Liu Yongfu

Liu Yongfu was a Chinese soldier of fortune and commander of the celebrated Black Flag Army. Liu won fame as a Chinese patriot fighing against the French in northern Vietnam in the 1870s and early 1880s. During the Sino-French War he established a close friendship with the Chinese statesman and general Tang Ching-sung, and in 1895 he helped Tang organise resistance to the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. He succeeded Tang as the second and last leader of the short-lived Republic of Formosa .

Early years

A Hakka Chinese, born in 1837 in Bobai, Guangxi of poor parents, Liu Yongfu joined the militia force of Wu Quanching, who held a commission from the Taipings in the 1850s. After the Taiping Rebellion was defeated the government forces gradually reasserted their control over southwest China, and in 1868 Liu Yongfu decided to take a force of 200 soldiers across the border into Tonkin, and carve out a small kingdom of his own controlling the upper course of the Red River. He had dreamed as a youth that he would one day become a famous 'General of the Black Tiger', and christened his tiny band of adventurers the Black Flag Army.

Liu's immediate objective was the border town of Lao Cai, which was then held by a band of Cantonese bandits allied with the so-called Yellow Flag Army, a force established by Huang Chongying on the model of the Black Flag Army and about three times its size. Liu Yongfu's attempt on Lao Cai brought him into conflict with the Yellow Flags. Troops of both armies moved into the town and coexisted uneasily while their leaders negotiated insincerely. Finally the Yellow Flags launched a surprise attack on Liu Yongfu and the Black Flags, first exploding a mine in an unsuccessful attempt to kill the Black Flag leader. However, despite their superior numbers, they were defeated and driven from Lao Cai. The town was to remain in the hands of the Black Flags until 1885, and became the main Black Flag stronghold.

In the next few years Liu Yongfu established a profitable protection racket on commerce on the Red River between Son Tay and Lao Cai. Traders were taxed at the rate of 10% of the value of their goods. The profits that accrued from this extortion were so great that Liu's army swelled in numbers during the 1870s, attracting to its ranks adventurers from all over the world. Although most of the soldiers were Chinese, many of the junior officers were Americans or European soldiers of fortune, some of whom had seen action in the Taiping Rebellion, and Liu used their expertise to transform the Black Flag Army into a formidable fighting force.

Liu came to an early arrangement with both the Chinese and Vietnamese governments. In 1869 and 1870 he took part in a Chinese punitive campaign against the Yellow Flags, which gave him the opportunity to settle an old score against this rival bandit army. Although the Chinese and Black Flags failed to anninhilate the Yellow Flags, they taught them a severe lesson, and Liu’s reward for his help was to be offered an honorary commission in the Chinese army. Meanwhile, knowing that the mountain regions of western Tonkin were inhabited by tribesmen who did not acknowledge the writ of the Vietnamese government, Liu wooed the Court of Hue by presenting himself as an ally against the refractory montagnards. The Vietnamese government, realising that it could not dislodge Liu from its territory, and realising too that he might be a useful ally, bowed to the inevitable. Liu was co-opted into its service, and given military rank in the Vietamese army. Provided that he continued to act in accordance with his technical status as a Vietnamese military governor, the Vietnamese authorities did not trouble the Black Flags.

Liu Yongfu and Francis Garnier

In 1873 the Vietnamese government enlisted the help of Liu's Black Flag Army to defeat the first French attempt to conquer Tonkin, led by the naval lieutenant Francis Garnier. On 21 December 1873 Liu Yongfu and around 600 Black Flags, marching beneath an enormous black banner, approached the west gate of Hanoi. A large Vietnamese army followed in their wake. Garnier began shelling the Black Flags with a field piece mounted above the gate, and when they began to fall back led a party of 18 French marine infantrymen out of the city to chase them away. The attack failed. Garnier, leading three men uphill in a bayonet attack on a party of Black Flags, was speared to death by several Black Flag soldiers after stumbling in a watercourse. The youthful ''enseigne de vaisseau'' Adrien-Paul Balny d’Avricourt led an equally small column out of the citadel to support Garnier, but was also killed at the head of his men. Three French soldiers were also killed in these sorties, and the others fled back to the citadel after their officers fell. Garnier's death ended the first French adventure in Tonkin.

Liu Yongfu and Henri Rivière

In April 1882 the French naval captain Henri Rivière captured the citadel of Hanoi, again disclosing French colonial ambitions in Tonkin and alarming the Vietnamese and Chinese governments. In April 1883, in the wake of Rivière's capture of Nam Dinh , the Chinese and Vietnamese were again able to enlist the support of Liu Yongfu and the Black Flag Army against the French in Tonkin.

On 10 May 1883 Liu Yongfu challenged the French to battle in a taunting message widely placarded on the walls of Hanoi:
The valiant warrior Liu, general and military governor of the three provinces, has decided to wage war. He makes this proclamation to the French bandits: Everyone knows you are thieves. Other nations despise you. Whenever you come to a country, you claim that you have come to preach the faith, but you really wish to stir up the inhabitants with false rumours. You claim that you have come to trade, but in fact you are plotting to take over the country.
You act like wild animals. You are as fierce as tigers and wolves. Ever since you came to Vietnam, you have seized cities and killed governors. Your crimes are as numerous as the hairs on the head. You have taken over the customs and seized the revenues. This crime deserves death. The inhabitants have been reduced to misery, and the country is nearly ruined. God and man both loathe you. Heaven and earth both reject you. I have now been ordered to wage war. My three armies are massed like clouds. My rifles and cannon are as many as the trees of the forest. We are eager to attack you in your devil’s den and to suppress all disloyal subjects. But the country’s welfare weighs heavily with me. I cannot bear to turn Hanoi into a battlefield, in case I ruin its merchants and people. So I am first making this proclamation: You French bandits, if you think you are strong enough, send your rabble of soldiers to Phu Hoai to fight in the open field with my tiger warriors, and then we will see who is the stronger.
If you are afraid to come, cut off the heads of your chief men and present them to me. Then give back the cities you have taken. I am a merciful commander, and I will let you miserable ants live. But if you delay, my army will take your city and kill you all, and not even a blade of grass will mark where you stood. You must choose between happiness and disaster. Life is but a step away from death. Mark my words well.


The French had no option but to respond to so stark a challenge. On 19 May Rivière marched out of Hanoi to attack the Black Flags. His small force advanced without proper precautions, and blundered into a well-prepared Black Flag ambush at Paper Bridge , a few miles to the west of Hanoi. In the Battle of Paper Bridge the French were enveloped on both wings, and were only with difficulty able to regroup and fall back to Hanoi. Like Francis Garnier ten years earlier, Rivière was killed in the battle. Liu had now taken the scalps of two French naval commanders in remarkably similar circumstances.

Son Tay, Bac Ninh and Hung Hoa

Liu fought two further actions against the French in the autumn of 1883, the Battle of Phu Hoai and the Battle of Palan . The Black Flag Army was mauled in both these battles, but was not seriously damaged as a fighting force. In December 1883, however, Liu Yongfu suffered a major defeat at the hands of Admiral Amédée Courbet in the Son Tay Campaign. Despite fighting with fanatical courage in the engagements at Phu Sa on 14 December and Son Tay on 16 December, the Black Flags were unable to prevent the French from storming Son Tay. Although there were also Chinese and Vietnamese contingents at Son Tay, the Black Flag Army bore the brunt of the fighting, and took very heavy casualties.

