Hugh Alexander Dunn (20 August 1923 – 5 November 2005) was a career Australian diplomat known for his knowledge of China; namely Taiwan (1969–1972) and of the People's Republic of China (1980–1984).

Biography

Dunn was born in

Rockhampton, Queensland Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

on 20 August 1923. After completing school at Brisbane Boys' College, he enlisted in the A.I.F., trained in Signals Intelligence and moved with MacArthur's troops through New Guinea and then to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

where the Japanese surrender took place. Returning to Australia after the War, he studied at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

. He was awarded a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

where he studied classical Chinese language,

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. In a public service career of over 30 years, Dunn served in Japan, South Korea, the United States, India and South Vietnam, and was Australian High Commissioner to Kenya, Uganda, and Seychelles, and Ambassador too Ethiopia (1978–1980); Ambassador to Taiwan (1969–1972); Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Peru (1973–1976), and Ambassador to the People's Republic of China (1980–1984). In the 1985 Queen's Birthday Honours he was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for "services to the public service, particularly in the field of international relations and in the development of Australian relations with China". After retiring from public service in 1985, Dunn served as Chairman of the Brisbane China Committee, in this capacity actively furthering Australia's relationship with China. He was also a Visiting Professor in the School of Modern Asian Studies at

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

and adjunct professor in the Department of History at the University of Queensland. He wrote extensively on Sino-Australian relations and the teaching of the Chinese language. Dunn died in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

on 5 November 2005 at the age of 82.

Published works

* "The Shaping of a Sinologue of Sorts". ''Australian in Asia Series No. 1''. Dr. Nancy Viviani (Ed.).Centre for the Study of Australian-Asian Relations. Griffith University, 1988. * "Conversations on Tibet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibetan and Chinese Officials". ''Australian-Asia Papers No. 38.'' Dr. Nancy Viviani (Ed.) Centre for the Study of Australian-Asian Relations. Griffith University, 1987. * ''Cao Zhi: The life of a Princely Chinese Poet''. Beijing, China. New World Press, 1983 * ''Ts'ao Chih: The life of a Princely Chinese Poet''. Taipei, Taiwan. China News, 1970. * Biography: 'Inventory: Items from a Life well travelled' CD (eBook) 2005. 166pp (incomplete.) Published Brisbane, Australia

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Hugh Alexander 1923 births 2005 deaths Australian Rhodes Scholars Australian sinologists Ambassadors of Australia to Argentina Ambassadors of Australia to China Ambassadors of Australia to Ethiopia Ambassadors of Australia to Paraguay Ambassadors of Australia to Peru Ambassadors of Australia to Taiwan Ambassadors of Australia to Uruguay High commissioners of Australia to Kenya Officers of the Order of Australia Australian expatriates in Papua New Guinea Australian expatriates in the Philippines Australian expatriates in the United States Australian expatriates in Japan Australian expatriates in South Korea Australian expatriates in India Australian expatriates in Vietnam