Tan Zhenlin

He served as the Third Secretary of the Communist Party's East China Bureau, then Chairman of Jiangsu Provincial People's Government.

In December 1954 Tan became the party's deputy Secretary-General (not to be confused with General Secretary), and later Vice Premier.

Tan, along with other Communist revolutionaries such as Chen Yi and Nie Rongzhen, openly attacked the CCRG and their insistence on expanding the Cultural Revolution.

Tan bluntly told the assembled leaders that the Cultural Revolution was an attempt to purge the Communist old guard.

[4]: 154  However, after Lin Biao's own demise in 1971, Mao attempted to reach out to his old revolutionary colleagues, and restored Tan's political standing.