Lin Liguo

In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisLin.

Lin Liguo
Personal details
Born	(1945-12-23)23 December 1945 Harbin,Heilongjiang,Soviet-occupied Manchuria
Died	13 September 1971(1971-09-13)(aged 25) Öndörkhaan,Mongolia
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Relations	Lin Liheng(sister)
Parent(s)	Lin BiaoandYe Qun
Alma mater	Beijing No.4 High School Peking University
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of China
Branch/service	People's Liberation Army Air Force
Chinese name
Chinese	Lâm lập quả
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lín Lìguǒ Wade–Giles Lin2Li4-kuo3

Lin Liguo(Chinese:Lâm lập quả;23 December 1945 – 13 September 1971) was the son of Chinese marshalLin Biao.He was the alleged leader ofProject 571,a coup plot againstChinese Communist PartychairmanMao Zedong.

Biography

Lin was born on December 23, 1945. He graduated from the eliteBeijing No. 4 High Schooland later entered the Faculty of Physics atPeking University.He later became member of theChinese Communist Party.

Following the start ofCultural Revolution,he dropped out of the university and joined thePeople's Liberation Army Air Forcein 1967. Lin was promoted to the deputy director of the Office of the Air Force Command in 1969, by the commander of PLAAFWu Faxian.This was an important position, as all crucial documents were required to pass through Lin's hands.

According to Wu Faxian's testimony in the 1980 trial:

"In fact, all the things the Air Force reported since July 6, 1970 were to Liguo. After all the things we had to deal with, was to listen to his orders."

Mao Zedong's government claims that in 1970, under his father Lin Biao's direction, Lin Liguo made a plan known as "Project 571"to assassinate Mao Zedong inShanghai,but Mao was alerted to it and left Shanghai one day ahead of schedule and changed return route back toBeijing.In February 1971, Lin Liguo took Yu Xinye, the deputy director of the Political Department of the PLAAF toHangzhou;then he called another deputy director Zhou Yuchi from Beijing toShanghai,and met them in Shanghai from 20 to 24 March.

The Lin family, including Lin Biao,Ye Qun,and Lin Liguo, attempted to flee after the coup failed. On 13 September 1971, they fled in a PLAAFHawker Siddeley Trident,fromQinhuangdao Shanhaiguan Airport.

Party documents later released state:

"the plane was making for theSoviet Unionbut was inadequately fueled for such a trip; it also had on board neither navigator nor radio operator. It crashed inMongoliaon September 13, 1971, burning to death all on board. "

However, according to the historian J. D. Spence, "this story is essentially beyond verification, since the photographs later released by the Chinese authorities are of dubious authenticity and details on Lin Biao’s exact plans and on the other plotters are blurred" The government narrative also does not sufficiently explain how and why Lin Biao's plane crashed. Skeptics have claimed that Lin's decision to flee to theSoviet Unionwas illogical, on the grounds that theUnited StatesorTaiwanwould have been safer destinations.

From November 1980 to January 1981, the trial of the members belonging to the "counter-revolutionary"group of Lin Biao andGang of Fourwas held in Beijing. In particular, five high-ranking military personnel, including Wu Faxian, appeared before the court, where they testified that Lin Liguo was actively involved in Project 571. It is also still unclear whether Lin Biao himself planned a coup, or whether Lin Liguo and Ye Qun had such plans and did not inform Lin Biao about them.

Photo gallery

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  Lin Liguo (center) with his family
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  Lin Liguo (right) with his mother Ye Qun (second from right)
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  Lin Linguo (second from right) and his father Lin Biao (center)