or Chou En Lai Zhou Enlai

Zhou Enlai, or Chou En Lai (1898–1976), Chinese Communist leader, premier and foreign minister of China (1949–59). Zhou began his political activity (1919) when he was imprisoned for a year for demonstrating against the Treaty of Versailles. He was a leader in the labor revolts of Nanchang and Shanghai (1927) and helped establish the Red Army, of which he succeeded Mao Zedong as commissar (1932). In the 1940s he was a leader in the struggle for control of China and was instrumental in the ouster of Chiang Kai-shek. He became prime minister of the Chinese People's Republic (1949), and after his removal (1959) remained influential in Chinese foreign affairs.

See also: China.