Pierre Huang-li

Pierre Huang-li (Chinese: 鄭黄力; Zhèng Huánglì or 皮埃爾·黄力; Píāiěr·Huáng Lì; February 13, 1894 - August 1, 1954), art name Yangde (陽德), also known by his initials PHL, was a Tsengian politician and economist. He is known for being the first President of Tseng. He is sometimes referred to as Guófù (國父), meaning "Father of the Nation".

Huang-li's rule was characterized by rapid economic growth, massive social change, and anti-imperialism, although he is criticized for staunch anti-communism (ex. he banned the reading, writing, and listening of Simplified Chinese and Russian). Nevertheless, he is considered to be one of the best presidents of Tseng.

Early life and education
Pierre Huang-li was born Zheng Huang-li on February 13, 1894 to a peasant family in the village of Descartes (today Huang-li District), north of Bonaparte (today Huanzhou), French colony of Tseng. Huang-li didn't get an education until he was 9, and since French schools didn't allow "foreign" names, Huang-li changed his name. In Chinese names, where the family name is in the front and given name is in the back, Huang-li changed his family name (which was a surprise) to Pierre. Huang-li made astonishing progress and he graduated Pasteur lycee when he was 19, spending only 10 years in school.

Huang-li graduated from Université Bonaparte in Bonaparte with a degree in economics in 1914. He was only of the few non-Europeans who studied at the university at the time, achieving a perfect 100 on his entrance exam.

Military service and life in France (1918-1922)
In 1914, World War I broke out. Huang-li was called to serve in 1915 and was stationed in the Alsace region of France. After finishing his service he moved to Paris and settled in the 13th arrondissement, where he met Natalie Auvergne, whom he would later marry. He also met future friends and collaborators in Paris, like Lian Gaosheng and Daniel Lévard.

Political rise (1922-1946)
Huang-li moved back to Tseng in 1922 and became a prominent member of the Tridem Society, a Tseng pro-independence group. During this time, he wrote books (the most famous one was Free Tseng) under the name Yangde. The books called for an independent Tseng and how imperialism was bad.

In 1939 he was the subject of an assassination attempt by Japanese soldiers for being against Japanese imperialism. However, Huang-li survived.

Huang-li was part of the Gang of Five, one of the most powerful factions to push for independence of Tseng.

In 1944 he became the leader of the Parti national de la prosperite (National Prosperity Party; NPP) and ran for president in the first Tsengian election, in 1946.

Presidency (1946-1954)
Huang-li won the 1946 election, in an indirect election, with 1,394 votes for him, and 102 for Zhang Chang, his Socialist competitor.

Economic growth
The GDP growth of Tseng from 1946 to 1954 was 6% annually. Under Huang-li, many people moved to cities and rapid industrialization occurred. This period is often called the first Tsengian miracle. The second miracle would happen in the 1970s (Wanxia Miracle).

Social change
On April 1, 1947, Huang-li unveiled a Friendship Policy (Chinese: 友情政策) which was meant to make everyone equal under the law. He signed the Equality Law on January 19, 1948, which made all persons regardless of race, age, and sex equal. That also meant that indigenous, non-European or Chinese people and women could vote. The only group exempt were the homosexuals.

1950 re-election
Huang-li won the 1950 election, with 3,805,941 votes (90.9%) for him and 760,568 (18.1%) for his competitor from the Tsengian Socialist Union, James Yang-ming, out of 4,183,912 votes.

In September 1950, allegations arose of Yuan Zhong-sheng, a prominent NPP anti-communist politician and one of Huang-li's closest advisors, having connections with officials in China like. When Yuan confessed to the connections in an event now known as 9-20 Incident, Huang-li was enraged and ordered the Anti-Leftist Campaign, where many suspected "communists" were rounded up and tortured.

1954 re-election
Huang-li's popularity reached its peak in 1954. This time, he ran unopposed and won the election.

Assassination
"Main article: Assassination of Pierre Huang-li" On August 1, 1954, Huang-li was giving a speech about the economy outside of the Hotel Marin. Johan Lee, a member of the Tongzhi Wing of the PDP, was standing in his room, which gave a perfect shot of Huang-li. Lee pulled out a pistol and shot Huang-li three times. A spectator, Kuo Mei-ling, said that

Johan Lee attempted to escape after he killed Huang-li, but was seen by a lobby boy and reported. Lee was caught and sent to prison. He was due to be executed but was killed by Jack Chan, a prisoner and member of the ZY, a far-right Chinese supremacy group.

Legacy
Until recently, Huang-li was seen as a loving and caring man who wanted to do good for his country. Now his legacy is hotly debated (although Huang-li criticizers are usually hated by Tsengians). Many people say that Huang-li, although for democracy, was like a dictator, as Johan Lee said. He banned the use of Simplified Chinese and Russian, and people caught doing that would be sentenced to jail or killed.

Political theory
Huang-li's political philosophy and thoughts were called the Five Points, or Huang-li Thought. They were:


 * 1) Be proud and nationalistic of your country (Tseng).
 * 2) Fight against all communism and socialism.
 * 3) Be democratic. Tseng is not authoritarian, it is a democracy.
 * 4) There shall always be social welfare.
 * 5) Rights and freedoms shall be protected.

Cult of personality
"See also: List of things named after Pierre Huang-li"In an interview with on April 3, 1953, Huang-li was asked the following question: "Do you have a personality cult?" Huang-li responded, "No, and I find it quite sickening to have that." Despite his views, after Huang-li's death many buildings and objects were named after him, like the Huang-li University and Huang-li Road in Taihua. The cult of personality came into full swing during the martial law period of 1965-1968. At the beginning of school, in addition to the anthem, the Pierre Huang-li Memorial Song, a song memorializing Huang-li, was also sung. Anybody criticizing Huang-li was declared a "communist" and thrown into jail and/or executed.

Family
Huang-li was an only child. His mother was Zheng Hua. His father is unknown. It is probable that Huang-li was illegitimate.

Huang-li's wife was Natalie Auvergne, a French-Tsengian women. They had five children: artist Huang-li Chuan (1918-1995), entrepreneur Huang-li Jie (1920-), politician Celeste Huang-li (1919-2020), politician Paul Huang-li (1920-2016), and actress Wang Cai-ru (1925-).

Huang-li Chuan's eldest son, and Pierre Huang-li's grandson, Huang-li Jia-kang, was president of Tseng from 1984 to 1992.