Hua Chunying

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Hua Chunying

| native_name = {{nobold|华春莹}}

| native_name_lang = zh-Hans-CN

| image = 中国外交部发言人华春莹 (cropped).png

| imagesize = 225px

| caption = Hua in January 2019

| office = Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs

| term_start = 27 May 2024

| term_end =

| minister = Wang Yi

| successor =

| alongside = Deng Li, Ma Zhaoxu, Sun Weidong

| office1 = Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs

| term_start1 = 25 October 2021

| term_end1 = 27 May 2024

| minister1 = Wang Yi
Qin Gang

| predecessor1 = Deng Li

| successor1 =

| office2 = Director General of the Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

| term_start2 = 18 July 2019

| term_end2 = 15 January 2025

| deputy2 = Mao Ning, Hu Jian, Lin Jian, Jiang Xiaoyan

| predecessor2 = Lu Kang

| successor2 = Mao Ning

| office3 = Deputy Director General of the Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

| 1blankname3 = {{nowrap|Director}}

| 1namedata3 = Qin Gang
Liu Jianchao
Lu Kang

| predecessor3 = Hong Lei

| successor3 = Yu Dunhai

| termstart3 = August 2012

| termend3 = July 2019

| birthname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|4|24}}

| birth_place = Huaiyin, Jiangsu, China

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = Chinese Communist Party (1993–present)

| occupation = Diplomat

| parents = Qian Yong (father)
Hua Jie (mother)

| relatives = Qian Chunmin (sister)

| religion =

| profession =

| alma_mater = Nanjing University (BA)

| website =

| signature = Signature of Hua Chunying, October 18, 2019.jpg

| footnotes =

| blank1 =

| date1 =

| module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes|order=st

| s = {{linktext|华|春|莹}}

| t = {{linktext|華|春|瑩}}

| p = Huà Chūnyíng

}}

Hua Chunying ({{lang-zh|s=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. She most notably served as spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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 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 the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2021 to 2024.

Early life

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.{{cite news |url = http://newpaper.dahe.cn/hnsb/html/2012-11/19/content_813035.htm?div=-1 |script-title = zh:外交部新发言人出生干部家庭大学四年没谈恋爱 |date = 2012-11-19 |work = Tencent |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140513011617/http://newpaper.dahe.cn/hnsb/html/2012-11/19/content_813035.htm?div=-1 |archive-date = 2014-05-13 |language = zh }} [http://news.qq.com/a/20121119/000699.htm?pgv_ref=aio2012&ptlang=2052 Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414165933/http://news.qq.com/a/20121119/000699.htm?pgv_ref=aio2012&ptlang=2052 |date=2015-04-14 }} She graduated from Nanjing University in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English language and literature.

Career

File:Hua Chunying2.jpg

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 general of the Department of Press, Communication, and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.{{Cite web |title=CV of Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying |url=http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/hcy_665411/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809115643/http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/hcy_665411/ |archive-date=2017-08-09 |access-date=2017-08-16}} She served concurrently as the spokeswoman for the ministry.{{cite news |script-title =zh:华春莹任外交部新发言人下周一主持发布会 |url =http://news.163.com/12/1116/15/8GEMCVTC00014JB5.html |date =2012-11-16 |newspaper =163.COM |language =zh |access-date =2014-05-11 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20121119224353/http://news.163.com/12/1116/15/8GEMCVTC00014JB5.html |archive-date =2012-11-19 |url-status =dead }} 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.{{cite news|title=China foreign ministry spokeswoman reappears after U.S. dollar accusations|url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3374404|date=2018-03-01|newspaper=Taiwan News|language=en|first=Matthew|last=Strong|access-date=2019-07-26|archive-date=2019-07-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726071027/https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3374404|url-status=live}}

