1. Liao Chengzhi joined the Chinese Communist Party 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.
Liao Chengzhi's father had wanted to study abroad ever since he was a student at Hong Kong's Queen's College; 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.
Liao Chengzhi pursued education there as well, taking time off after young Liao was born, but returning to school just six months later.
Liao Chengzhi was overweight as a child; even his own parents referred to him as "fatty".
Liao Chengzhi's 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.
Liao Chengzhi's family moved frequently; the young Liao attended school in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
Liao Chengzhi returned to his parents' home of Guangdong in 1923, where he entered the middle school attached to Lingnan University.
Liao Chengzhi first met Zhou Enlai, who was then an instructor at the Whampoa Military Academy in Guangzhou, the following year.
Under Zhou's influence, Liao Chengzhi became further interested in politics, and joined the Kuomintang.
In June 1925, he was one of the leaders of a protest march in Guangzhou which was fired upon by British and French troops, in what became known as the Shaji Incident; Liao Chengzhi himself had his hat shot off, and barely escaped with his life.
Liao Chengzhi's father was assassinated two months later by a member of a rival faction in the Kuomintang.
In November 1928, Liao Chengzhi went to Berlin, Germany, where he both studied and continued his political activities.
Around the same time, Liao Chengzhi was arrested by German police and deported again; he followed his mother to Shanghai in 1932.
Liao Chengzhi then became secretary of the Communist Party Group of the National Seamen's Union.
Back in Shanghai, Liao Chengzhi struck up a relationship with Jing Puchun ; her father Jing Hengyi, a painter, was Liao Chengzhi's mother's friend, former classmate in Japan, and neighbour.
Liao Chengzhi spent two more years in a CCP 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.
Liao Chengzhi then began his work with the Red China News Agency, Xinhua's forerunner, where he put his international experience to good use, translating news into English, French, German, and Japanese.
Liao Chengzhi's 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 Chengzhi left Hong Kong in January 1941, but after the Imperial Japanese Army invaded and occupied 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.
However, Liao Chengzhi's work was interrupted on 30 May 1942, when he was arrested in Guangdong's Lechang, Shaoguan area.
Liao Chengzhi's captors transported him to southern Jiangxi and held in the Majiazhou Prison Camp in Taihe.
Liao Chengzhi's arrest was the result of a long investigation by the KMT, and would prove the undoing of the CCP's organisation in southern China; in the following months, the KMT arrested hundreds of other CCP members.
In January 1946, Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to the prison camp in Ganzhou where the young Liao Chengzhi was being held, directing that he be flown to the KMT's seat of government, then still located in Chongqing.
Liao Chengzhi's treatment improved markedly upon his arrival; he was given a new suit of clothes and better food to eat.
Chiang tried to pressure Liao Chengzhi into renouncing his affiliation with the CCP, but Liao Chengzhi refused.
Liao Chengzhi continued to play an important role in Sino-Japanese relations, accompanying Deng Xiaoping on his visit to Japan, meeting with Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda.
In March 1980, with his health worsening, Liao Chengzhi flew to the United States to undergo coronary artery bypass surgery at the Stanford University's Medical Center.
Liao Chengzhi 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.
Liao Chengzhi died of a heart attack at 5:22 AM on 10 June 1983 in Beijing.
Liao Chengzhi's death came at an untimely juncture for China, as he was nominated for the position of Vice President of the People's Republic of China only four days earlier.