Niel Sih was a Chinese Communist who became active in the Trotskyist Left Opposition in China. Born as Liu Renjing, he took the pseudonym of Neil Sih, which he claimed was given to him by Leon Trotsky. As a member of the Left Opposition, Sih was a staunch opponent of Chen Dixiu, then the de facto leader of the movement, whom Sih may have seen as an obstacle to his own succession in party leadership. Critical of the ruling party of China, The Kuomintang, Sih was jailed and tortured. In March 1937, four months prior to his scheduled discharge, Sih was released from prison after aligning himself with the Kuomintang. As a result, he was expelled from the Left Opposition, and later joined the Publicity Section of the National Military Council of the Kuomintang.
Sources:
-
Revolutionary History, Vol. 2, no. 4 (Spring 1990), "The Tragedy of the Chinese Revolution."
From the guide to the Neil Sih Typescript: "Five Years of the Left Opposition in China: An Attempt to Explain Its Failure to Make Progress", 1934, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)
