Ding Xuesong

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Ding.
Ding Xuesong
丁雪松
Ding in 1947
Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands
In office
1979–1981
Preceded byChen Xinren
Succeeded byGuo Jie [zh]
Chinese Ambassador to Denmark and Iceland
In office
1982–1984
Preceded byQin Jialin (Denmark) and Chen Feng (Iceland)
Succeeded byChen Luzhi [zh]
Personal details
Born(1918-05-27)27 May 1918
Mudong town, Ba County, Chongqing, Sichuan, China
(present-day Banan District, Chongqing, China)
Died29 May 2011(2011-05-29) (aged 93)
Political partyChinese Communist Party
Spouse
​
(1941⁠–⁠1976)​
Children1 (daughter)

Ding Xuesong (Chinese: 丁雪松; 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[edit]

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 Communist Party of China 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 Chinese Women's University [zh] 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[edit]

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.[failed verification] 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 Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.[5]

In 1952, Ding transferred to the International Activities Guidance Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, 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.[6] 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".[7][8][9][6]

Xuesong retired in 1994 and in 2007, she donated ten cultural relics, including a commemorative bowl from the Danish Foreign Ministry, to the Chinese Museum of Women and Children [zh] in Beijing.[7]

Personal life[edit]

Ding with her husband Zheng Lücheng and daughter Zheng Xiaoti (1948)

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][6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Ding Xuesong: la première ambassadrice de la Chine nouvelle". french.china.org.cn (in French). China Internet Information Center. 31 July 2009. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. 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
  2. ^ "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. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  3. ^ "丁雪松同志逝世". Sina. 13 July 2011. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  4. ^ "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. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "丁雪松同志逝世". Sina. 11 July 2011. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Zhang, Bing (2019). "新中国第一位女大使丁雪松二三事". zgdsw.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Ding Xuesong, new China's first ambassadress". China Daily. 8 April 2009. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  8. ^ "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. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  9. ^ Sciutoa, Ruggero; Kühnel, Florian (2022). "Introduction". Gender and Diplomacy in the Early Modern Period. 44 (5). The International History Review: 943–951. doi:10.1080/07075332.2022.2120050. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  10. ^ "郑律成与丁雪松的异国姻缘". Sina. 12 February 2016. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  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. ^ "郑律成之女郑小提：谢谢哈尔滨，读懂了郑律成". Sina Finance. 20 March 2023. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  13. ^ "한국인 음악가와 사랑에 빠진 중국 공산당 여전사의 동굴결혼". Chosun. 2011. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Ambassador of China to the Netherlands
1979–1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Qin Jialin (Denmark), Chen Feng (Iceland)
 Ambassador of China to Denmark and Iceland
1982–1984 		Succeeded by
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