On July 18, 2019, she was appointed director general of the Foreign Ministry Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy, succeeding Lu Kang.{{cite news |url=https://news.163.com/19/0722/10/EKMB4G9B0001899O.html |script-title=zh:华春莹接棒陆慷任外交部新闻司司长陆慷新职公开 |work=163.com |date=2019-07-22 |language=zh |access-date=2019-07-22 |archive-date=2019-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722043730/https://news.163.com/19/0722/10/EKMB4G9B0001899O.html |url-status=live }} She became the second female director general of the Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy after Gong Peng, the very first director general of this department.{{cite web|url=https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/nanhai/chn/fyrbt/t1682511.htm|script-title=zh:2019年7月22日外交部发言人耿爽主持例行记者会|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China|language=zh-cn|date=2019-07-22|access-date=2019-09-30|archive-date=2019-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929054429/https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/nanhai/chn/fyrbt/t1682511.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.chinaconsulatechicago.org/eng/fyrth/t1682558.htm|title=Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on July 22, 2019|publisher=Consulate General of The People's Republic of China in Chicago|date=2019-07-23|access-date=2019-09-30|archive-date=2019-09-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930014039/http://www.chinaconsulatechicago.org/eng/fyrth/t1682558.htm|url-status=live}} In October 2021, she was promoted to assistant minister of foreign affairs. Hua oversees the ministry’s work related to press, protocol, and translation.{{cite news |author1=Cai, Xuejiao |author2=Lin, Yunshi |date=25 October 2021 |title=Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Promoted to Assistant Minister |work=Caixin |url=https://www.caixinglobal.com/2021-10-25/foreign-ministry-spokesperson-promoted-to-assistant-minister-101791366.html |url-status=live |access-date=26 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025180404/https://www.caixinglobal.com/2021-10-25/foreign-ministry-spokesperson-promoted-to-assistant-minister-101791366.html |archive-date=25 October 2021}} Hua was a delegate to the 19th and 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.{{Cite web |title=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 |url=http://www.gov.cn/zhuanti/2017-09/29/content_5231583.htm |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=www.gov.cn}}{{Cite web |title=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 |url=http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2022-09/25/content_5711836.htm |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=www.gov.cn}}

On May 27, 2024, the State Council appointed Hua Chunying as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.{{cite web | title=国务院任免国家工作人员-新华网 | website=Xinhua News Agency | date=2024-05-27 | url=http://www.news.cn/politics/20240527/42a6072544c843a9adc880f27fbe8d0e/c.html | language=zh | access-date=2024-05-27}}

On January 15, 2025, Hua stepped down from her role as the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry,{{Cite web |last=Hua |first=Chunying |date=2025-01-18 |title=Hua Chunying 华春莹 on X: Happy to have fulfilled my duty as MFA spokesperson. Thank you all for your attention and support for China. You can expect more exciting stories from China. |url=https://x.com/SpokespersonCHN/status/1880588951649431817 |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=Twitter}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=January 2025}} but is still - as of January 18, 2025 - listed as an official of the ministry itself.{{Cite web |title=Principal Officials_Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China |url=https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zygy/ |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=www.fmprc.gov.cn}}

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."{{cite news |date=7 May 2015 |title=China Rebukes U.S. Over Criticism of Civil Rights Lawyer's Detention |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/08/world/asia/pu-zhiqiang-china-detention.html?_r=0 |url-status=live |access-date=7 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519003940/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/08/world/asia/pu-zhiqiang-china-detention.html?_r=0 |archive-date=19 May 2015}}

In 2021, she compared the January 6 United States Capitol attack with the 2019 storming of the Legislative Council Complex.{{cite news |date=8 January 2021 |title=Beijing draws comparison between Capitol riots and Hong Kong protests |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/beijing-draws-comparison-between-capitol-riots-and-hk-protests-20210108-p56skn.html |url-status=live |access-date=20 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301163705/https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/beijing-draws-comparison-between-capitol-riots-and-hk-protests-20210108-p56skn.html |archive-date=1 March 2021}}

Hua is widely considered as a wolf warrior diplomat.{{Cite book |last=Loh |first=Dylan M.H. |title=China's Rising Foreign Ministry: Practices and Representations of Assertive Diplomacy |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2024 |isbn=9781503638204}}{{Rp|page=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.{{Cite journal |last=Xiaolin |first=Duan |date=2024-05-03 |title=Domestic sources of China's wolf-warrior diplomacy: individual incentive, institutional changes and diversionary strategies |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09512748.2023.2205163 |journal=The Pacific Review |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=585–603 |doi=10.1080/09512748.2023.2205163 |issn=0951-2748|url-access=subscription }}

