Skip to content

Purges in 1950s China

In 1954, Gao Gang of China's State Planning Commission and Rao Shushi of the CCP Organization Department allegedly attempted to sideline Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi from the leadership of the Communist Party. In response, at the Fourth Plenary Session of the Seventh CCP, held 6 February through 10 February 1954, Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi accused Gao and Rao of factionalist activities and orchestrated their purge from the CCP. The session concluded with the passage of a "Resolution on Strengthening the Party's Unity." Gao Gang committed suicide following the events. For other collections on China’s modern political history, see: Chinese Civil War, 1945-1950; China’s Great Leap Forward, 1958-1961; China’s Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976; Reform and Opening in China, 1978-; and China, 1989.