From a Farm Boy to Poet Diplomat

On May 4th, 2009, the 90th anniversary of the May 4th Movement, Li Zhaoxing gave a lecture on his diplomatic career at Zhijiang Hotel in Hangzhou. Nearly 1,000 youngsters from middle schools, colleges and other social organizations attended the event. The 69-year-old Li, former foreign minister and chairperson of the Diplomatic Commission of the NPC Standing Committee and honorary president of China People’s Diplomatic Association, grew up from a farm boy to a prominent diplomat.

Li Zhaoxing was born into a farmer’s family in October 1940 in Jiaonan County in eastern China’s coastal Shandong Province. With a desire to be a poet, Li chose first to study the Chinese language and literature in Beijing University, but he was enrolled by the Western Languages Department. For five years, he worked very hard to be proficient in English. In August, 1964, he was recruited by the Foreign Ministry. The first assignment he got was a three-year advanced interpretation and translation course at the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute, the predecessor of present-day Beijing Foreign Affairs University. He became highly proficient in the language.

Started in 1970, he spent seven years in Kenya as a Chinese diplomat. The experienced opened his eyes to diplomacy and inspired his passion. He was transferred back to the ministry in 1977. After working as a deputy departmental head at the press division at the ministry, he went to Africa again. Two years later, he came back to the press division and was promoted. It was during this time, his diplomatic repartees at press conferences became legendary. He soon worked as a spokesperson for the ministry. In 1990 he was appointed an assistant to the foreign minister. In 1993, he was appointed Chinese ambassador to the UN and in 1995 he became vice foreign minister. Three years later he was Chinese Ambassador to USA. In 2001 he came back to Beijing and became vice foreign minister again. In 2003 he was foreign minister. In 2008 the 68-year-old diplomat retired.

During his nearly 40-year career as a diplomat, Li accompanied top Chinese leaders to visit foreign countries and he visited more than 110 countries and regions.

And his dream of becoming a poet has never faded. While working in Lesotho in 1984, Li wrote a collection of lyrical essays about Kenya, a book of his seven years in the African country. He has published two collections of poetry.

In 2004, he was awarded a Medal of President Honor by Chilean Ambassador to China on the behalf of Chilean President on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda. For a while, Li was known as a Poet Foreign Minister.

Commenting Li Zhaoxing as both a diplomat and poet, vice president of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Feng Jicai observes: Diplomats should rejoice over the fact that one of them is a poet who brilliantly reveals the unique life of diplomats to the world. On the other hand, poets should celebrate the fact that one of them is a diplomat who ventures into a noble and enchanting horizon.