19 Facts About Bo Yibo

Bo Yibo was one of the most senior political figures in China during the 1980s and 1990s.

Bo Yibo was promoted to organize Communist guerrilla movements in northern China from a headquarters in Tianjin in 1928, but he was arrested and imprisoned by Kuomintang police in 1931.

Bo Yibo initially supported both Hu Yaobang and the 1989 Tiananmen protesters, but he was eventually persuaded by hardliners to support both Hu's dismissal in 1987 and the use of violence against protesters in 1989.

Bo Yibo was the last remaining, and longest-lived, of the Eight Elders at the time of his death on 15 January 2007, just a little over a month short of his 99th birthday.

Bo Yibo was born in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi, which had become one of the poorest provinces in China by the early 20th century.

Bo Yibo's father was a craftsman who produced paper, but the family was so poor that they were forced to drown one of Bo's newborn brothers because they were not wealthy enough to feed him.

Bo Yibo was arrested by the KMT three times; and, after the last time, in 1931, he spent several years in jail.

Bo Yibo held a number of positions within the Party that recognized his administrative authority over much of these areas, and his prestige and influence grew throughout the period of the war.

Bo Yibo promoted moderate economic policies until he lost Mao's favour in 1958.

Bo Yibo was a member of the CCP Politburo from the 8th National Party Congress in 1956 to the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, and again during the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, from 1979 until the 12th National Party Congress in 1982, when most of the elders retired from formal government positions.

Bo Yibo's captors claimed that many of these crimes should be punished by death.

Bo Yibo joined the ranks of a small group of other senior officials of Deng's generation who Deng had returned to government known as the "Eight Immortals".

Bo Yibo asked the Boeing executives whether there would be any planes left if the two that he saw were gone.

Bo Yibo ultimately supported the decision to use force to suppress the demonstrations.

Bo Yibo used his influence to support the rise of Jiang Zemin, who became the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in the 1989.

Bo Yibo retired from politics after the Central Advisory Committee was abolished in October 1992 after the 14th Party Congress.

Bo Yibo's daughter became an American citizen and resides in the US.

Bo Yibo died of an undisclosed illness on 15 January 2007.

Bo Yibo was cremated and his remains were interred at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery next to his wife Hu Ming.