- People & Events Chou En-Lai (1898 - 1976) Kissinger considered Chou En-lai one of the two or three most impressive men I have ever met. Nixon wrote of his brilliance and dynamism. Premier Chou En-lai was Communist China's first and longest-serving leader. As the Communist representative in Chungking, the Chinese capital during World War II, he became familiar with many American officials and ...www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/china/peopleevents/pande04.html