Ding Xuesong (; 27 May 1918 – 29 May 2011) was a Chinese diplomat and politician who was China's first female

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

, serving as ambassador to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

from 1979 to 1981 and then to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

from 1982 to 1984.

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 The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP) and in January 1938, she arrived in

Yan'an Yan'an; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi Province of China, province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several c ...

and enrolled in the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University. 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 The Yan'an Soviet was a soviet governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the 1930s and 1940s. In October 1936 it became the final destination of the Long March, and served as the CCP's main base until after the Second Sino-Japanese War ...

Consultative Council and was appointed as the secretary to Li Dingming, the vice chairman of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region government.

Diplomatic career

In 1947, Ding moved to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

and was appointed within the

Korean Workers' Party The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

as the secretary general of the Central Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee of the party and worked in the propaganda department of the

Hwanghae Province Hwanghae Province (''Hwanghae-do'' ) was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon era. Hwanghae was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Haeju. The regional name for the province was Haeseo (). It is a reg ...

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 Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

. In September 1949, she was tasked with establishing the Pyongyang branch of

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. It is a ...

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 The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and in 1951, she was transferred to the

International Department of the Chinese Communist Party The International Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, also known as the International Liaison Department (ILD), is an agency under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in charge of establishing and ...

. In 1952, Ding transferred to the International Activities Guidance Committee of the

Central Committee of the CCP The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the highest organ when the national congress is not in session and is tasked with carrying out congress resolutions, di ...

, serving as the director of the office. In 1971, transferred to the

Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) is one of the major Foreign policy of China, foreign affairs organizations of the People's Republic of China. The organization is officially termed a "people's organ ...

as the secretary general and later as the vice president of the association. In 1979, she succeeded

Chen Xinren Chen Xinren (; November 7, 1915 – July 25, 2005) was a People's Republic of China diplomat. He was born in Puning County, Guangdong Province (now Puning City, Guangdong). He was ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Finland (1954–1 ...

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 The prime minister of the Netherlands () or, before 1945, the chairman of the Council of Ministers () is the ''de facto'' head of government of the Netherlands.''Grondwet voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden'' onstitution of the Kingdom of the N ...

Dries van Agt Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt (; 2 February 1931 – 5 February 2024) was a Dutch politician, jurist and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 19 December 1977 until 4 November 1982. He was a prominent leader o ...

'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 Carlsberg A/S (; ) is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. T ...

's investment in the Beijing Huadu Brewery, at the time China's most modern. For her efforts, she was nicknamed the "beer ambassadress". 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 Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

Personal life

Ding married Korean-born composer

Zheng Lücheng Zheng Lücheng or Chong Ryul-song (; , 27 August 1914 – 7 December 1976) was a Korean-born Chinese composer of Korean ethnicity. He is most notable for having composed the music to the Military Anthem of the People's Liberation Army, to w ...

in 1941. She accompanied him to North Korea in 1945, but appealed to

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

to request

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

's permission for them to return to China in 1950. The couple had a daughter named Zheng Xiaoti. Ding died on 29 May 2011, at the age of 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ding, Xuesong 1918 births 2011 deaths Ambassadors of China to Denmark Ambassadors of China to the Netherlands Ambassadors of China to Iceland People's Republic of China politicians from Chongqing Chinese Communist Party politicians from Chongqing Chinese women ambassadors Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery Chinese expatriates in North Korea Members of the 6th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the 7th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Delegates to the 4th National People's Congress Delegates to the 5th National People's Congress Women's firsts