Hua Chunying
Hua Chunying (Chinese: 华春莹; born 24 April 1970) is a Chinese diplomat who has been serving as Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of China since 2021 and the fifth spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2012.
Hua Chunying | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
华春莹 | |||||||
Hua in January 2019 | |||||||
| Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs | |||||||
| Assumed office 25 October 2021 | |||||||
| 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 | Wang Wenbin | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
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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 in 2021.
Early life edit
Hua 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 edit
After 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 of the People's Republic of China, 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]
Commentary edit
Hua 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."[11]
In 2021, she compared the January 6 United States Capitol attack with the 2019 storming of the Legislative Council Complex.[12]
COVID-19 conspiracy theory edit
In 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.[13]
Social media edit
In 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?"[14][clarification needed] Twitter and Facebook have been banned by the mainland Chinese government since 2009.[14]
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine edit
On 24 February, at a Chinese Foreign Ministry press conference, Hua said that, "China is still the only permanent member of the United Nations Security Council that has not yet achieved the complete reunification of the motherland." The situation with the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine would be instructive to learn “how to fight the armed reunification”. Just as she foresaw resolution of the European conflict within 48 hours, if the “war of reunification of Taiwan” starts, the “highest goal” of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) would be to “reunify Taiwan”. The PLA would not delay and thus not give adversaries the time and opportunity to intervene militarily and politically. In Hua's vision, the PLA would also "defeat the island’s naval and air forces in the shortest possible time, seize air and sea control, provide security for subsequent landing operations, eliminate Taiwan’s combat power within 48 hours, and take full control of Taiwan within 72 hours."[15]
Taiwan edit
In 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."[16] 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.[17]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ . Tencent (in Chinese). 2012-11-19. Archived from the original on 2014-05-13. Alt URL 2015-04-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "CV of Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying". from the original on 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
- ^ . 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
- ^ "China Rebukes U.S. Over Criticism of Civil Rights Lawyer's Detention". The New York Times. 7 May 2015. 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. from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
- ^ Li, Jane (20 January 2021). "China's gift for the Biden inauguration is a conspiracy theory about Covid-19's US origins". Quartz. from the original on 2021-02-20. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
- ^ 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.
- ^ . China-Arms. 25 February 2022. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022.
- ^ 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.