Li became a Communist during the May Thirtieth Movement,which began when the British police of the Shanghai International Settlement opened fire on Chinese protesters, killing 11. He joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in August 1925 and made dynamite and grenades in July 1926 to prepare for the Third Rebellion of Shanghai Workers [zh] in support of Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition from Guangzhou.[1] He is thus considered a founder of Communist China's arms industry.In March 1927, when the Northern Expedition army took over Changshu, Li was appointed as a member of the temporary executive committee of his hometown.
Special Service Section (Teke)
On 12 April 1927, Chiang Kai-shek's KMT launched a coup against his Communist allies and massacred them in Shanghai. The surviving Communists went underground and established its intelligence agency, the Special Service Section (known by its Chinese abbreviation Teke), led by Zhou Enlai. Because of Li's experience in bomb-making and his familiarity with Shanghai's Green Gang, Zhou and Gu Shunzhang recruited him into Teke and made him head of communications, one of Teke's four divisions. Li developed a close friendship with Gu, head of the Red Squad or Teke's assassination team, and Chen Geng, head of intelligence. They worked together in the failed mission to rescue the captured Communist leader Peng Pai, but successfully assassinated Bai Xin, the turncoat who had betrayed Peng.
In 1928, Zhou resolved to establish an underground radio station in Shanghai to communicate with CPC bases in the rest of the country. Li was assigned the task because of his technical background and proficiency in English, as few Chinese books on radio technology were available at the time and radio equipment was strictly controlled by the KMT. Despite having no prior knowledge about radios, he taught himself by reading English books and studying telegraph transmitters. He successfully made a radio transmitter in 1929 and established the CPC's first underground radio station later that year. He then went to Hong Kong to establish a radio station in the British colony. When Deng Xiaoping transited in Hong Kong on his way to lead the Baise Uprising in Guangxi, Li co-ordinated with him to facilitate communication between Guangxi and the CPC leadership in Shanghai.
Exile in the Soviet Union
In April 1931, Gu Shunzhang, the head of the Red Squad, defected after he was captured by the KMT in Wuhan. Thanks to the quick reactions of Qian Zhuangfei and Li Kenong, Teke's moles in the KMT intelligence organization, the CPC leadership in Shanghai was able to evacuate before the arrival of KMT agents. As Gu was intimately familiar with Li Qiang's life, Zhou Enlai arranged to have Li leave for the Soviet Union.
In Moscow, Li planned to study at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East, which was attended by many CPC leaders, including Liu Shaoqi, Luo Yinong, and Ren Bishi. However, Wang Ming, the CPC leader in Moscow, deeply distrusted Li because of his close relationship with Gu Shunzhang.[1] He kept Li out of the university and prevented him from returning to China. Li instead joined the Communication Science Research Institute and devoted his next six years studying radio theory and technology. He published a book on rhombic antenna in English, and was recognized as one of the top radio experts in the Soviet Union. The book was later translated into Chinese and used as a textbook in Chinese universities.
Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War
After the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Li was granted permission to return to China at the end of 1937, as his technical expertise was urgently needed by the Communist headquarters in Yan'an. He was appointed head of the Bureau of Military Industry, tasked with establishing an arms industry in rural Yan'an. In 1939, the Bureau of Military Industry created the CPC's first self-made rifle, a Type 79 rifle. By 1943, the bureau had manufactured nearly 10,000 rifles, 1,500 grenade launchers and many other weapons. During the Yan'an Rectification Movement, Li protected top technical experts such as Shen Hong [zh] and Qian Zhiguang [zh] from persecution. In May 1944, he was appointed President of Yan'an Natural Science Institute, the CPC's first technical university, and reformed its curriculum to serve industrial and agricultural production.
During the Chinese Civil War, Li oversaw arms production in Communist-controlled areas. He also established a shortwave radio station for the Xinhua News Agency to broadcast messages from the CPC leadership.
From 1949 to the Cultural Revolution
After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Li was appointed Director of the General Administration of Radio and the General Administration of Telecommunications. Because of his technical expertise and proficiency in Russian, in August 1952 Mao Zedong appointed Li as Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Commercial Counselor at the Chinese embassy in Moscow. He was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955. From April 1956 to October 1958, he served concurrently as a member of the Aviation Industry Committee of the Ministry of National Defense. In March 1961, he was appointed vice-chairman of the Commission of Foreign Economic Relations (later Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations). He also held positions in the China Electronics Society and the Electronics Research Institut
