Yang Shangkun

4th President of the People's Republic of China (1907–1998)

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Lived 1907–1998, aged 91China

China PoliticiansPolitician

Wikipedia
40 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in China
#192
Politicians
Era
1907–1998
Aged 91
Awards
1
recognised work

Summary

Updated 2026-06-09

He held the presidency of China and commanded the military machine that cleared Tiananmen Square in 1989. A bureaucratic operator who survived Mao's purges and returned to orchestrate the crackdown that defined a generation's relationship with the state.

Biography

About

Born in 1907 to a land-owning family, Yang studied at Shanghai University and trained in Moscow as one of the 28 Bolsheviks. From 1945 to 1965 he ran the General Office and served as Secretary-General of the Central Military Commission, controlling document flow, records, and fund allocation — the machinery that made government move. The Cultural Revolution put him in prison for 12 years. He emerged in 1978 as Deng Xiaoping's ally, championing economic reform while citing Lenin's New Economic Policy, though he rejected political liberalization and defended Mao's record despite his own sufferin…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Yang Shangkun

Yang Shangkun

said24 May 1989

The Military Commission has decided to convene an emergency enlarged meeting and has asked the principally responsible comrades of all major units to attend.

— Speech at the Military Affairs Commission Meeting (May 24, 1989)

Yang Shangkun

said1989

First of all, I fully support the report and the various demands that Comrade Li Peng has made on behalf of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau.

— "Li Peng Delivers Important Speech On Behalf Of Party Central Committee And State Council" (1989)

Yang Shangkun

said1989

The arrival of PLA troops in the vicinity of Beijing is definitely not aimed at dealing with students. They have not come here to deal with the students.

— "Li Peng Delivers Important Speech On Behalf Of Party Central Committee And State Council" (1989)

Yang Shangkun

said1984

Strengthening the building of a modernized army is a basic task of our army during the new historical period.

— Building Chinese-Style Modernized Armed Forces (1984) (excerpts)

Yang Shangkun

said1984

To build a Chinese-type modernized and regularized revolutionary army, we should promote the revolutionization, modernization and regularization of the army.

— Building Chinese-Style Modernized Armed Forces (1984) (excerpts)

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