Angered that his Chinese and Vietnamese allies had done little to support the Black Flag Army at Son Tay, Liu stood on the sidelines during the Bac Ninh campaign . After the French capture of Bac Ninh, Liu retreated with the Black Flag Army to Hung Hoa. In April 1884 the French advanced on Hung Hoa with both brigades of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps. The Black Flags had thrown up an impressive series of fortifications around the town, but General Charles-Théodore Millot, the French commander-in-chief, took it without a single French casualty. While General Fran?ois de Négrier's 2nd Brigade pinned the Black Flags frontally and subjected Hung Hoa to a ferocious artillery bombardment from the Trung Xa heights, General Louis Brière de l'Isle's 1st Brigade made a flank march to the west to cut Liu's line of retreat. On the evening of 11 April, seeing Brière de l'Isle's Turcos and marine infantry emerging behind their flank at Xuan Dong, the Black Flags evacuated Hung Hoa before they were trapped inside it. They set alight the remaining buildings before they left, and on the following morning the French found the town completely abandoned.

Liu now fell back up the Red River to Thanh Quan, only a few days march from the frontier town of Lao Cai. He was now in a position to retreat into China if the French pursued him. Several hundred Black Flag soldiers, demoralised by the ease with which Courbet and Millot had defeated the Black Flag Army, surrendered to the French in the summer of 1884. One of Millot's final achievements was to advance up the Clear River and throw the Black Flag Army out of Tuyen Quang in the first week of June, again without a single French casualty. If the French had seriously pursued Liu Yongfu after the capture of Tuyen Quang, the Black Flags would probably have been driven from Tonkin there and then. But French attention was diverted by the sudden crisis with China provoked by the Bac Le ambush , and during the eventful summer of 1884 the Black Flags were left to lick their wounds.

Liu Yongfu and the Sino-French War

Liu's fortunes were transformed by the outbreak of the Sino-French War in August 1884. The Empress Dowager Cixi responded to the news of the destruction of China's Fujian Fleet at the Battle of Fuzhou by ordering her generals to invade Tonkin to throw the French out of Hanoi. Tang Ching-sung, the commander of the Yunnan Army, knew that Liu's services would be invaluable in the war with France. Although Liu had bitter memories of his previous service as an ally of China, he respected Tang , and agreed to take part with the Black Flag Army in the forthcoming campaign. Appointed a divisional general in the Yunnan Army, Liu helped the Chinese forces put pressure on Hung Hoa and the isolated French posts of Phu Doan and Tuyen Quang during the autumn of 1884. In the winter and spring of 1885 he commanded 3,000 soldiers of the Black Flag Army during the Siege of Tuyen Quang. At the Battle of Hoa Moc , the Black Flag Army inflicted heavy casualties on a French column marching to the relief of Tuyen Quang.

One of the conditions of the peace treaty between France and China that ended the Sino-French War was that Liu Yongfu and the Black Flag Army should leave Tonkin. By the end of the war Liu had only around 2,000 troops under his command and was in no position to resist pressure from Tang Ching-sung and the other commanders of the Yunnan Army to remove the Black Flag Army. Liu crossed into China with some of his most loyal followers, but the bulk of the Black Flag Army was disbanded on Tonkinese soil in the summer of 1885. Unpaid for months and still in possession of their rifles, most of the unwanted Black Flag soldiers immediately took to banditry. It took months for the French to reduce them, and the route between Hung Hoa and the border town of Lao Cai was only secured in February 1886. Meanwhile, the Qing government rewarded Liu Yongfu for his services in the Sino-French War with a minor military appointment in Guangdong province.

Liu Yongfu and the Democratic Republic of Formosa

In 1895, under the Treaty of Shimonoseki which ended the First Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan was ceded by China to Japan. The Taiwanese attempted to resist the Japanese occupation, and a short-lived Democratic Republic of Formosa was declared by the Chinese governor Tang Ching-sung on May 25 1895. Tang became president of the new republic, and Liu Yongfu was made a brigadier general and given command of resistance forces in southern Taiwan. Ten days after declaring independence Tang Ching-sung fled to Mainland China, and Liu replaced him as head of government . The Republic of Formosa lasted only 90 days, no longer than it took the Japanese to organise an expedition to occupy Taiwan. Liu's forces were brusquely swept aside in the . Within months the Imperial Japanese Army completed its occupation of Taiwan and the Japanese government formally annexed the island. With the collapse of the Formosan forces, Liu escaped back to mainland China.

Final years

Liu Yongfu outlived the Qing dynasty and survived into the second decade of the twentieth century, his reputation growing with the passing years:
He continued until the closing years of the dynasty in the employment of the Kwangtung provincial administration, and is said to have been a notable suppressor of bandits and a pacifier of clan feuds, those twin curses of the south China countryside. The advent of the Republic in 1912 found him in retirement, listening with interest to the news of public affairs as others related it to him from the papers, for he himself never learned to read. Most of the time, though, his mind dwelt in the past. He would take out Garnier’s watch and show the picture of the young wife inside the cover. He would tell of his challenge to Rivière and describe the battle at Paper Bridge. But he soon wearied of the incomprehensible foreign devils, and turned instead to what for him had been beyond comparison the most serious business of his life. The talk would then be all of the Black and Yellow Flags, and of the long years of feuds and hatreds in the steaming malarial jungle and on the silent reaches of the great river. His published memoirs, for his reminiscences were reverently taken down in writing, have as their main theme the story of this interminable vendetta between expatriate Chinese. But when he died, in January 1917, it was as the scourge of a foreign enemy, the hero whose achievements were nullified by the cowardice of his own government, that he was mourned by his countrymen, and that is the way they still remember him.

Liow Tiong Lai

Datuk Liow Tiong Lai is a Malaysian politician who is currently serving as the Health Minister in the . He is also the Chairman of the Youth wing of the Malaysian Chinese Association, a major component party of the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition.

Background

Born in Malacca, ironically the man who is now the Health Minister once wanted to be a doctor but was thwarted by the university quota system and graduated with a Bachelor in Science from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia instead. He later furthered his studies with a Masters in Business Administration .

He is married to Datin Lee Sun Loo and has three children. He is a known vegetarian and is a strong advocate of healthy eating, especially eating organic food.

Political involvement

Liow officially joined the Malaysian Chinese Association in 1981. Soon after graduating from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 1986, he joined MCA as a research assistant with a monthly salary of RM700. After two decades of steady rise in the party, he was appointed as MCA Youth chief in 2005.

Liow is also Bentong MP, and has retained the parliamentary seat since the . He won by a 12,549 majority in the just concluded against Parti Keadilan Rakyat's Ponusamy Govindasamy.

From 1989 to 1999, Liow served as press secretary to the then Human Resources Minister Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek and later as his political secretary. He held the post of Deputy Youth and Sports Minister since 2006 after the Cabinet underwent a revamp.

Keris controversy

In the 2006 UMNO Annual General Assembly, Hishamuddin Hussein became infamous for waving the ''keris'' . He defended his actions saying that events earlier in the year related to the status of Islam in Malaysia and the had "played on the Malay psyche. If they had not been allowed to release their feelings in a controlled channel, it could have been even worse." He defended his usage of the ''keris'', saying it was meant "to motivate the Malays" and that it "is here to stay", denying that it was a symbol of Malay supremacy .

