Editing Liu Huaqing (section)

== Biography ==

=== Early Revolutionary Period and Chinese Civil War ===
Liu joined the [[Communist Youth League of China]] in October 1929, before joining the [[Chinese Red Army]] in December 1930 and becoming an official member of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] in October 1935. He participated in the [[Long March]] as Head of the Organisation, Propaganda, Culture and Printing Section of the Political Department of the [[25h army china|25th Army]] during the period from 1934-1936.

During the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], Liu advanced through the ranks, culminating in becoming the Deputy Political Commissar of the Political Department of the [[Jili-Yu Military Region]].

At the start of the [[Chinese Civil War]]'s second phase after the defeat of Japan, Liu was the [[political commissar]] of the 6th Brigade, 2nd Division in the Jin-Hebei-Lu-Yu Military District. By 1949, he had become the political commissar of the 11th Army, 3rd Corps of the [[Second Field Army]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Liu |first=hua qing |title=Liu hua qing hui yi lu |date=2004 |publisher=Jie fang jun chu ban she |isbn=978-7-5065-4721-5 |edition=Impr. 2005 |location=Bei jing}}</ref>

=== People's Republic of China ===
Following the [[Chinese Communist Revolution|victory over the Kuomintang]], Liu was the deputy political commissar of the 10th Army, before being appointed as the vice-principal and deputy political commissar of the [[Dalian Naval Academy]] in 1952. In 1954, Liu was sent to the [[Kuznetsov Naval Academy|Voroshilov Naval Academy]] in the [[Soviet Union]] along with a group of senior cadres to study.<ref>Ian Storey and You Ji, 'China's Aircraft Carrier Ambitions: Seeking Truth from Rumors', Naval War College Review, Vol.57, No.1 (Winter 2004), p.76-93.</ref> Upon returning from the Soviet Union, Liu was awarded the rank of [[Jiang (rank)|Admiral]] in 1955. In 1958, he was Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the [[Lüshun Naval Base|Lushun Naval Base]] as well as being Deputy Commander of the [[North Sea Fleet]], before being promoted to Commander of the Lushun Naval Base.

In 1965, Liu left the military to become the Vice Minister of the [[Sixth Ministry of Machine Building]]. In 1966, he was made Deputy Director of the [[Commission for Defence Technology]].

During the [[Cultural Revolution]], Liu's career was relatively unimpaired. He was transferred officially to the Navy in 1969 along with being appointed to the [[Naval Shipbuilding Industry Group]] as its director. In 1970, Liu was made Deputy Chief of Staff of the [[People's Liberation Army Navy]] (PLAN), and took up a high position in the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]] in 1975.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Winterford |first=David |date=Winter 1993 |title=Chinese Naval Planning and Maritime Interests in the South China Sea: Implications for U.S. and Regional Security Policies |journal=The Journal of American-East Asian Relations |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=2 |issue=4 |page=377 |doi=10.1163/187656193X00121 |issn=1058-3947 |jstor=23613016}}</ref>

Following the end of the Cultural Revolution and the beginning of the [[Reform and opening up|Reform and Opening Up]] period, Liu travelled to the [[United States]] to visit American aircraft carriers. He was then appointed Commander of the PLAN in 1982.

==== Leading the PLAN ====
Taking over the role of Navy Commander-in-Chief from his predecessor [[Ye Fei]] (who retired due to health problems in 1982), Liu had outlined a three-step process by which China would have a navy of global reach by the second half of the 21st century. In step one, from 2000 to 2010, China would develop a naval force that could operate up to the [[first island chain]].  In step two, from 2010 to 2020, China's navy would become a regional force capable of projecting force to the [[second island chain]].  In step three, to be achieved by 2040, China would possess a [[blue-water navy]] centered around [[aircraft carrier]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dooley|first=Howard J.|jstor=23257908|title=The Great Leap Outward: China's Maritime Renaissance|journal=The Journal of East Asian Affairs|publisher=Institute for National Security Strategy|volume=26|issue=1|page=71|date=Spring–Summer 2012}}</ref> He was a strong advocate of the [[Chinese aircraft carrier programme]].

During that time, Liu was a member of the [[Central Military Commission (China)|Central Military Commission]] (CMC), and was the top commander of the [[People's Liberation Army at Tiananmen Square protests of 1989|troops enforcing martial law]] to suppress the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989|Tiananmen Square protests]] on 3–4 June 1989.<ref>{{cite book |language=zh |author1=Wu Renhua ({{lang|zh|吴仁华}})|script-title=zh:六四事件中的戒严部队 |trans-title=The Martial Law Force in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 |year=2009 |publisher=Truth Publishing House |location=Hong Kong |page= |isbn= }}</ref>

==== Central Military Commission and Retirement ====
In 1990, Liu became the Vice Chairman of the CMC.<ref name=":Li">{{Cite book |last=Li |first=Xiaobing |title=China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment |publisher=[[Leiden University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=9789087284411 |editor-last=Fang |editor-first=Qiang |chapter=Beijing's Military Power and East Asian-Pacific Hot Spots |editor-last2=Li |editor-first2=Xiaobing}}</ref>{{Rp|page=261}}

In 1992, Liu became the 6th-ranked member of the [[Politburo Standing Committee]], the Communist Party's top leadership body.<ref name=":Li" />{{Rp|page=261}}  He was the last active military member to sit on the Standing Committee, and since his departure from the Standing Committee in 1997, no other military leader has sat on the Committee. Liu officially retired from the military after stepping down as Vice Chairman of the CMC in March 1998.

Liu remained active through the mid-1990s and appeared in uniform at 2007 commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the [[People's Liberation Army]] in Beijing. He also appeared in [[Beijing]] during the [[60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China]] on October 1, 2009.

Liu died on 14 January 2011 in Beijing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/7261629.html|title=China's former military leader passes away|publisher=[[People's Daily Online]]|date=14 January 2011 |access-date=14 January 2011 }}</ref> His son [[Liu Zhuoming]] is a [[vice admiral]] of the PLA Navy.<ref name=dtic>{{cite web |url=http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA591531 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120203226/http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA591531 |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 November 2015 |title=Behind the Periscope: Leadership in China's Navy |author1=Becker, Jeffrey |author2=Liebenberg, David |author3=Mackenzie, Peter |date=December 2013 |publisher=[[Defense Technical Information Center]] |page=176}}</ref> His daughter [[Liu Chaoying]], a former lieutenant colonel in the PLA, was a major figure in the [[1996 United States campaign finance controversy]].<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/liu052498.htm Liu's Deals With Chung: An Intercontinental Puzzle] ''Washington Post'', 24 May 1998. Retrieved 10 November 2020.</ref>