Moneycontrol.com: The bomb meant for Zhou Enlai and the Indian spy who went on to build R&AW
- #news
- #headline

Figure timeline
Zhou Enlai was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from October 1949 until his death in January 1976. Zhou was among the Chinese Communist Party's earliest leaders, though he was subordinate to Mao Zedong following the Zunyi Conference. After the founding of the PRC, he helped Mao consolidate party power and shape forei…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
politics · Premier of China from 1949 to 1976 · minister · foreign minister · politician · also Zhou Enlai, Chou En-lai, Enlai Zhou, Premier Zhou, Enlai
Born 5 March 1898 · Died 8 January 1976 · Q17410
100 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
14 photos · 1 audio
Listen
Zhou Enlai voice
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
Moneycontrol.com: The bomb meant for Zhou Enlai and the Indian spy who went on to build R&AW
“should be allowed to come back to work”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I do not have a preference for either the Russian or the British way... I would prefer something in-between, rather than one of these two extremes”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I still have to make up my mind.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“anything that is incompatible with progress in current times, such as militarism, the bourgeoisie, partylords, bureaucrats, inequality between men and women, obstinate ideas, obsolete morals, old ethics, ... should be abolished or reformed”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The National Interest: Zhou Enlai: Behind Mao Zedong’s Grand Vizier
scmp.com: China needs a new Zhou Enlai to revive foreign policy in era of US competition
Global Times: Film about Zhou Enlai’s childhood to hit cinemas in summer
中国日报网: Former Residence of Zhou Enlai
scmp.com: Hong Kong star’s face blurred out on Chinese state TV show after he shared news report suggesting former premier Zhou Enlai was gay
The Daily Telegraph: China's first premier Zhou Enlai was probably gay, author claims
thehindu: Zhou Enlai was probably gay: new book
中国日报网: Premier Zhou Enlai's essays published in English
scmp.com: Zhou Enlai's niece urges President Xi Jinping to persist with anti-graft campaign
“Concluding his summary of his government’s approach to boundary settlement at Bandung, with a pledge and a warning, as quoted in "How the Sino-Russian Boundary Conflict Was Finally Settled : From Nerchinsk 1689 to Vladivostok 2005 via Zhenbao Island 1969" by Neville Maxwell”
Huai'an, in order to commemorate Zhou's one hundredth birthday, opened a vast commemorative park with a museum dedicated to his life
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Deng Xiaoping released those arrested in the Tiananmen Incident as part of a broader effort to reverse the effects of the Cultural Revolution
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And in 1998 to commemorate his 100th birthday
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Died 1976-01-08.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Incurrir en el pecado del silencio cuando se debiera protestar, hace cómplices y cobardes a los hombres.”
“Dialog med Nikita Chrusjtjov”
“Det är det alldeles för tidigt att uttala sig om.På frågan, från en fransk journalist, om vad den franska revolutionen haft för betydelse.”
“The Japanese aggressors have driven deep into our country and disaster is imminent. Fellow-countrymen, arise and unite as one! Our great, ancient Chinese nation is indomitable. Arise and fight for national unity! Fight to overthrow Japanese imperialist oppression! The Chinese nation will surely triumph.”
“Zobacz też: John Foster Dulles”
“Per secoli e secoli, la politica estera cinese aveva avuto come scopo la frammentazione del Sud-est asiatico in modo da influenzare la vita dei singoli stati; Chu En-lai intendeva proseguire quella tradizione.”
“Educato, sottile, intransigente e deciso, era una singolare mescolanza di mandarino cinese e commissario comunista; inoltre aveva una particolare affinità con i francesi, avendo trascorso la sua giovinezza a Parigi.”
“A Ginevra, lo scopo principale di Chu En-lai era quello di trovare un accordo che togliesse agli Stati Uniti ogni pretesto di intervenire in Indocina e di minacciare nuovamente la Cina. Quindi, cercò una soluzione che tenesse i francesi nei loro possedimenti coloniali escludendo gli americani. Questa soluzione inevitabilmente comportava il sacrificio degli obiettivi vietminh.”
