Hua Chunying (Chinese: 华春莹; born 24 April 1970) is a Chinese diplomat who has been serving as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China since 2024 and spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2012.
Hua Chunying | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
华春莹 | |||||||
.png) Hua in January 2019 | |||||||
| Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs | |||||||
| Assumed office 27 May 2024 | |||||||
| Minister | Wang Yi | ||||||
| Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs | |||||||
| In office 25 October 2021 – 27 May 2024 | |||||||
| Minister | Wang Yi Qin Gang | ||||||
| Preceded by | Deng Li | ||||||
| Director of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs | |||||||
| Assumed office 18 July 2019 | |||||||
| Deputy | Mao Ning, Hu Jian, Lin Jian, Jiang Xiaoyan | ||||||
| Preceded by | Lu Kang | ||||||
| Deputy Director of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs | |||||||
| In office August 2012 – July 2019 | |||||||
| Director | Qin Gang Liu Jianchao Lu Kang | ||||||
| Preceded by | Hong Lei | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Yu Dunhai | ||||||
| Personal details | |||||||
| Born | April 24, 1970 Huaiyin, Jiangsu, China | ||||||
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party (1993–present) | ||||||
| Parent(s) | Qian Yong (father) Hua Jie (mother) | ||||||
| Relatives | Qian Chunmin (sister) | ||||||
| Alma mater | Nanjing University (BA) | ||||||
| Occupation | Diplomat | ||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 华春莹 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 華春瑩 | ||||||
| |||||||
After graduating from Nanjing University with a major in English language and literature in 1992, Hua joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a section member. She served as staff member, attaché, and third secretary in the Ministry's Department of Western Europe and the China Embassy in Singapore from 1992 to 2003. She served as second secretary, first secretary, and then counselor in the Mission of China to the European Union from 2003 to 2010. Hua then served as counselor at the Department of European Affairs from 2010 to 2012, deputy director of information from 2012 to 2019, and director of information from 2019 to 2021. She was appointed as the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2021 to 2024.
Early life
editHua was born in Huai'an, Jiangsu. Both her parents were officials. Her father was formerly secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Huai'an County Discipline Inspection Commission, and her mother was the deputy director of a local district.[1] She graduated from Nanjing University in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English language and literature.
Career
editAfter graduation, Hua joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China as a section member in the ministry's Department of Western Europe. Over a period of 20 years, Hua worked her way up to the position of spokeswoman. From 1995, she spent four years in Singapore as an attaché. During 2003 to 2010, she was promoted from secretary to counselor in China's mission to the European Union.
In 2012, Hua was promoted to deputy director of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[2] She served concurrently as the spokeswoman for the ministry.[3] In February 2018, during a prolonged absence at the Foreign Ministry, there were reports that Hua was investigated for storing large amounts of U.S. dollars in her home. On March 1, 2018, Hua returned to work as Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.[4]
On July 18, 2019, she was appointed director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department, succeeding Lu Kang.[5] She became the second female director-general of the Information Department after Gong Peng, the very first director-general of this department.[6][7] In October 2021, she was promoted to assistant minister of foreign affairs. Hua oversees the ministry’s work related to information, protocol, and translation.[8] Hua was a delegate to the 19th and 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.[9][10]
On May 27, 2024, the State Council appointed Hua Chunying as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.[11]
Commentary
editHua has criticized the US plea to release Pu Zhiqiang, saying, "I think lots of people have the same feeling with me, that some people in the United States have hearts that are too big and hands that are too long. Washington should address human rights problems at home and stop trying to be the world's policeman or judge."[12]
In 2021, she compared the January 6 United States Capitol attack with the 2019 storming of the Legislative Council Complex.[13]
Hua is widely considered as a wolf warrior diplomat.[14]: 121
Afghanistan
editAmidst criticism from the Australian and New Zealand governments in 2020 over a computer-generated image posted by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian on Twitter depicting an Australia soldier cutting an Afghan child's throat, Hua said: "The Australian side has been reacting so strongly to my colleague’s tweet. Why is that? Do they think that their merciless killing of Afghan civilians is justified but the condemnation of such ruthless brutality is not? Afghan lives matter!"[15][16]
Just hours after the fall of Kabul in August 2021, Hua stated in a press conference that China stood "ready to continue to develop good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation with Afghanistan and play a constructive role in Afghanistan’s peace and reconstruction."[17]
COVID-19 conspiracy theory
