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 General of theDepartment of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs | |||||||
| In office 18 July 2019 – 15 January 2025 | |||||||
| Deputy | Mao Ning, Hu Jian,Lin Jian, Jiang Xiaoyan | ||||||
| Preceded by | Lu Kang | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Mao Ning | ||||||
| Deputy Director General of theDepartment of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy 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 | (1970-04-24)April 24, 1970 (age 54) 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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Hua Chunying (Chinese:华春莹; born 24 April 1970) is a Chinese diplomat who has been serving asVice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China since 2024. She most notably served asspokesperson of theMinistry of Foreign Affairs.
After graduating fromNanjing University with a major inEnglish language andliterature 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 general of the Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy from 2012 to 2019, and director general of the Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy from 2019 to 2025. She was appointed as theAssistant Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2021 to 2024.
Hua was born inHuai'an,Jiangsu. Both her parents were officials. Her father was formerly secretary of theChinese Communist PartyHuai'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.
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 inSingapore as anattaché. 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 general of the Department of Press, Communication, and Public Diplomacy 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 general of the Foreign Ministry Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy, succeedingLu Kang.[5] She became the second female director general of the Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy afterGong Peng, the very first director general of this department.[6][7] In October 2021, she was promoted toassistant minister of foreign affairs. Hua oversees the ministry’s work related to press, protocol, and translation.[8] Hua was a delegate to the19th and20thNational 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][12]
On January 15, 2025, Hua stepped down from her role as the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry,[13][better source needed] but is still - as of January 18, 2025 - listed as an official of the ministry itself.[14]
Hua has criticized the US plea to releasePu 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."[15]
In 2021, she compared theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack with the 2019storming of the Legislative Council Complex.[16]
Hua is widely considered as awolf warrior diplomat.[17]: 121 In 2020, she stated that she was "fine" being called a wolf-warrior diplomat as long as she defends the legitimate interests of China regarding sovereignty, security, and development.[18]
In 2020, Hua retweeted a story published byThe Grayzone that claimed to debunk research into theinternment camps in Xinjiang detaining Uyghurs.[19]
Amidst criticism from the Australian and New Zealand governments in 2020 over a computer-generated image posted by Chinese Foreign Ministry SpokesmanZhao 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!"[20][21]
Just hours after thefall 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."[22]
In January 2021, Hua renewed the conspiracy theory that theSARS-CoV-2 virus originated in theUnited States at theFort Detrick Army Medical Command Installation. Her words quickly became a trending topic 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.[23]
After Indian PMNarendra Modi indirectly called Pakistan a "mothership of terrorism" at the2016 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."[24] She published a similar statement in August 2017 after US PresidentTrump accused Pakistan ofoffering safe haven to terrorists.[25]
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?"[26][clarification needed] Twitter and Facebook have been banned by the mainland Chinese government since 2009.[26]
In August 2022, Hua warned thatNancy Pelosi should not visitTaiwan, 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."[27] 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.[28]
In April 2024, Hua posted several video screenshots and photos in the social media platform X showing American police crackdowns on large-scale campus protests against U.S. support forIsrael. She said in one post: "Remember how U.S. officials reacted when these protests happened elsewhere."[12]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Deputy Director General of theDepartment of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2012–2019 | Succeeded by Yu Dunhai |
| Preceded by | Director General of theDepartment of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2019–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs 2021–2024 | Incumbent |