“Today the first unification of the Chinese people has emerged. The people themselves have become the masters of Chinese soil, and the rule of the reactionaries in China has been irrevocably overthrown.”
“Ho degli idoli; De Gaulle di Francia, Tito di Jugoslavia, Mao Tse-tung e Chou En-lai di Cina. Erano grandi patrioti, eroi delle loro nazioni, guerrieri della liberta, liberatori delle loro patrie. In secondo luogo, erano molto, molto umani. Erano amati dai loro popoli. (Norodom Sihanouk)”
“We shall use only peaceful means and we shall not permit any other kind of method.”
“[Rivolto ad Oriana Fallaci] È l'amico più vero che abbia mai avuto. E poi è un uomo squisito, pieno di premure, di sophistication. L'aristocratico più aristocratico che lei possa incontrare. (Norodom Sihanouk)”
“Chou En-lai ha svolto, nel nuovo Stato cinese, un ruolo particolare. Economista e organizzatore capace, egli non è però mai stato un uomo politico marxista-leninista. Da tipico pragmatista qual era, egli ha saputo applicare le sue concezioni non marxiste e farle coesistere perfettamente con ogni gruppo al potere in Cina. (Enver Hoxha)”
“China is an attractive piece of meat coveted by all … but very tough, and for years no one has been able to bite into it.”
“Chou En-lai era un maestro nei compromessi senza principio. Ha sostenuto e denunciato nello stesso tempo Chiang Kai-shek, Kao Gang, Liu Shao-chi, Teng Hsiao-ping, Mao Tsetung, Lin Piao, «i quattro», ma non ha mai sostenuto Lenin e Stalin, il marxismo-leninismo. (Enver Hoxha)”
“For us, it is all right if the talks succeed, and it is all right if they fail.”
“Quando il cinese grida minacciosamente, non c'è da avere paura; ma quando assume un tono calmo, è bene stare attenti, perché vuol dire che è da prendere sul serio. E diventa terribile.”
“Now first of all I would like to talk about the question of different ideologies and social systems. We have to admit that among our Asian and African countries, we do have different ideologies and different social systems. But this does not prevent us from seeking common ground and being united.”
“Enlai: Sant. Men likheten ligger i att vi båda har förrått vår klass.”
“I popoli dell'Asia non dimenticheranno mai che la prima bomba atomica esplose sul suolo asiatico e che il primo uomo che morì in seguito alla esplosione sperimentale della bomba H fu un asiatico.”
“Chrusjtjov: Skillnaden mellan Sovjetunionen och Kina är att jag kom till makten som bonde och du kommer från den privilegierade mandarinklassen.”
“Todo hombre tiene derecho a que se lo combata lealmente.”
“All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means.”
Zhou pushed for the "Four Modernizations" in order to undo the damage caused by Mao's policies
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zhou's enemies initiated a campaign named "Criticizing Song Jiang, Evaluating the Water Margin", which encouraged the use of Zhou as an example of a political loser
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Opis: w wywiadzie udzielonym Orianie Fallaci w kwietniu 1974 w Karaczi.”
Thereby designated Mao's successor (the third so designated after Liu Shaoqi and Lin Biao), though he continued to contend with the Gang of Four
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Opis: w wywiadzie udzielonym Orianie Fallaci w Brioni w czerwcu 1973.”
