on development of the Third Five
Year Plan. Ch'en has not been identified with the
commission since 1965, and it is not known whether
he is still active in its affairs.
When the Chinese Academy of Sciences was
restructured in October 1949 Ch'en was appointed a
vice president. This was an honorary position, and
he did not participate actively in internal adminis-
trative discussions within the academy. Chou En-lai,
with Mao's approval, named Ch'en honorary head of a
revolutionary committee of the Academy of Sciences
in July 1967. Not much is known of the activities
of this committee or of Ch'en's role in it.
Other scholarly positions that Ch'en has held
since 1949 include those of vice president of the
- 9 -
SECREt
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Marxism-Leninism Institute, member of the Associ-
ation for Reforming the Chinese Written Language,
and member of the academy's Department of Philo-
sophy and Social Sciences.
Central Committee Membership
Ch'en was elected an alternate member of the
CCP-CC in April 1945, at the Seventh Party Congress.
He was elevated to full voting membership in 1946,
after the deaths of several CCP-CC members. He was
reelected a CC member at the Eighth and Ninth Party
Congresses, in 1956 and 1969, respectively.
MAO, LIN, CHOU, CHIEN AND KIANG VOTING AT
NINTH PARTY CONGRESS, 969
Ch'en was first placed on the Politburo in
September 1956 as an alternate member. He was pro-
moted to full member in August 1966 and to member
of the Politburo Standing Committee by October
1966.
Travel and Honorific Positions
Ch'en has traveled abroad only to the Soviet
Union. In addition to his stay there in the 1920's,
he accompanied Mao when the latter was negotiating
the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance
- 10 -
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
SECRET
during December 1949-February 1950 and when the
celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the
October Revolution took place in 1957.
Ch'en represented Shanghai at the Second
National People's Congress (NPC) in 1958 and was
elected a deputy to the Third NPC in 1964.
Personal Data
Ch'en is married. His wife was supposedly a
classmate and friend of Nieh Yilan-tzu (5119/0337/
2737), the radical firebrand of Peking University
during the Cultural Revolution.
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154
-Secret-
-Secret�
Approved for Release: 2022/02/10 006928154