Hishammuddin also asserted that "The keris is on the Umno flag...It is a symbol of Malay culture. You give keris as gifts to non-Malays, and non-Malays give them to me at functions."

However Liow, who is MCA Youth chief, hit back by saying that:

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Lin Fengmian

Lin Fengmian , originally Lin Fengming , was a and is considered a pioneer of modern Chinese painting for blending Chinese and Western painting styles. He was also an important innovator in the area of Chinese art education.

Biography

Born in Mei County, Guangdong, like many of his peers, Lin partipicated in the "Diligent Work and Economical Study", program, a work-study program in China during that time. Similar to his compatriot Xu Beihong, Lin spent the early years of his career in Europe, moving to France in 1920 and studying painting in France. In 1923, he later moved to Berlin, Germany. In 1925 he returned to China, where he became the principal of the Beiping State Vocational Art School . In 1928, with encouragement from Cai Yuanpei, he helped found the antecedent of the China Academy of Art, becoming its first principal.

Lin's works and life were met with great tragedy. While many of his early works were destroyed by Japanese soldiers during the Sino-Japanese War, many of his later works were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. After being heavily criticized and denounced by the Gang of Four, Lin personally destroy his own works by soaking and then flushing his works down the toilet; however, he still ended up being imprisoned for over four years.

In 1977, he was finally allowed to leave for Hong Kong, where he remained until his death. After his release, Lin slowly began to recreate many of his previously destroyed works.

Lin Dan

Lin Dan is a men's singles badminton player of Hakka ancestry, from Fujian, the People's Republic of China. Lin is currently the dominant singles player on the world stage.

Career

Lin started playing badminton at the age of 5, and began to his professional career at the age of 17. He soon became one of the dominant players of men's single, winning nine championships in the BWF Super Series between 2002 and 2004. In a surprise loss, he was eliminated in the first round of the in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. He continued to dominate in international tournaments, and has been ranked continuously number one except for a very brief period of being ranked behind Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in 2007.

Among the tournaments Lin Dan has won are the and the China Masters. He has helped China win three consecutive Thomas Cup championships in 2004, 2006, and 2008. Lin also won the 2007 World Badminton Championships in men's singles, defeating Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia in the final to become only the 2nd player after to win the men's singles championship back to back, after taking the gold medal in the 2006 World Badminton Championships.

He played for Chinese team in Sudirman Cup 2005 and 2007 as his team won.

Lin won his first ever on 17 August 2008 at the after defeating Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in straight sets 21-12, 21-8.

2004

Lin Dan became the world number one and achieved his first All England title, beating Denmark's Peter Gade. He continued to shine as he gained the Swiss Open title; the Denmark Open title, defeating his senior and former world number one Xia Xuanze; the German Open title; and the China Open title, beating his compatriot and good friend Bao Chunlai. In May, Lin Dan also became the main role to bring the Thomas Cup to China after a long domination by Indonesia.

2005

In 2005, Lin Dan won the warm-up tournament of German Open after beating Malaysia's Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, but he lost his All England title to compatriot Chen Hong. He then defeated Chen Hong to earn the Japan Open title. In Beijing, Lin Dan and his compatriots brought back the Sudirman Cup, which China lost in 2003 when they were defeated by South Korea.

In August, Lin Dan reached his first World Championship final in Anaheim, USA, but lost to Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat. Even so, he managed to claim several more titles: the China Masters and the Hong Kong Open.

2006

Lin Dan started his brilliant year by regaining his All England title, overcoming Lee Hyun-il of South Korea. He carried on his reign as the world number one when he swept the Chinese Taipei Open, Macau Open, Hong Kong Open, World Championships, and Japan Open titles.

He lost his world number one for a while to Lee Chong Wei but reclaimed it when he emerged as the 2006 world champion, overpowering his comrade Bao Chunlai 18-21, 21-17, 21-12. Bao was the player who defeated Lee in the quarter-final.

Earlier in May, Lin Dan and his teammates extended China's supremacy in the Thomas and Uber Cup event in Sendai and Tokyo, Japan. Lin won over Peter Gade in straight sets 21-17, 21-19 as China demolished Denmark 3-0.

2007

Lin Dan made a poor start in the Malaysia Open, losing to South Korea's Park Sung-hwan in the round of 16. But this did not last long, as a week later he came to be the champion of Korea Open after defeating his fellow national player Chen Jin. He attained the German Open title and then All England title again, crushing Chen Yu of China.

In June, Lin Dan participated for China in the Sudirman Cup, Glasgow, Scotland, and the Chinese team brought home the cup after beating Indonesia 3-0. Lin himself did not play because the men's singles match was scheduled for the last match.

Afterwards, Lin Dan ousted Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia and became the champion of the 2007 China Masters. He won the Denmark Open and Hong Kong Open as well.

In August, Lin Dan extended his reign as the world champion as he beat Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

2008

As every athlete looked forward to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Lin Dan, who was certainly qualified to play, did not begin well as he failed in the Malaysian Open and Korean Open. He lost his All England title to Chen Jin, but then won the Swiss Open.

In the 2008 Thomas Cup that was held in Jakarta again, Lin Dan won almost every match he played, except in the semi-final where he lost to Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei. However, he gave one point to China as he returned from his first-set loss and overcame Park Sung-hwan of South Korea 10-21, 21-18, and 21-8. China won over South Korea 3-1 and, with Lin's participation, brought back the cup for the third consecutive time.

Lin Dan did not play in Singapore and Indonesia, two tournaments that was ranked Super Series, but he played in the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold and conquered local favorite, Boonsak Ponsana, to take the title.

In the Olympic Games, Lin Dan, who was undoubtedly the local hero, began his gold medal hunt by subduing Hong Kong's Ng Wei 21-16, 21-13 in the round of 32. Next he saw off Park Sung-hwan 21-11, 21-8, and shattered Peter Gade's dream of ever winning a medal in the Beijing Games in the last eight. He faced Chen Jin in the semis and sent the younger player to fight Lee Hyun-il in the bronze medal match.

Lee Chong Wei was his last opponent. It was supposedly to be a tough match, but Lin Dan grabbed the gold as he overwhelmed the Malaysian in an easy two-setter 21-12, 21-8. Lin became the first men's singles ever to win the All England title, the world championship title, and the Olympic gold medal.

Lin Dan plays some exhibition in Hong Kong and takes a holiday after the Olympics, and he will play again after October 8.

Personal Life

Lin is one of the more popular and controversial badminton players active today, due to his flamboyant personality. He is known as a temperamental player, occasionally disrupting matches to protest line calls. He has a romantic relationship with fellow Chinese badminton player Xie Xingfang. Lin was once an officer in the People's Liberation Army. He has been nicknamed "Super Dan" by his adoring mainland fans.

Style and attributes

Lin Dan's playing style compromises quick maneuverability around the court and the ability to maintain long, aggressive rallies. His well built physique, powerful straight/cross court jump smashes, and fast penetrating footwork makes him one of the toughest elite badminton player's known. In terms of weaknesses he will sometimes make too many unforced errors at the net and lose mental focus at crucial moment's of a game. Sometimes, he tends to be very stiff and nervous when he plays in high-pressured atmosphere, this is where he tends to make mistakes.

