Pioneering Paulines

Born in Jinjiang, Fujian, Xu Li studied at St. Paul’s College in the early 1920s. A communist revolutionary, labour activist, and guerrilla leader, Xu primarily worked at the Communist Party (CPC)’s International Department (ILD) after the People’s Republic (PRC) was established.

Inspired by the Seamen’s Strike of 1922, Xu began reading Marxist literature, entering a life of labour activism. In 1925, Xu left Hong Kong for the Philippines and was part of the anti-imperialist May Thirtieth Movement. He founded the Chinese General Labour Union in the Philippines in 1927, became a full CPC member in 1931, and led the party’s Philippine branch.

With the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Xu mobilised his compatriots to join the mainland’s New Fourth Army. When Japan occupied the Philippines, Xu organised the Philippine-Chinese Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Forces (aka the Wha-Chi) together with Li Bingxiang and other Chinese Filipinos, disrupting Japanese supply lines and assisting the American-led counterattack.

In 1946, Xu went back to southern China, where he mobilised support for the Communists in the Chinese Civil War. Following the PRC’s founding, Xu was the ILD’s first deputy director and also served on the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee. During the Cultural Revolution, Xu was framed as a counter-revolutionary by Mao Zedong’s ally, Kang Sheng. His rehabilitation came posthumously, following Deng Xiaoping’s accession to power in 1978.

許立生於福建晉江，在一九二〇年代初曾於聖保羅書院就讀，爲共產革命家、工人運動領袖、游擊隊領袖。在一九四九年建國後曾任中共中央對外聯絡部首任副部長之一。

許氏在港期間受海員大罷工啓發，遂自學馬克斯主義，立志從事工人運動。在一九二五年赴菲律賓，同年上海發生五卅慘案，許氏決心聲援上海工人及學生，在一九二七年成立菲律賓華僑工人協會，於一九三一年成爲共產黨員，領導中共菲律賓支部。

隨抗日戰爭爆發，國共再度合作，許氏在菲律賓組織華僑靑年赴華入新四軍。菲律賓日佔時期，許氏聯同李炳祥等在菲華僑成立菲律賓華僑抗日遊擊支隊（「華支」），打擾日軍補給，配合美軍反攻，太平洋戰爭爲盟軍出力。

一九四六年，許氏回國，第二次國共內戰於華南動員支持中共解放。中共建政後，曾出任中聯部首任副部長之一，中國人民政治協商會議全國委員會委員等。文化大革命爆發時，許氏被康生誣爲「三反分子」。四人幫下臺後，國家領導層於一九七八年的追悼會上獻了花圈，對其貢獻作出肯定，許氏終獲平反。