The former Chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee was known as a “moderate reformist.” (Photo : www.chinadailymail.com)
One of the most revered legislators in the country, Qiao Shi, died in Beijing at 7:08 a.m. on Sunday, June 14, according to a press release from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). He was 91.
The former Chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee was known, according to South China Morning Post, as a "moderate reformist."
Qiao was born in Shanghai in 1924 and began his illustrious career in Chinese politics in 1940, when he joined the CPC. From leading a group of revolutionary students in Tongji University to making a name for himself in the Chinese government upon the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Qiao proved to be a statesman who held his people's best interests at heart.
Aside from being an exemplary politician and leader of the state, Qiao was known as a loyal communist soldier who was dedicated to serve his country.
During his long career, he was appointed as the Deputy Head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPC in 1978, as Head of the CPC Central Committee Organization Department in 1984, and as Head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee.
As China's top legislator, Qiao oversaw the incorporation of socialism with Chinese Characteristics as a guiding principle into the Constitution. Legislation for a series of economic laws were also supervised by the esteemed statesman; these laws were crucial in the formation of the legal framework of China's socialist market economy.
Qiao was quite an undecipherable character, according to Professor Qiao Mu from the Beijing Foreign Studies University.
"Most simply rely on their subjective imagination or incomplete records to make comment. Those who complimented him reflect their lack of satisfaction with modern-day leaders. Qiao Shi kept a low profile and his family is scandal-free, his reputation is quite positive in that regard," he said.
He retired from politics in March 1998.