editIn January 2021, Hua renewed the conspiracy theory that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated in the United States at the Fort Detrick Army Medical Command Installation. Her words quickly went trending on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, and Hua continued to cite evidence on Twitter, while asking the government of the United States to open up Fort Detrick for further investigation to determine if it is the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.[18]
Pakistan
editAfter Indian PM Narendra Modi indirectly called Pakistan a "mothership of terrorism" at the 2016 BRICS summit, Hua told a local news briefing: "Everyone knows that India and Pakistan are victims of terrorism. Pakistan has made huge efforts and great sacrifices in fighting terrorism. I think the international community should respect this."[19] She published a similar statement in August 2017 after US President Trump accused Pakistan of offering safe haven to terrorists.[20]
Social media
editIn February 2021, Hua said that many Western officials use Weibo and Wechat, and asked, "Why can't Chinese people use Twitter or Facebook when foreigners can use Chinese social media platforms?"[21][clarification needed] Twitter and Facebook have been banned by the mainland Chinese government since 2009.[21]
Taiwan
editIn August 2022, Hua warned that Nancy Pelosi should not visit Taiwan, threatening that, "We closely follow Pelosi's itinerary. If the U.S. insists on going its own way, China will take firm and powerful measures to safeguard China’s sovereignty and security interests."[22] Later that month, after Pelosi's visit, Hua made a tweet asserting that Taiwan was a part of China because "Baidu Maps show [sic] that there are 38 Shandong dumpling restaurants and 67 Shanxi noodle restaurants in Taipei." The tweet was ridiculed by other Twitter users, who replied with examples of restaurant listings across the world.[23]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ 外交部新发言人出生干部家庭 大学四年没谈恋爱. Tencent (in Chinese). 2012-11-19. Archived from the original on 2014-05-13. Alt URL Archived 2015-04-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "CV of Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying". Archived from the original on 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
- ^ 华春莹任外交部新发言人 下周一主持发布会. 163.COM (in Chinese). 2012-11-16. Archived from the original on 2012-11-19. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
- ^ Strong, Matthew (2018-03-01). "China foreign ministry spokeswoman reappears after U.S. dollar accusations". Taiwan News. Archived from the original on 2019-07-26. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
- ^ 华春莹接棒陆慷任外交部新闻司司长 陆慷新职公开. 163.com (in Chinese). 2019-07-22. Archived from the original on 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
- ^ 2019年7月22日外交部发言人耿爽主持例行记者会 (in Chinese (China)). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. 2019-07-22. Archived from the original on 2019-09-29. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- ^ "Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on July 22, 2019". Consulate General of The People's Republic of China in Chicago. 2019-07-23. Archived from the original on 2019-09-30. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- ^ Cai, Xuejiao; Lin, Yunshi (25 October 2021). "Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Promoted to Assistant Minister". Caixin. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ^ "中国共产党第十九次全国代表大会代表名单 _ 最新报道 _中国政府网". www.gov.cn. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
- ^ "中国共产党第二十次全国代表大会代表名单_滚动新闻_中国政府网". www.gov.cn. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
- ^ "国务院任免国家工作人员-新华网". 新华网_让新闻离你更近 (in Chinese). 2024-05-27. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
- ^ "China Rebukes U.S. Over Criticism of Civil Rights Lawyer's Detention". The New York Times. 7 May 2015. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ "Beijing draws comparison between Capitol riots and Hong Kong protests". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 January 2021. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
- ^ Loh, Dylan M.H. (2024). China's Rising Foreign Ministry: Practices and Representations of Assertive Diplomacy. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9781503638204.
- ^ "China refuses to apologise over gruesome Australia soldier post". Al Jazeera. 2020-12-01. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ^ Sutirtho Patranobis (November 30, 2020). "'Afghan lives matter': China tells Australia, refuses to say sorry for controversial tweet". Hindustan Times.
- ^ John Calabrese (September 21, 2021). "China's Taliban Conundrum". Middle East Institute.
- ^ Li, Jane (20 January 2021). "China's gift for the Biden inauguration is a conspiracy theory about Covid-19's US origins". Quartz. Archived from the original on 2021-02-20. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
- ^ "China defends Pakistan after Modi's 'mothership of terrorism' remark". Dawn.com. Reuters. 2016-10-17. Archived from the original on 2024-07-22. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
- ^ Siddiqui, Naveed (2017-08-22). "After Trump's Afghan policy statement, China reaffirms support to Pakistan". Dawn.com. Archived from the original on 2024-07-22. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
- ^ a b "'Why can't Chinese people use Twitter or Facebook...?' asks China's gov't spokesperson amid gov't ban". Hong Kong Free Press. 2021-02-22. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
- ^ Mozur, Paul; Chien, Amy Chang (2022-08-02). "Live Updates: Pelosi Expected to Arrive in Taiwan, Setting Up High-Stakes Standoff With China". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
- ^ "China spokeswoman's Taiwan restaurant tweet sparks ridicule online". France 24. 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2022-08-09.