Titles

Liao Zhongkai

Liao Zhongkai , Kuomintang leader and financier. Liao Zhongkai was the principal architect of the first Kuomintang-Chinese Communist Party United Front in the 1920s.

Liao Zhongkai was born in 1877, in San Francisco and received his early education in the United States. He was one of twenty-four children. His father, Liao Zhubin, who had five wives, was sent to San Francisco by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank.

Returning to Hong Kong in 1893, at the age of sixteen he studied at Queen's College from 1896. He married He Xiangning in 1897. He then went to Japan in January 1903 to study political science at Waseda University. In 1907 he went to Tokyo University to study political and economic science.

He joined the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance in 1905 upon its founding and became the director of the financial bureau of Guangdong after the founding of the Republic of China.
In the early struggles of the party, Liao Zhongkai was arrested by Guangdong strongman, Chen Jiongming, in June 1922. After Chen's defeat Liao became Civil governor of Guangdong from May 1923 to February 1924, and then again from June to September 1924. During the first Kuomintang - Chinese Communist Party cooperation period, he was appointed to the Kuomintang Executive Committee.

When the KMT was reformed in 1924, he was named the head of the Department of Workers, and then Department of Peasants. Later he became Minister of Finance of the southern government, seated in Guangdong. When Sun Yat-sen died in Beijing in March, 1925, and Liao was one of the three most powerful figures in the Kuomintang Executive Committee, the other two were Wang Jingwei and Hu Hanmin.

Liao continued his belief in Sun's policy after he died and one of the key policies was to maintain close relations with the Soviet Union as well as the Chinese Communist Party, which was strongly opposed by the KMT right wing. Liao was assassinated before a Kuomintang Executive Committee meeting on August 30, 1925 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and Hu Hanmin was suspected and arrested. This left only Wang Jingwei and the rising Chiang Kai-shek as rivals for control of the Kuomintang.

He and He Xiangning had a daughter, Liao Mengxing, and a son, Liao Chengzhi, and the latter had four sons, Liao Hui being the eldest.

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Liao Chengzhi

Liao Chengzhi was a Chinese politician. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1928, and rose to the position of director of the Xinhua News Agency; after 1949, he worked in various positions related to foreign affairs, most prominently president of the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute, president of the Sino-Japanese Friendship Society, and Minister of the Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs.

Early life

Liao was born in the neighbourhood of Tokyo in 1908 to father
Liao Zhongkai and mother He Xiangning. His father, a native of in Huizhou, Guangdong, had wanted to study abroad ever since he was a student at Hong Kong's ; he left his wife behind in Hong Kong to pursue his studies in Tokyo in January 1903, but she joined him there just three months later. She pursued education there as well, taking time off after young Liao was born, but returning to school just six months later. Liao was overweight as a child; even his own parents referred to him as "fatty" . His parents became members of the Kuomintang very early on; Sun Yat-sen was a frequent visitor to their household, sparking the young Liao's interest in politics. His family moved frequently; the young Liao attended school in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

Liao returned to his parents' home of Guangdong in 1923, where he entered the middle school attached to Lingnan University.

Fighting the Nationalists and Japan

In August 1933, Liao bid farewell to his mother and, under the orders of the Party, proceeded to the Sichuan-Shaanxi area carrying Kuomintang codes which would allow the Communists to decrypt their telegraph messages. After his arrival there, he became Secretary of the Politburo of the Chinese Red Army's Fourth Front Army. However, he offended his superior Zhang Guotao by pointing out some of his ideological errors; Zhang Guotao criticised Liao as a "member of a Kuomintang family" and had him arrested. He spent two more years in a CPC prison, and thus ended the Long March as a criminal, but was restored to good standing in the Party in late 1936 while in northern Shaanxi by Mao Zedong and his old friend Zhou Enlai. He then began his work with the Red China News Agency, 's forerunner, where he put his international experience to good use, translating news into , , , and . His mother arranged for Jing Puchun to be sent there as well, as a surprise for her son; the two had a joyous reunion at the docks as Liao stepped off his ship, and married soon after, on 11 January 1938. Liao left Hong Kong in January 1941, but after the Imperial Japanese Army and the city, he was chosen for his fluency in Japanese along with Lian Guan to sneak back in and establish contact with fellow revolutionaries who had been trapped there; by May, he had helped over 500 people escape from Hong Kong, including his mother, Soong Ching-ling, Mao Dun, Xia Yan, Liang Shuming, Cai Chusheng, Liu Yazi , Hu Feng , Hu Sheng , and Zou Taofen . In March 1980, with his health worsening, Liao flew to the United States to undergo coronary artery bypass surgery at the Stanford University's . He remained overweight even in his twilight years; after his surgery, his wife tried to manage his diet more closely, but he continued to eat fatty foods and smoke the occasional cigarette.

Li Xiucheng

Li Xiucheng , eminent military leader of the Taiping Rebellion, and known during his military tenure as the King of Zhong and "Loyal Prince Lee" by Western Sources. He served loyally under Hong Xiuquan's Taiping Administration, led Taiping forces to many military victories. He was executed by Zeng Guofan after interrogation in 1864,Li is the most important general and soul person for post-Taiping Rebellion.

Wins

Second rout the Army Group Jiangnan

The Army Group Jiangnan were Qing military encircle the Nanjing in strategy, It has two times, the second encircle that Qing military putin 200,000 soldiers from March 1858, but it had been routed by Li Xiucheng in May 1860 and occupied rich Jiangsu Province all except shanghai.

2 times attack Shanghai

Escaped from Suzhou:Sadness

Li Xiucheng' Mansion built in Suzhou where was the only one of Taiping Rebellion that exists today,In July 1863, Li ordered his daughter' husband Tan SauGuan take over control Suzhou. but Li Hongzhang leaded the Why Army combined by the "Ever Victorious Army," which, having been raised by an American named Frederick Townsend Ward, was placed under the command of Charles George Gordon. With this support Li Hongzhang gained numerous victories leading to the surrender of Suzhou.

Determining battle:lead defend capital Nanjing

Chiang Donkey

The Chiang Donkey was Li Xiucheng stable manager. Before the Nanjing fall down 3 months in 1864, Li Xiucheng took his wealth included much treasure to Chiang Donkey, and wanna Chiang took it leave out Nanjing quickly and watting Li Xiucheng at somewhere. Chiang promised and took treasure by 20 horses and cows car, but Li executed at last. Chiang Donkey became the first rich in Nanjing after civil war.

It could explained Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren some secret relation by Buddhism passed 60 years.

Write

In ''Zhong Prince Li Xiucheng Describes Himself'' , the autobiographical account of a prince of the Heavenly Kingdom written shortly before his .

Sons

*Li Ronfar Battle of Shanghai

?Li Xiucheng had three daughters, their husbands were Taiping‘s generals:
*Tan SauGuan
*Chen Binwen

Sources

Tiān Guó Zwi

Li photo look so sad and blue hero

Li Shixian

Li ShixianLi Xiucheng's uncle son, giant Guangxi's person, eminent military leader of the post-Taiping Rebellion, and known during his military tenure as the King of Shi . He led Taiping forces to many military victories late. He was Assassination by betrayer in Guangdong.

