Zhang Guohua

Zhang Guohua
张国华
Zhang Guohua in 1955
Communist Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region
In office 24 January 1950 – February 1952
Preceded by	None (Post Created)
Succeeded by	Zhang Jingwu
In office 1965–1967
Preceded by	Zhang Jingwu
Succeeded by	Zeng Yongya
Governor of Sichuan
In office 1968–1972
Preceded by	Li Dazhang
Succeeded by	Liu Xingyuan
Commander of Chengdu Military Region
In office 1952–1965
Personal details
Born	October 1914 Yongxin County, Jiangxi Province, Qing Empire
Died	February 21, 1972(1972-02-21) (aged 57) Chengdu
Political party	Communist Party of China
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of China
Service/branch	People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Years of service	1931-1972
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	Field commander during Sino-Indian War
Battles/wars	Long March, 2nd Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, Sino-Indian War

Zhang Guohua (simplified Chinese: 张国华; traditional Chinese: 張國華; pinyin: Zhāng Guóhuá; Wade–Giles: Chang Kuo-hua; October 1914－February 21, 1972) was a Chinese Lieutenant general and a politician, serving during the Invasion of Tibet and the Sino-Indian War and later as a Communist Party secretary for the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Zhang Guohua was born in Yongxin, Jiangxi in 1914. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1931.

As commander of the Southwest Eighteenth Army Corps of the People's Liberation Army, he led the main attack force in the 1950 Qamdo campaign against Tibetan forces. Zhang was chosen for his special knowledge of Tibetan culture; Mao Zedong did not want to alienate the Tibetans and gave strict instructions "to do united front work" by respecting the local religion and customs. In contrast to the leader of the Northwest Army, Fan Ming, he supported the Dalai Lama and avoided marching into the city after the victory. Zhang seized the position of Secretary of the CPC Tibet Committee from 1950 to 1952, until Mao Zedong, on learning of his power struggle with Fan, replaced him with Zhang Jingwu as Secretary. Still, Zhang headed the Tibet Work Committee, which would negotiate the items in the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. Zhang only made passing reference to the negotiations in his memoirs. Zhang would resume his position as secretary from 1965 to 1967.