In 2020, Hua retweeted a story published by The Grayzone that claimed to debunk research into the internment camps in Xinjiang detaining Uyghurs.{{cite web |last1=Allen-Ebrahimian |first1=Bethany |date=11 August 2020 |title=The American blog pushing Xinjiang denialism |url=https://www.axios.com/grayzone-max-blumenthal-china-xinjiang-d95789af-263c-4049-ba66-5baedd087df4.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505102933/https://www.axios.com/2020/08/11/grayzone-max-blumenthal-china-xinjiang |archive-date=5 May 2022 |access-date=1 November 2021 |website=Axios}}

= Afghanistan =

Amidst 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!"{{Cite web |date=2020-12-01 |title=China refuses to apologise over gruesome Australia soldier post |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/1/china-refuses-to-apologise-over-gruesome-australia-soldier-post |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Sutirtho Patranobis |date=November 30, 2020 |title='Afghan lives matter': China tells Australia, refuses to say sorry for controversial tweet |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/afghan-lives-matter-china-tells-australia-refuses-to-say-sorry-for-controversial-tweet/story-A2fMZzPj7PFEzytLGkeiyK.html |work=Hindustan Times}}

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."{{Cite web |last=John Calabrese |date=September 21, 2021 |title=China's Taliban Conundrum |url=https://www.mei.edu/publications/chinas-taliban-conundrum |website=Middle East Institute |language=en}}

=COVID-19 conspiracy theory=

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 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.{{Cite news |last=Li |first=Jane |date=20 January 2021 |title=China's gift for the Biden inauguration is a conspiracy theory about Covid-19's US origins |language=en |website=Quartz |url=https://qz.com/1959825/china-renews-its-push-on-a-conspiracy-theory-about-covid-19/ |url-status=live |access-date=2021-01-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220164052/https://qz.com/1959825/china-renews-its-push-on-a-conspiracy-theory-about-covid-19/ |archive-date=2021-02-20}}

= Pakistan =

After 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."{{Cite web |date=2016-10-17 |title=China defends Pakistan after Modi's 'mothership of terrorism' remark |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1290542 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20240722040752/https://www.dawn.com/news/1290542#comments |archive-date=2024-07-22 |website=Dawn.com |language=en |agency=Reuters |access-date=2024-07-25 }} She published a similar statement in August 2017 after US President Trump accused Pakistan of offering safe haven to terrorists.{{Cite web |last=Siddiqui |first=Naveed |date=2017-08-22 |title=After Trump's Afghan policy statement, China reaffirms support to Pakistan |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1353214 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20240722070717/https://www.dawn.com/news/1353214 |archive-date=2024-07-22 |website=Dawn.com |language=en |access-date=2024-07-25 }}

= Social media =

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?"{{Cite news |date=2021-02-22 |title='Why can't Chinese people use Twitter or Facebook...?' asks China's gov't spokesperson amid gov't ban |language=en-GB |website=Hong Kong Free Press |url=https://hongkongfp.com/2021/02/22/why-cant-chinese-people-use-twitter-or-facebook-asks-chinas-spokesperson-amid-govt-ban/ |access-date=2021-02-22}}{{clarify|date=February 2023|reason=who was she posing this question towards?}} Twitter and Facebook have been banned by the mainland Chinese government since 2009.

= Taiwan =

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."{{Cite news |last1=Mozur |first1=Paul |last2=Chien |first2=Amy Chang |date=2022-08-02 |title=Live Updates: Pelosi Expected to Arrive in Taiwan, Setting Up High-Stakes Standoff With China |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/08/02/world/pelosi-taiwan |access-date=2022-08-02 |issn=0362-4331}} Later that month, after Pelosi's visit, Hua made a tweet asserting that Taiwan was a part of China because "Baidu Maps {{Sic|show}} 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.{{Cite news |date=2022-08-08 |title=China spokeswoman's Taiwan restaurant tweet sparks ridicule online |language=en |website=France 24 |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220808-china-spokeswoman-s-taiwan-restaurant-tweet-sparks-ridicule-online |access-date=2022-08-09}}

= Gaza war =

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 United States support for Israel in the Gaza war. She said in one post: "Remember how U.S. officials reacted when these protests happened elsewhere."{{Cite web |date=2024-05-27 |title=Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman promoted to vice-minister |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3264229/outspoken-head-chinas-foreign-ministry-press-corps-hua-chunying-promoted-deputy-foreign-minister |access-date=2025-01-17 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}