Wins

Second rout the Army Group Jiangnan

The Army Group Jiangnan were Qing military encircle the Nanjing in strategy, It has two times, the second encircle that Qing military putin 200,000 soldiers from March 1858, but it had been sally and routed by Li Shixian in May 1860 and occupied rich Zhejiang Province all.

Loss

Zuo Zongtang attack

Qing ordered Zuo Zongtang attack Li Shixian and receptured Zhejiang from 1862, these battles very hot, Li lead about 350,000 Taiping forces resistance Zuo Zongtang's army in Zhejiang Province till 1864 the Nanjing fell down, Li Shixian remainsd 200,000 Taiping forces gave out Zhejiang and escaped toward to Fujian alone the sea shore.

40000 soldiers:the last Taiping forces

At last, Li remained 40,000 cameback to eastern Guangdong, the Guangdong was many Taiping forces of the first generation homeland leaved from 1850, Zuo Zongtang orded 6 major generals lead 70,000 Qing army sieged them in Jiaoling County May 1 1865, 20,000 Taiping forces surrender. Li made up a monk and escaped, May 23 he came back to Taiping forces he had been leaded and blamed his subordinate and wanna retook this army, they betrayed killed him.

These Qing generals and 20,000 Taiping forces surrender attended the Sino-French War in 1883.

Zhu De

Zhū Dé was a miltary leader and statesman. He is regarded as the founder of the Chinese Red Army and the tactician who engineered the revolution from which emerged the People's Republic of China.

Early life

Zhu De was born into a large and very poor farming family in Yilong County, a hilly and isolated section of northern Sichuan province. After a secondary education funded by his uncle, the only member of the family capable of doing so, and only after a family decision that he be the beneficiary of an education, Zhu felt obliged to enroll for the district examinations despite his dislike for the traditional Confucian education system. Zhu passed these examinations, to his surprise, and was awarded a xiucai degree.

Zhu hid these results from his family and traveled to Chengdu to study physical education. In 1904 he enrolled in a middle school and studied the Classics in preparation for the civil service exam. He then went to Chengdu to study physical education and in 1908 entered a secondary school. Shortly thereafter, he enrolled in the Yunnan Military Academy, where he was likely first exposed to the ideals of Sun Yat-sen's ''Tongmenghui'' , which he joined 1912. He also joined the ''Gelao Hui'', or Elder Brother secret society.

At the Yunnan Military Academy in Kunming, he came under the influence of Cai E , and taught at the Academy after his graduation in July 1911 from the academy's first class. Zhu was with Brigader Cai in the October 1911 expeditionary force attacking Manchu forces in Sichuan, and in 1915-16 was a regimental commander in the campaign to unseat Yuan Shikai. When Cai became governor of Sichuan after Yuan's death in June 1916, Zhu was made a brigade commander.

Following the death of his mentor Cai E, and his own wife, Zhu fell into a depression and developed a strong opium habit, falling further into a life of decadence and warlordism. In 1920, after his troops were driven from Sichuan toward the Tibet border, he returned to Yunnan as a public security commissioner of the provincial government. Around this time, his second wife and child were murdered by rival warlords, which may have contributed to his decision to leave China for study in Europe. He first travelled to Shanghai where he broke his opium habit and apparently met Dr Sun Yat-sen. He attempted to join the Chinese Communist Party in early 1922, but was rejected due to his former warlord ties.

In late 1922, Zhu went to Europe, studying at in Germany from 1922 to 1925 at which point he met Zhou Enlai and was expelled from the country by the government for his role in a number of student protests. Around this time, he joined the Communist Party. Zhou Enlai was one of his sponsors. In July 1925, he traveled to the Soviet Union to study military affairs. In July 1926, he returned to China and undertook to persuade Sichuan warlord Yang Sen to support the , but failed. Soon after, he was named head of a new military institute in Nanchang.

In 1927, following the collapse of the First United Front, Liu Bocheng and Zhou Enlai ordered Zhu to lead a force against the Nanchang Uprising. However, as he had helped to orchestrate this uprising, Zhu and his army defected from the Guomindang and fought against them. The uprising failed to gather the support of the local working class, however, and he was forced to flee Nanchang with his army. Under the fake name Wang Kai, Zhu managed to find shelter from a warlord Fan Shisheng for his remaining regiment. He eventually expanded his force.

Zhu's close affiliation with Mao Zedong began in 1928 when under the assistance of and Lin Biao, Zhu brought his army of 10,000 men to the where Mao had formed a soviet in 1927. From these humble beginnings, Zhu built the into a skilled force that consolidated and expanded the PLA areas of control.

Zhu was the military expert, and Mao was the political expert. They needed each other.

Zhu's bravery and skill in leading these men made him a figure of immense prestige. Locals credited him with supernatural abilities. During this time Mao and Zhu became so closely connected that to the local peasant farmers they were known collectively as "Zhu Mao".

In 1929 Zhu and Mao were forced to flee Jinggangshan to Ruijin to the East following Guomindang military pressure. Here they formed the Jiangxi Soviet which would eventually grow to cover some 30, 000 square kilometers and include some three million people. In 1931 Zhu was appointed leader of the Red Army in the Ruijin by the CCP leadership. Zhu successfully led a conventional military force against the Guomindang during the ; however he was not able to do the same during the and reluctantly the CCP began to make preparations to flee the Jiangxi Soviet. Zhu helped to form the 1934 break out from the soviet that would begin the Long March.

During the Long March, Zhu De and Zhang Guotao commanded the "western column" of the Red Army, which barely survived the retreat through Sichuan Province.

In Yan'an, Zhu directed the reconstruction of the Red Army under the political guidance of Mao.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, he held the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army. In 1940 Zhu De devised and organized the Hundred Regiments Offensive without the support of Mao. This campaign was very successful but has since been attributed as the main provocation for the devastating Japanese Three Alls Policy.

After 1949, Zhu was named Commander-in-Chief of the People's Liberation Army . He was also the Vice-Chairman of the Communist Party and Vice-Chairman of the People's Republic of China . In 1950 Zhu De oversaw the PLA during the Korean War. In 1955, he was made a marshal.

In 1966, during the onset of the Cultural Revolution, Zhu De was dismissed from his position on the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. However, thanks to the support of Zhou Enlai he was not harmed or imprisoned. In 1971 Zhu was reinstated as the Chairman of the Standing Committee.

He continued to be a prominent and respected elder statesman until his death in July 1976.

Zhang Xiangxiang

Zhang Xiangxiang is a male weightlifter. He is an Olympic medalist. He won the bronze medal at the men's 56 kg class in Weightlifting at the 2000 Summer Olympics

He won the gold medal in the 62 kg class at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Zhang Fakui

Zhang Fakui was a Nationalist General.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Zhang Fakui commanded the 8th Army Group in the Battle of Shanghai in 1937, 2nd Army Corps in the Battle of Wuhan in 1938. Commanded 4th War area from 1939 to 1944, defending Guangdong and Guangxi against the Japanese in South China, achieving a victory in the Battle of South Guangxi. Commander in Chief of the Guilin War Zone during the Japanese Operation Ichigo. As Commander in Chief 2nd Front Army he accepted the surrender of the Japanese Twenty-Third Army in at the end of the War.

