Ding Xuesong Explained

Office1:Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands
Term Start1:1979
Term End1:1981
Predecessor1:Chen Xinren
Office2:Chinese Ambassador to Denmark and Iceland
Term Start2:1982
Term End2:1984
Predecessor2:Qin Jialin (Denmark) and Chen Feng (Iceland)
Ding Xuesong
Native Name:丁雪松
Native Name Lang:zh
Birth Date:27 May 1918
Birth Place:Mudong town, Ba County, Chongqing, Sichuan, China
(present-day Banan District, Chongqing, China)
Party:Chinese Communist Party
Children:1 (daughter)

Ding Xuesong (; 27 May 1918 – 29 May 2011) was a Chinese diplomat and politician who was China's first female ambassador, serving as ambassador to the Netherlands from 1979 to 1981 and then to Denmark and Iceland from 1982 to 1984.[1]

Early life

Born on 1918 in Ba County in Chongqing, she graduated from Wende Girls' High School and Sichuan Provincial Girls' Vocational School in Chongqing, and later worked at a bank. In November 1937, she joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and in January 1938, she arrived in Yan'an and enrolled in the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University.[2]

In July 1939, when the in Yan'an opened, Ding joined the advanced research class and served as the vice president of the student union. In October 1941, was called back to Yan'an to participate in the preparatory work for the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Consultative Council and was appointed as the secretary to Li Dingming, the vice chairman of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region government.[3] [4]

Diplomatic career

In 1947, Ding moved to North Korea and was appointed within the Korean Workers' Party as the secretary general of the Central Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee of the party and worked in the propaganda department of the Hwanghae Province Party Committee. In 1948, she became the Chairwoman of the North Korean Overseas Chinese Federation and the representative of the Chinese business delegation in Pyongyang.[5]

In September 1949, she was tasked with establishing the Pyongyang branch of Xinhua News Agency and became the director of the branch in early 1950. She returned to China in September of the same year following the outbreak of the Korean War and in 1951, she was transferred to the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party.[5]

In 1952, Ding transferred to the International Activities Guidance Committee of the Central Committee of the CCP, serving as the director of the office. In 1971, transferred to the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries as the secretary general and later as the vice president of the association.[5]

In 1979, she succeeded Chen Xinren as the Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands, becoming the first female ambassador of the People's Republic of China. During her tenure as ambassador, she oversaw the facilitation of Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt's visit to China in 1980, making it first visit by a sitting Dutch Prime Minister to China. In 1982, she was appointed as the ambassador to Denmark and Iceland. As ambassador to Denmark, Ding was instrumental in Carlsberg Brewery's investment in the Beijing Huadu Brewery, at the time China's most modern. For her efforts, she was nicknamed the "beer ambassadress".[6] [7] [8] [9]

Xuesong retired in 1994 and in 2007, she donated ten cultural relics, including a commemorative bowl from the Danish Foreign Ministry, to the in Beijing.[6]

Personal life

Ding married Korean-born composer Zheng Lücheng in 1941. She accompanied him to North Korea in 1945, but appealed to Zhou Enlai to request Kim Il Sung's permission for them to return to China in 1950.[10] [11] The couple had a daughter named Zheng Xiaoti.[12]

Ding died on 29 May 2011, at the age of 93.[13] [9]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ding Xuesong: la première ambassadrice de la Chine nouvelle . french.china.org.cn . . https://web.archive.org/web/20141018000115/http://french.china.org.cn/china/txt/2009-07/31/content_18245247.htm . 18 October 2014 . fr . 31 July 2009 . Ding Xuesong, née en 1918 à Chongqing, a adhéré au Parti communiste chinois à l'âge de 19 ans. En janvier 1938, elle se rendit à Yan'an . live.
  2. Web site: 新中国第一位女大使,穿着旗袍上任,还解决了北京人喝啤酒的困难. wenhui.whb.cn. 27 February 2019. 11 November 2023. 13 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231113045747/https://wenhui.whb.cn/zhuzhan/xinwen/20190227/244722.html. live.
  3. Web site: 丁雪松同志逝世. Sina. 13 July 2011. 13 November 2023. 13 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231113045741/https://news.sina.cn/sa/2011-07-13/detail-ikftssap3914103.d.html. live.
  4. Web site: 中国女大使跨国之恋惊动周恩来 恋人是朝鲜文艺青年. Sina Military. 18 January 2016. 13 November 2023. 13 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231113045741/https://mil.sina.cn/ls/2016-01-08/detail-ifxnkvtn9625711.d.html. live.
  5. Web site: 丁雪松同志逝世. Sina. 11 July 2011. 11 November 2023. 13 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231113045741/https://news.sina.cn/sa/2011-07-13/detail-ikftssap3914103.d.html. live.
  6. Web site: Ding Xuesong, new China's first ambassadress. China Daily. 8 April 2009. 11 November 2023. 13 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231113045738/https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/19thcpcnationalcongress/2011-08/11/content_29714845.htm. live.
  7. Web site: 中国第一位女大使丁雪松:出生于重庆寒门,抗战时期以笔为刀救亡图存. Chongqing Morning News. 22 July 2018. 13 November 2023. 13 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231113045738/https://www.cqcb.com/personage/2018-07-22/975962.html. live.
  8. Introduction. Ruggero. Sciutoa. Florian. Kühnel. Gender and Diplomacy in the Early Modern Period. 2022. 44. 5. 943–951. The International History Review. 10.1080/07075332.2022.2120050. 13 November 2023. 13 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231113073247/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/07075332.2022.2120050?needAccess=true. live.
  9. Web site: 新中国第一位女大使丁雪松二三事. zgdsw.com. Bing. Zhang. 2019. 11 November 2023. 13 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231113073641/http://www.zgdsw.com/article/821.html. live.
  10. Web site: 郑律成与丁雪松的异国姻缘. Sina. 12 February 2016. 13 November 2023. 13 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231113045737/https://www.sohu.com/a/120446277_488074. live.
  11. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women – Volume 2 – Page 145 Lily Xiao Hong Lee, A. D. Stefanowska, Sue Wiles – 2003 "... situation of their conflicting nationalities by returning to China, where Zheng Lücheng took out Chinese citizenship. ... PRC, Zheng Lücheng was active in his work as a composer; he wrote the music for the Western-style opera Cloud Gazing."
  12. Web site: 郑律成之女郑小提:谢谢哈尔滨,读懂了郑律成. Sina Finance. 20 March 2023. 13 November 2023. 13 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231113045739/https://finance.sina.cn/2023-03-20/detail-imympivu3443145.d.html?from=wap. live.
  13. Web site: 한국인 음악가와 사랑에 빠진 중국 공산당 여전사의 동굴결혼. Chosun. 2011. 13 November 2023. 13 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231113045740/http://blogs.chosun.com/hbjee/2011/06/03/%ED%95%9C%EA%B5%AD%EC%9D%B8-%EC%9D%8C%EC%95%85%EA%B0%80%EC%99%80-%EC%82%AC%EB%9E%91%EC%97%90-%EB%B9%A0%EC%A7%84-%EC%A4%91%EA%B5%AD-%EA%B3%B5%EC%82%B0%EB%8B%B9-%EC%97%AC%EC%A0%84%EC%82%AC%EC%9D%98/. live.