Liu Shaoqi

Liu Shaoqi (pronounced [ljǒʊ ʂâʊtɕʰǐ]; 24 November 1898 – 12 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary and politician. He was Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee from 1954 to 1959, first Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966 and Chairman of the People's Republic of China, the head of state, from 1959 to 1968, during which he implemented policies of economic reconstruction in China. For 15 years, Liu held high positions in Chinese leadership, behind only Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. Although originally considered as a successor to Mao, from 1966 onward, Liu was criticized and then purged by Mao. Liu was arrested and imprisoned in 1967. He was forced out of public life and was labelled the "commander of China's bourgeoisie headquarters", China's foremost "capitalist-roader", and a traitor to the revolution. He died in prison in 1969 due to complications from diabetes.

Liu was widely condemned in the years following his death until he was posthumously rehabilitated by Deng Xiaoping's government in 1980, as part of the Boluan Fanzheng period. Deng's government granted Liu a national memorial service.