There was a unique feature for the telephone conversations with Chiang Kai-Shek, because Zhang was a Hakka, and the two had difficulties in understanding each other: instead of simply hanging up the phone after giving out orders like he did to everyone else, during the conversation with Zhang, Chiang always asked Zhang if he understood what he had just said, and Chiang always waited until after Zhang gave an affirmative answer.

During the struggle against the Japanese, Zhang was among the first Army Corps commanders to ask the Chinese military to change its code because he discovered that Japanese could easily decode the Chinese code at the early stage of the war.

Towards the end of the Civil War, Zhang resigned and moved to Hong Kong. He had built schools back in his native village. He was the organizer of the First World Hakka Congress in Hong Kong.

Military career

*1926 General Officer Commanding IV Corps
*1926 - 1927 General Officer Commanding 12th Division
*1927 Retired
*1936 - 1937 Commander in Chief Zhejiang-Fujian-Anhui-Jiangsi Border Area
*1937 - 1938 Commander in Chief 8th Army Group
*1937 Commander in Chief Right Wing 3rd War Area
*1938 Commander in Chief 2nd Army Corps, Battle of Wuhan
*1939 - 1944 Commander in Chief 4th War Area
*1944 Commander in Chief Guilin War Zone
*1944 - 1945 Commander in Chief 2nd Front Army

Sources

* http://www.generals.dk/general/Chang_Fa-Kuei/_/China.html
* Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War 2nd Ed., 1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung, Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China.

Zeng Qinghong

Zeng Qinghong was the Vice-President of the People's Republic of China from 2003 to 2008. He became a member of the and member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee during the 2002 16th Party Congress. Although he was formally ranked fifth in the nine PSC members, Zeng's actual power was believed to be second only to President Hu Jintao. Since the retirement of his patron Jiang Zemin, Zeng was the primary force behind the party's organization and personnel.

Early life

A Hakka native of Ji'an, Jiangxi Province, Zeng was born in July 1939. He graduated from Beijing 101 Middle School and the Automatic Control Department, Beijing Institute of Technology. Like the eight other members of the 16th Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee, Zeng is an engineer, a specialist in automatic control systems. He joined the Communist Party of China in April 1960. Zeng belongs to the elite group of China's so-called Communist "Crown Prince Party," the children of veteran revolutionaries.

Zeng spent the early part of his career as a technician in the military defense industry in Beijing. He was sent down to do manual labor on PLA bases in Hunan and Guangdong during the Cultural Revolution. With the opening of the reform era, Zeng joined the State Development and Reform Commission in 1979 and then held a series of management positions in the state petroleum sector.

Climbing the ranks

In 1984, Zeng moved to the Shanghai Municipal Government, where he became a key ally of then-mayor Jiang Zemin. When Jiang was elevated to national leadership in Beijing following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, he brought Zeng Qinghong along as his trusted adviser.

As the Deputy director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee from 1989 to 1993, Zeng guided Jiang, an outsider to national politics, through the inner workings of the party, military and bureaucratic structure in Beijing. He promoted Jiang's leadership and thinking, broadened Jiang's network, and became Jiang's right-hand-man. Over the 1990s, Zeng consolidated control of party organs responsible for the appointment of cadres to important political positions. As head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee from 1999-2002, he strengthened Jiang's position by promoting members of the president's "Shanghai clique" to leading central and regional posts. He also helped advanced Jiang's guiding political philosophy the Three Represents.

Over the next decade, he acquired a fearsome reputation as Jiang's hatchet against rivals. In 1992 he helped bring down the powerful, elder PLA Generals Yang Shangkun and Yang Baibing, who threatened Jiang's support within the military. Then, he used an anti-corruption campaign to orchestrate the downfall of Beijing party secretary and Jiang's foe Chen Xitong.

On July 20, 1999, The Jiang Zemin regime started cracking down Falun Gong. On July 23, 1999, a person in charge of the CCP Organization Department made a statement to a People's Daily reporter and requested that the entire CCP should participate in the movement of persecuting Falun Gong. In January 2001, Zeng Qinghong spoke in the center group meeting of the CCP Organization Department and emphasized that Communist Party branches and departments at all levels should participate in the long-term combat with “Falun Gong”. On April 20, 2001, Zeng Qinghong spoke in the 4th Chinese Countryside "Three Represents" Important Thought Study and Education Conference and requested suppressing Falun Gong and reeducating Falun Gong practitioners. Zeng Qinghong’s speech was documented as the CCP Organization Department’s “Document No. 11 Distributed by the CCP Organization Department” and was sent to everywhere in the country for studying.

National politics

After the 16th Party Congress in 2002, he has been a member of the 16th CPC Central Committee, a member of its Political Bureau and of the , the Party's central decision making body, and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee.

On 6 June 2003, Zeng issued an order "not to play or sing 'The Internationale' in any provincial, city or county level party or party member meetings." The move further characterized China's movement away from the traditional norms of communist doctrine.

Although Jiang stepped down from the powerful Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China to make way for a younger "" of leadership led by Hu Jintao, Jiang will probably continue to wield significant influence with the help of Zeng. Due in large measure to Zeng's efforts, six out of the nine new members of the Standing Committee, including Zeng as well as Wu Bangguo, Jia Qinglin, Huang Ju, Wu Guanzheng, and Li Changchun are linked to Jiang's "Shanghai Clique" and considered his protégés. The 22-member Politburo is elected by the Party's central committee. Real power in Communist China lies with this committee, which works as a kind of inner cabinet and groups together the country’s most influential leaders. At the 2002 16th Party Congress, the Standing Committee was expanded to include nine members.

As Jiang Zemin reached the end of his term, many observers speculated that Jiang preferred Zeng Qinghong over Hu Jintao as his successor. But Hu prevailed in succeeding Jiang. Zeng subsequently became Vice-President in March 2003. During the SARS outbreak, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao took very strong and assertive action while Zeng and other Jiang loyalists receded to the background. Zeng was also expected to succeed Hu as Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission as a condition of Jiang's resignation from the chairmanship in favor of Hu. However, when Jiang stepped down on September 19, 2004, Xu Caihou and not Zeng replaced Hu.

Although known as a Jiang loyalist, most observers speculate that Zeng is more liberal than his mentor, and interested in political reform to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of party and state operations. Zeng remains an important figure within the highest ranks of party leadership. After the death of Zhao Ziyang, the former party secretary who lost power following the Tiananmen Square protests, Zeng worked as the intermediary between the Zhao's family and the senior party leadership. Zeng Qinghong has the head of the Ministry of State Security, known as China's top intelligence gathering bureau, report directly to him as his father was the former director of this agency. When Shanghai party chief Chen Liangyu was dismissed in September 2006, Zeng led the anti-corruption task force against the staunch Jiang ally. The move was seen as a mild rebuke to his links with Jiang.

In August 2007, Zeng headed a delegation of several high-ranking Central Government representatives at the celebrations at the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

During the Zeng was removed from the , making him ineligible for election to the . His removal, which is seen as his retirement because of age, means he will no longer serve on the Communist Party's secretariat and no longer oversee the party's organization. His Vice-presidency ended in March 2008 at the 2008 National People's Congress. Before his retirement, however, Zeng used his political strength to secure the elevation of Xi Jinping into the Politburo Standing Committee. Xi is now one of the two main candidates to succeed current president Hu Jintao.

