Hua Chunying

Hua Chunying (born 24 April 1970) is a Chinese diplomat who has been serving as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China since 2024 and spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2012.

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 of information from 2012 to 2019, and director of information from 2019 to 2021. 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. She graduated from Nanjing University in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English language and literature.

Career
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 of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She served concurrently as the spokeswoman for the ministry. 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.

On July 18, 2019, she was appointed director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department, succeeding Lu Kang. She became the second female director-general of the Information Department after Gong Peng, the very first director-general of this department. In October 2021, she was promoted to assistant minister of foreign affairs. Hua oversees the ministry’s work related to information, protocol, and translation. Hua was a delegate to the 19th and 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

On May 27, 2024, the State Council appointed Hua Chunying as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.

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."

In 2021, she compared the January 6 United States Capitol attack with the 2019 storming of the Legislative Council Complex.

Hua is widely considered as a wolf warrior diplomat.

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 went trending 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.

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?" Twitter and Facebook have been banned by the mainland Chinese government since 2009.

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February, at a Chinese Foreign Ministry press conference, Hua said that, "China is still the only permanent member of the United Nations Security Council that has not yet achieved the complete reunification of the motherland." The situation with the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine would be instructive to learn “how to fight the armed reunification”. Just as she foresaw resolution of the European conflict within 48 hours, if the “war of reunification of Taiwan” starts, the “highest goal” of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) would be to “reunify Taiwan”. The PLA would not delay and thus not give adversaries the time and opportunity to intervene militarily and politically. In Hua's vision, the PLA would also "defeat the island’s naval and air forces in the shortest possible time, seize air and sea control, provide security for subsequent landing operations, eliminate Taiwan’s combat power within 48 hours, and take full control of Taiwan within 72 hours."

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." 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.