“To the Chinese Communist Party Congress, as quoted in The New York Times (1 September 1973)”
“On President Richard Nixon’s visit to China (5 October 1971), as quoted in Simpson's Contemporary Quotations (1988) edited by James Beasley Simpson”
The PRC gained China's seat at the United Nations
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zhou Enlai met secretly with President Nixon's security advisor, Henry Kissinger, who had flown to China to prepare for a meeting between Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
After seven months of torture, imprisonment, and rape by Maoist Red Guards
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Jiang also had his adopted son (Sun Yang) tortured and murdered by Red Guards
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Often thought to refer to the significance of the French Revolution of 1789, it has been argued that he was actually indicating the French protests of 1968, as quoted in "Zhou’s cryptic caution lost in translation" by Richard McGregor in Financial Times (10 June 2011)”
Was overtly pro-Maoist, and gave Mao the power and influence to purge the Party of his political enemies at the highest levels of government
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Had his family's graveyard in Huai An demolished so that the land could be used for collective farming
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zhou obtained Mao's permission to rehabilitate 40,000 "rightist" intellectuals
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Mao Zedong began the Great Leap Forward, aimed at increasing China's production levels in industry and agriculture with unrealistic targets
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The post of Minister of Foreign Affairs was passed to Chen Yi, a general with little prior diplomatic experience
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Deshikottam (1957).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
After the eighth Party Congress, Zhou formally relinquished his post in the Military Commission and focused on his work in the Standing Committee, the State Council, and on foreign affairs
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (1956–1976).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (1956–1966).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zhou was a prominent participant in the Asian–African Conference held in Indonesia
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Supplementary Speech at the Plenary Session of the Asian African-Conference (19 April 1955)”
“strive for the liberation of Taiwan by peaceful means so far as it is possible.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: Premier of the People's Republic of China (1954–1976).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Khrushchev himself visited Beijing to take part in the fifth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: National People's Congress deputy (1954–1976).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Opis: ze sprawozdania ze spotkania poświęconemu przyszłości Wietnamu w Genewie w 1954.”
Career landmark: Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (1954–1976).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peng Dehuai succeeded Zhou in managing the Central Military Commission (which Zhou had headed since 1947)
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zhou signed an economic and cultural agreement with the Mongolian People's Republic, giving de facto recognition of the independence of what had been known as "Outer Mongolia" in Qing times
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Chinese People Will not Tolerate Aggression" (October 1950)”
Career landmark: Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China (1949–1958).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
After Zhou's underground network successfully escorted Zhang's family to Beijing
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Following the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949, Zhou was appointed both Premier of the Government Administration Council (later replaced by the State Council) and Minister of Foreig
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
(nevertheless, a huge memorial service in honor of Stalin was held in Beijing's Tiananmen Square with Mao and hundreds of thousands more in attendance)
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Was persuaded to join the PLA, and to accept a position as the minister of water conservation
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
With the Nationalist government which features a bronze statue of Zhou
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chiang invited Mao and Zhou to Chongqing to take part in an American-endorsed peace conference
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Mao was acknowledged as the overall leader of the CCP, and the dogma of Mao Zedong Thought was firmly entrenched among the Party's leadership
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zhou wrote to General Joseph Stilwell, the American commander of the China Burma India Theater of World War II, attempting to convince Stilwell of the need for the Americans to supply the Communists, and of the Communist
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zhou's relationship with Chiang Kai-shek deteriorated, and he returned permanently to Yan'an
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zhou received a visit from Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Martha Gellhorn
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Following the successful defense of Taierzhuang
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zhou met and befriended another orphan, Li Peng
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won First Class Red Star Medal (1933).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
But remembered Zhou's defense of his policies
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (1931–1945).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
His father was also killed by the Kuomintang
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zhou began to work underground, establishing and overseeing a network of independent Communist cells
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
With the specific mission of identifying and eliminating Communists
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Later known as the first and second Eastern Expeditions
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“become a great man who will take up the heavy responsibilities of the country in the future.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zhou's uncle was transferred to Tianjin, where Zhou entered the famous Nankai Middle School
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
China's pretensions of universalism had been shattered by a string of military defeats and incursions by Europeans and Japanese
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zhou's uncle Yigeng, his father's older brother, offered to care for Zhou
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
When Zhou was 9, and his adoptive mother Chen in 1908 when Zhou was 10
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born 1898-03-05.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Connections