Yao Yilin
| Yao Yilin | |
|---|---|
| 姚依林 | |
| 5th First-ranking Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China | |
|
In office 1988–1993 |
|
| Premier | Li Peng |
| Preceded by | Wan Li |
| Succeeded by | Zhu Rongji |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 6, 1917 British Hong Kong |
| Died | December 11, 1994 (aged 77) Beijing, China |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Political party | Communist Party of China |
| Spouse(s) | Hong Shouzi |
| Children | Yao Mingshan Yao Mingduan Yao Qing |
Yao Yilin (Chinese: 姚依林; pinyin: Yáo Yīlín; September 6, 1917 – December 11, 1994) was a deputy Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1983 to 1988, and the country's First Vice Premier from 1988 to 1993.
He was born in Hong Kong in 1917, and spent his early years in Guichi, Anhui. Yao joined the Communist Party of China in 1935. During the December 9th Movement, Yao was the secretary of the Beijing city Party study group. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he became the vice-director of the Finance Office of the Communist-controlled area. This began a long period of leadership in financial positions. In 1979, Yao became the Vice-Premier of the State Council. At the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1987, Yao was elected to the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China and later rose to the position of First Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China.
During the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, Yao Yilin held the position of Deputy Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China and was responsible for economic planning and management. Yao was associated with the conservative side of the party which denied that the students were patriotic and advocated a quick suppression to the movement. Yao Yilin and Li Peng were both able to effectively oppose Zhao Ziyang in order to ensure that conservative influence would dominate the decisions made in the CPC.
The April 26 editorial published in the People's Daily angered the students and greatly contributed to the growing numbers in the square. The official report of the Communist Party of China stated that the movement was not patriotic and the students were being led by a small group of anti-communist conspirators to cause “turmoil”. Deng Xiaoping's own opinions were placed in the editorial to help support it and ensure that the people of China would obediently accept the party's view of the protests. However, two opposing sides emerged in the party: one supported keeping the editorial the same, the other wanted to change the editorial to appease the students. Yao rejected Zhao's offer to take the blame for changing the party's opinion of the movement because the people would begin to doubt the cohesiveness of the party. Yao proposed less conciliatory action with the students. Instead he wanted to further prevent other political leaders from supporting the protests, force students to end class boycotts, and maintain labor discipline in industry and commerce to keep production on track. Yao Yilin and Li Peng were the leaders of the conservative faction and gained support by siding with Deng Xiaoping's view of the protests. Deng Xiaoping held a considerable amount of honour and prestige in China because of his long term involvement with the Communist Party and his close ties with China's previous iconic leader, Mao Zedong. Yao slowly pulled support away from Zhao Ziyang's reformist faction by making his supporters believe that Zhao sided too much with the students over the clarification of the editorial. Yao Yilin attacked Zhao because he blamed the party for allowing corruption to go unchecked and making democracy and law worse in China. Zhao found himself in a difficult situation when Yao and other conservatives worked together and opposed the decisions he made with other reformers such as Chen Yizi and Bao Tong.
...
Wikipedia