Pierre Huang-li

Pierre Huang-li (February 13, 1894 - August 1, 1954) was a French Tsengian politician and economist. He is known for being the first President of Tseng.

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.

Military service (1915-1918)
Huang-li graduated from Mei-tsu University in Bonaparte with a degree in economics in 1919, the reason it took so long was because he was serving in the French Army in World War I.

Years in France (1918-1922)
After finishing his service he moved to Paris, France where he met Natalie Auvergne, whom he would later marry.

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

In 1944 he became the leader of the Partie nationale 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 Chiang Ma-kuo, 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 PDP, 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 The Betrayal, 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.

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 was also sung. Anybody criticizing Huang-li was declared a "communist" and thrown into jail and/or executed.