21 Facts About Yang Rudai

Yang Rudai was a politician of the People's Republic of China.

Yang Rudai served as the Party Secretary of Sichuan, then China's most populous province, and was the first native Sichuanese to become the top leader of the province since the founding of the PRC.

Yang Rudai was a member of the 13th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, the top governing body of China.

Yang Rudai was born in December 1926 in Renshou County, Sichuan province.

Yang Rudai received the equivalent of a high school-level education at Ren Shou No 1 Middle School.

Yang Rudai joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1952, and was promoted just two years later to Deputy Party Chief of Renshou County.

When Zhao Ziyang left Sichuan to become the Premier of China in 1980, Yang Rudai was favoured to succeed him as the provincial chief.

Yang Rudai became one of the several party secretaries of Sichuan under Tan, but he took charge of the daily operation of the province.

Two years later, Tan Qilong retired from politics along with most senior leaders of the revolutionary generation, and Yang Rudai succeeded him to become the first Sichuan native to serve as its top provincial leader.

Yang Rudai was elected to the 12th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1982.

Yang Rudai's carefulness attracted criticism that Sichuan did not achieve any breakthrough in reform under his leadership.

Yang Rudai clashed with Governor Jiang Minkuan, who made reform proposals that were deemed "unrealistic" by Zhao Ziyang.

Yang Rudai urged the central government to handle the protests peacefully, while Zhang supported the hardline advocated by Li Peng and others.

Yang Rudai, considered a protege of Zhao, kept his Politburo membership until his term ended.

Yang Rudai was opposed to the dam and supported Sichuanese deputies who strongly protested the decision at the National Congress.

Under strong pressure from Beijing, Yang Rudai changed his position and agreed to support the project.

In 1993 Yang Rudai was replaced by Xie Shijie as Sichuan party chief, and was transferred to the national level to serve as a Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a largely ceremonial but prestigious post.

Yang Rudai served two terms in that position until 2003.

In July 2010 Yang Rudai published a memoir in the liberal Chinese magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu praising Zhao Ziyang.

On 24 February 2018, Yang Rudai died in Beijing at the age of 91.

Yang Rudai was extolled by the Chinese government as "an excellent member of the Communist Party of China, a time-tested and loyal communist soldier, and an outstanding leader in agriculture and the economic development of the country".