Hua Chunying

Hua Chunying (Chinese: 华春莹; born April 1970)[1] is a Chinese diplomat, the spokesperson of China,[2] and the director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department of China.[3] Hua is the fifth spokeswoman and 27th spokesperson since the position was established in the ministry back in 1983.[4]

In this Chinese name, the family name is Hua.
Hua Chunying
华春莹
Hua Chunying in 2011
Director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department of China
Assumed office
18 July 2019
DeputyGeng Shuang
Yu Dunhai
Zhao Lijian
Preceded byLu Kang
Deputy Director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department of China
In office
2012–2019
Preceded byHong Lei
Succeeded byYu Dunhai
Personal details
BornApril 1970 (age 50)
Huaiyin, Jiangsu
CitizenshipChina
NationalityChinese
Political partyCommunist Party of China
ResidenceShanghai
Alma materNanjing University
OccupationDiplomat
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese华春莹
Traditional Chinese華春瑩

Biography

Hua was born in Huai'an, Jiangsu. Both her parents were officials; her father was formerly Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Communist Party of China in Huai’an County, and her mother was the Deputy Director of a local district.[5] She graduated from Nanjing University in 1992, where she majored in English language at the School of Foreign Languages.

After graduation, Hua was appointed as an official to the Department of Western Europe. Over a period of 20 years, Hua worked her way up to the position of spokeswoman. After 1995, she spent four years in Singapore as an attaché. During 2003 to 2010, she was promoted from her position as secretary to that of counselor in China’s Mission to the European Union.

In 2012, Hua was promoted to Deputy Director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department of the People's Republic of China. She serves concurrently as the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.[6] In February 2018, during a prolonged absence at the Foreign Ministry, there were reports 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.[7] On July 18, 2019, she was appointed Director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department of the People's Republic of China, succeeding Lu Kang.[8] She became the second female director-general of the Information Department after Gong Peng, the very first director-general of this department.[9][10]

Commentary

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 2018, in response to the US tariffs imposed on trade with China, Hua said "In international relationships, every time you change, every time you break a promise, the country’s credibility is damaged."[12]

Covid-19

In January 2021, Chunying renewed a conspiracy theory about the SARS-CoV-2 virus originating in the United States at the Fort Detrick Army Medical Command Installation. This conspiracy theory quickly went trending on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, and Chunying 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]

Personal life

Hua Chunying enjoys playing tennis.[14]

See also


References
  1. http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/hcy_665411/
  2. "Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on May 6, 2014". Retrieved May 6, 2014.
  3. "Hua Chunying, nueva portavoz del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de China" (in Spanish). 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
  4. "Hua Chunying Named as New Spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry". 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-04-06.
  5. 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
  6. "Archived copy" 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.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. Strong, Matthew (2018-03-01). "China foreign ministry spokeswoman reappears after U.S. dollar accusations". Taiwan News.
  8. 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.
  9. 2019年7月22日外交部发言人耿爽主持例行记者会 (in Chinese). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  10. "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. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  11. "China Rebukes U.S. Over Criticism of Civil Rights Lawyer's Detention". New York Times. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  12. "Twitter". 30 May 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  13. Li, Jane. "China's gift for the Biden inauguration is a conspiracy theory about Covid-19's US origins". Quartz. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  14. 外交部发言人华春莹：工作和加班以外，就在网球场. Sohu (in Chinese). 2018-04-12.
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