Yu Shyi-kun

Yu Shyi-kun , a politician of the Democratic Progressive Party, is the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan. He previously served as Premier of the Republic of China from 2002 to 2005. As one of the founding members of the DPP, he is seen as a loyalist of President Chen Shui-bian.

Personal Background

Born in Taihe Village , , Yilan County, Yu was raised in a poor tenant farming family. When he was 13, his house was destroyed by flood waters during Typhoon Pamela, and his father died of tuberculosis in the same year. He quit junior high school to work full-time on his family farm.

At 19, he studied at the supplementary night school of the Lotung Commercial High School. He moved to Taipei to enroll in the supplementary school of the Hsihu Commercial and Industrial High School. He studied international commerce at the Chihlee Institute of Technology and public administration at the National Chunghsing University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in politics in Tunghai University in 1985 at the age of 37.

Rise in politics

In 1981 he was elected a member of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly for Yilan County. Yu, Su Tseng-chang, and Hsieh San-sheng made the so-called "iron triangle" in the Assembly. The three were the only members ever to resign from the Assembly.

From 1983 to 1984 he was the Tangwai Secretary-General. He became Convener of Tangwai National Election Backing Committee in 1986. As a founding member of the Democratic Progressive Party, he was a member of its Central Committee from 1984 to 1986 and its Central Standing Committee from 1986 to 1990 when he was elected a Magistrate of Ilan County, during which he was a member of the Educational Reform Committee of the Executive Yuan from 1994 to 1996. In his second term of magistrate, Environmental Protection , Tourism , Information Promotion , and Culture were his four main goals in administration. The successful planning and execution let him ranked the first one of 27 mayors/magistrates in Taiwan. After the completion of his two terms as magistrate in 1997, he was in 1998 appointed Chairman of the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation by then Mayor Chen Shui-bian. He resigned in 1999 to become Secretary-General of the Democratic Progressive Party.

He was the chief spokesman for the DPP campaign in the . With Chen Shui-bian's election to the , he was appointed Vice Premier under Premier Tang Fei.

In July 2000, four construction workers were trapped by the rising floodwaters of Pachang Creek. As local and central government authorities squabbled for three hours over who would send out a rescue helicopter, the men drowned. In the public outrage that ensued, officials up the chain of command, including Premier Tang, tendered their resignations. Vice Premier Yu, who was also chairman of the Committee of Disaster Relief and Prevention, had his resignation accepted.

Six months later, Yu rejoined the administration as Secretary-General to the Office of the President and served until his promotion to the premiership on February 1, 2002.

Premiership

As premier, Yu defended the administration's position on the and promoted a NT$610.8 billion arms procurement package in 2004. He caused some minor controversy when he used the designation "Taiwan, ROC" on an official visit to Honduras. Chen later said he preferred "Taiwan." In September 2004, he directed the government to refer to the People's Republic of China in official documents as simply "China" as opposed to "mainland China" or "Communist China" as was previously done in order to highlight a "separate Taiwanese identity." This move was not endorsed by the Presidential Office and the Mainland Affairs Council clarified that it would only apply to internal documents.

Yu and his cabinet resigned ''en masse'' following the pan-Green Coalition failure to gain a majority in the . In the ensuing cabinet shuffle, Yu was returned to the presidential office as secretary-general and succeeded as premier by Frank Hsieh.

On January 15, 2006 he was elected chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party with 54% of the vote.

Yu was a candidate for the DPP nomination for the . But he could win only 22,211 of the 140,720 votes, and declared his withdrawal in favor of former premier Frank Hsieh, who won 62,849 votes.

Yu is the founder of ''Kavalan Journal'' , which is named after the Taiwanese aborigines. With Yang Pao-yu, whom he married in 1978, he has two sons.

Alleged corruption charges

On September 21, 2007, Yu was indicted on charges of corruption by the Supreme Prosecutor's Office of Taiwan. Yu faces charges of embezzlement and of using false receipts to write-off expenses totaling over US$70,000 from a special governmental account. He resigned his post as chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party later that same day. Vice President Annette Lu and National Security Office secretary-general Mark Chen were also indicted on corruption charges on the same day.

Yong Teck Lee

Datuk Yong Teck Lee is a former Sabah Chief Minister. He is currently the president of the Sabah Progressive Party, one of the component parties that make up the ruling Barisan Nasional government coalition in Malaysia. He is currenly married to Datin Stella Kong Yin Kiun and they have four children.

Political History

He is a lawyer by profession and entered politics in 1985, by joining the Parti Bersatu Sabah . He rose quickly to become party assistant information chief and Housing and Local Government Assistant Minister in the same year. He also served as Likas State Assemblyman before being appointed Assistant State Finance Minister and party deputy president in 1989.

He was soon made Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and MInister for Industrial Development one year later. In 1994, Yong resigned from PBS after a fallout with party president Joseph Pairin Kitingan over the selection of candidates for the general election that year.

One day after his resignation, Yong formed the Sabah Progressive Party , together with PBS dissidents including Geoffrey Yee Lung Fook, Tham Nyip Shen, Au Kam Wah, Tan Kit Sher, Joseph Chia Swee Chung and Philip Yong Chiew Lip. In 1996, Yong became Sabah's . He was appointed as such under the rotation system introduced by the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed. He held the post until 1998, where the post was taken over by Bernard Dompok, also under the rotation system. In 1999, Yong stood for election for the Gaya Parliamentary seat and won with a 4,117 vote majority. He garnered 156,315 votes to defeat Goh Chin Lok @ Johnny Goh of PBS and Hamzah Haji Abdullah of PAS.

However Yong was charged by the Elections Court in 2002 with commiting corrupt practices in the 1999 state elections, of which he subsequently lost his Likas state seat and Gaya parliamentary seat. It was found by the High Court in 1999 that the electoral roll for the state assembly district of Likas tainted with illegal voters. The results of that election was declared void. Following this, Yong served a five year ban for an election offence, but tried to make a comeback in the 2008 general election, but failed to wrangle the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat held by Parti Bersatu Sabah.

No-confidence vote against Prime Minister

On June 19, 2008, Yong Teck Lee declared that his party had lost confidence in Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He claimed that the party's two members of Parliament would support a motion for a vote of no confidence against the prime minister in the coming Parliament. Speculation is rife that the party will pull out of the Barisan Nasional coalition and defect to the Pakatan Rakyat alliance.

The Anti-Corruption Agency is currently investigating SAPP chief Datuk Yong Teck Lee over the alleged payment of RM5mil, from the sale of shares belonging to a state-owned company to his agents in 1996 when he was Sabah chief minister.

Yong Pung How

Yong Pung How, . He was the former Chief Justice of Singapore, serving from 1990 to 2006. Prior to his judicial career, he was a lawyer, banker and senior government official.

Early career

A Hakka, Yong received early education at the Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur, and at the Downing College, Cambridge, where he developed close friendships with two of his Singaporean schoolmates, Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his wife, Kwa Geok Choo. He was made an , and an Associate Fellow in his college years. Yong did exceptionally well, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1949, and with a Bachelor of Law in 1950. In 1970 he furthered his education with the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.

Upon graduation, he was called to the English Bar by the Inner Temple in 1951. He returned to his hometown as an an Advocate and Solicitor of Malaya in 1952, practising law as a partner at , a law firm founded by his late father until his retirement from practice in 1970.
During this period he also served in 1953 as the Arbitrator appointed by the Governor of Singapore to resolve the dispute between the Government and the General Clerical Services and Telecommunications workers. He was also admitted into the Singapore Bar in 1964 and appointed the role as Chairman of the Public Services Arbitration Tribunal in Malaya from 1955 to 1960, and as a Chairman of the Industrial Court in Malaysia between 1961 to 1967. He also had commercial powers invested upon him as as Chairman of the now-defunct Malaysia-Singapore Airlines between 1964 and 1969, and as Deputy Chairman, between 1966 and 1971.

Career as a banker

In 1971, Yong switched from law to finance, and formed Singapore International Merchant Bankers Limited and the Malaysian International Merchant Bankers in Malaysia serving as Chairman and Managing Director of both companies. At the same time he also served as a member of the Singapore Securities Industry Council from 1972 to 1981. He announced his retirement from the SIMBL and MIMB offices in 1976. That same year, Yong was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation .

He was seconded in 1982 by the Singapore Government to form and head the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation , and the Monetary Authority of Singapore as well. His experience in commercial banking proved to be invaluable to GIC as he effectively re-organized and streamlined the use of Singapore's foreign reserves.
He was also made Deputy Chairman of the Currency Commissioners, and Alternate Governor for Singapore of the International Monetary Fund.

In 1988, Yong became the first Chairman of the newly-formed , and established the Regional Speakers Programme which saw prominent speakers and intellectuals from around the region to share their understanding of the culture and politics of the countries in the region. This initiative greatly helped with the development of Singapore governance.

In Yong returned to the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation in 1983, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer before returning to law as a judge in 1989.

Chief Justice

On 28 September 1990, Yong was appointed the Chief Justice of Singapore, replacing Wee Chong Jin. During his first speech at the opening of the legal year, he announced the abolition of the traditional worn by judges and laywers, and the use of archaic terms of address for judges of the Supreme Court such as "My Lord" or "Your Lordship". He also made the move faster in processing cases during his tenure by introducing cutting-edge technology into the courtroom.

In 1991, there were about 2,000 lawsuits to be heard at the . A lawsuit could take several years to be heard. Some measures were introduced to resolve the problems which he described as an "embarrassing" state of affairs. When he left, it took only six months for the High Court to conclude a hearing.

Chief Justice Yong instituted the Night Courts in the Subordinate Courts, eliminating the need for members of the public to take time off work to attend court to answer to summonses for regulatory and minor offences. He also initiated the Justices' Law Clerk scheme, under which top law graduates from leading universities in the United Kingdom and the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law were actively recruited to the Singapore Legal Service.

He was succeeded by the Honourable Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, formerly Attorney-General of Singapore.

Honours

Yong was conferred conferred the in 1989 and the the Order of Temasek on 9 August 1999 - with a citation stating that “as Chief Justice since 28 September 1990, Justice Yong Pung How has made the Singapore Judiciary world class”.

On 14 July 2007, Yong was awarded the honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the Singapore Management University , in recognition of his contribution to Singapore's legal sector. Yong was appointed as the chairman of SMU School of Law's advisory board in March 2007.

Personal life

Yong married his wife, Wei Woo who is a graduate from the London School of Economics and they have a daughter Yong Ying-I, who is a Permanent Secretary at the .

Yong Nyuk Lin

Yong Nyuk Lin is a Singaporean politician. He was born in Seremban, Negri Sembilan, Malaysia and studied in Singapore. He was the general manager of Overseas Assurance Company when he resigned to stand for elections in 1959. He became the Member of Parliament for Geylang West. He was in Singapore's first cabinet and served as a minister from 1959 to 1976. His portfolios included , and Communications.

Yong Mun Sen

Yong Mun Sen . Born Yong Yen Lang in Kuching, Sarawak. He changed his name to Yong Mun Sen in 1922.

He is widely known as the Father of Malaysian Painting.

Yeh Chu-lan

Yeh Chu-lan , born 1949, is a politician and the former acting mayor of Kaohsiung.

Rise in politics

Yeh entered politics after her husband, Cheng Nan-jung, a dissident, chose to commit suicide rather than be arrested in 1989.

In 1992, she was the deputy convener of the Democratic Progressive Party Caucus in Legislative Yuan, and convener in 1995. From 2000 to 2002, Yeh was third in the Cabinet in her position as Minister of Transportation and Communications. She was Chairperson of the Council for Hakka Affairs from 2002 to 2004. In 2004 she was named Vice Premier, as well as Minister of Consumer Protection and Minister responsible for the Council for Economic Planning and Development. In late 2005, she became the first female acting mayor of Kaohsiung when then-mayor Frank Hsieh was appointed .

Yeh was amongst the frontrunners to serve as DPP Frank Hsieh's vice-presidential running mate, however former Premier and DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang was eventually chosen for the role. Yeh is still likely to play a prominent role in the government should Hsieh be elected, with speculation that she would be named as Premier in a Hsieh administration.

Yeh, who worked in advertising for 17 years before becoming a lawmaker, is a graduate of Fu Jen Catholic University.

Ye Xuanping

Ye Xuanping was the fifth Governor of Guangdong in the history of the People's Republic of China. He is also the son of Ye Jianying. Vice-Chairman, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference , 1991-2003

Ye Ting

Ye Ting , born in Huiyang, Guangdong Province, was a military leader. He started out nationalist and went to the left.

Ye Ting joined the Kuomintang when Sun Yat-sen founded it in 1919 and from 1921 was a battalion commander in the National Revolutionary Army. In 1924 he studied in the Soviet Union and in December of that year joined the Communist Party of China. In September 1925 he returned to China to serve first as staff officer, then as independent regiment commander, in the of the National Revolutionary Army. In May 1926 he led an advance detachment in the , with several victories in August. In September he besieged Wuchang, breaking through the defenses on the 10th of October. In 1927 he was a) deputy division commander of the 15th Division, b) division commander of the 24th Division of the 11th Army, and c) deputy army commander of the 11th Army.

On August 1, with , Zhou Enlai, He Long, Zhu De, Ye Jianying, Lin Biao, Liu Bocheng and Guo Moruo, he participated in the failed Nanchang Uprising, when the “”, called the People's Liberation Army from 1946, was founded. After Nanchang, he went to Hong Kong, whence on December 11 he led the Canton Uprising. After this uprising failed, he was persecuted as a scapegoat and as a result, he was exiled to Europe and when he returned to Asia went into hiding in Macao.

In 1937 he served as army commander of the New Fourth Army. As a result of the New Fourth Army Incident, he was put in jail for five years, until 1946. On April 8 of that year, after he was released, en route from Chongqing to Yan'an, he died in a plane crash. Among the victims were some of his family members and several senior CPC leaders such as , Deng Fa, and Wang Ruofei. There are rumors that Chiang Kai-shek arranged the crash.

Ye Ting had a total of nine kids, and one of his granddaughter, Ye Xiaoyan , the daughter of Ye Ting's second son Ye Zhengmin , is married to Li Xiaoyong , the second son of former Chinese priemier Li Peng. Ye Xiaoyan and her husband, as well as Zhu Lin , her mother-in-law , are targets of public anger due to their alleged involvement of one of the largest financial crime cases in Chinese history.