Li Zhaoxing (; born 20 October 1940) is a Chinese diplomat and politician who served as
Minister of Foreign Affairs of China from 2003 to 2007. He previously served as
Ambassador of China to the United States from 1998 to 2001,
Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations from 1993 to 1995, and deputy director and director of information department at Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1985 to 1993.
Early life
Li was born in Jiaonan County in Qingdao, Shandong. He studied at the Department of Western Languages at
Peking University
Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...
and after graduation in 1964, he was selected to study at
Beijing Foreign Studies University
Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU; ) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211 and the Double First-Class Construction.
The Internation ...
. After graduation, he entered the
Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs. Following the start of
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
, he was forced to drop out of the institute and work in cadre schools and farms in
Shanxi
Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...
,
Jiangxi
; Gan: )
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,
Hunan
Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...
,
Hebei
Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
and
Guangdong
) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
Provinces. During his time in Guangdong, he experienced
Typhoon Viola in 1969.
Early career (1970–2001)
After being reinstated into the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China is the first-ranked Ministries of the People's Republic of China, executive department of the State Council of China, responsible for the country's Foreign relations of China, f ...
in 1970, he was assigned as a staff and attaché with the Chinese Embassy in
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
. In 1977, he was appointed as staff member and deputy director of the Information Department within the ministry, serving until 1983. From 1983 to 1985, he served as a first secretary at the Embassy of China in the
Kingdom of Lesotho. Li considered his diplomatic work in Africa as "may be the most energetic days and months in my life."
Li returned to China in 1985 and served successively as deputy director, director and spokesperson of the Information Department in the ministry. In 1990, he was promoted to Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and in 1993, he was appointed as
Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations. Two years later, he was promoted to Vice Foreign Minister. In 1998, he was appointed as
Chinese Ambassador to the United States. During his tenure as ambassador, the
relations between China and the United States were strained heavily during the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Serbia and Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombing ...
when the
Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, was bombed by the United States during the NATO bombing on 7 May 1999, killing three Chinese nationals. In response to incident, Li called the incident as an "horrifying atrocity" and demanded that NATO investigate the incident. On 13 May, after President of the United States
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
issued a public apology for the incident, Li was present at the
Oval Office
The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C.
The oval room has three lar ...
in the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
when Clinton signed the official condolence book. Following the end of his tenure as ambassador in 2001, the
Mayor of Washington D.C. Anthony A. Williams declared 29 January 2001, which was Li's last day in office as ambassador, as "Li Zhaoxing Day", in recognition of Li's efforts in fostering China-United States relations.
In 2001, following his return from the United States, Li was appointed as Vice-Minister. In April 2001, in response to
U.S. arms sale to
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, Li said that the "Chinese side strongly urges the U.S. side to recognize the serious, harmful and dangerous nature of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan." On the same month, when asked about the return of the
U.S. Navy P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft which made emergency landing on
Hainan Island
Hainan is an island province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally means "South of the Sea ...
during the
Hainan Island incident
The Hainan Island incident was a ten-day international incident between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) that resulted from a mid-air collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II SIGINT, signals intelligence a ...
, he stated that "if we allow such a military plane, which had a mission of spying on China, to be flown back out of China, that will further hurt the dignity and sentiments of the Chinese people." Eventually, the Chinese allowed the aircraft to be returned back to the United States in July 2001.
Foreign minister (2003–2007)

The
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...
appointed Li as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs on 16 March 2003, succeeding
Tang Jiaxuan. On the same day after being made the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the threat of military action against Iraq by the United States and United Kingdom loomed. As a result, Li made a last-ditch effort to avoid the war from happening by urging peaceful resolution by in phone calls to American, British and Russian officials, stating that the "common wish of the international community is for peace instead of war." On 18 March, Li reiterated that "that a war against Iraq can be avoided and the crisis can be solved within the U.N. framework by political means." When the
war
War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
began on 20 March, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the "political settlement of the Iraq issue within the UN framework, urging the
Iraqi Government to fully and earnestly implement relevant Security Council resolutions and calling for respect for Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity by the international community" and "war will inevitably lead to humanitarian disasters and undermine the security, stability and development of the region and the world at large." On 24 March, in a phone call with
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Li appealed for cessation of military operations and expressed concern of the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the war.
Li met with North Korean leader
Kim Jong Il
Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader of North Korea from Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, the de ...
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 ...
, North Korea in March 2004, as part of international diplomacy in dealing with
North Korea's nuclear weapons programme. In April 2005, following the outbreak of
2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations in China in response to the approval of a
Japanese history textbook and the
proposal that Japan be granted a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, Li met with Japanese Foreign Minister
Nobutaka Machimura
was a Japanese politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan and a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.[Chinese government
The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...]
has never done anything for which it has to apologise to the Japanese people" and "the main problem now is the Japanese government has done a series of things that have hurt the feelings of the Chinese people, on the Taiwan issue, some international issues including human rights and especially in its treatment of history."
In August 2007, following Taiwanese President
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian ( zh, t=陳水扁; born 12 October 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician and lawyer who served as the fifth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progres ...
's advocacy of
Taiwanese independence
The Taiwan independence movement is a political movement which advocates the formal declaration of an Independence, independent and Sovereign state, sovereign Taiwanese state, as opposed to Chinese unification or the status quo in Cross-Stra ...
, Li said to a group of Taiwanese journalists at a press briefing to not to listen to "local
aiwaneseleaders" and that "whoever wants to split away will become a criminal in history."
He stepped down as Minister of Foreign Affairs in April 2007 and was succeeded by
Yang Jiechi
Yang Jiechi (; born 1 May 1950) is a Chinese senior diplomat and retired politician. He served as director of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Foreign Affairs Commission from 2013 and 2022, State Councilor from 2013 to 2018, Minister of ...
. According to
leaked US embassy cables, it was alleged that then Chinese President
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the president of China from 2003 to 2013, and chairman of the Central Military Comm ...
had Li fired following Hu's 2006 visit to the United States which saw numerous debacles such as no state dinner at the White House, lack of national flags flying between the
Blair House
Blair House, also known as The President's Guest House, is an official residence in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The President's Guest House has been called "the world's most exclusive hotel" because it is primarily used ...
and the White House, the presence of
Falun Gong
Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a new religious movement founded by its leader Li Hongzhi in China in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in Dragon Springs, a compound in Deerpark, New York, United States, near t ...
protestor at the White House lawn and the
national anthem of the People's Republic of China referred as the
anthem of the Republic of China.
During his 40 year tenure in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Li published over 200 poems and was nicknamed "poet minister".
However, due to his firm stance on the
Taiwan issue, coupled with his striking personal image, some people have referred to him as "the minister with a bad temper". Some Taiwanese media considered his rhetoric to be arrogant and in some diplomatic circles, he was often seen as lacking in diplomatic demeanor, with some even referring to him as the "Red Guard Ambassador" or the "Fighting Cock".
Later career
After stepping down as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Li was appointed as chairman of the
Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress () is one of nine special committees of the National People's Congress ( NPC), the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. The special committee was created during ...
and a member of the
11th National People's Congress
The 11th National People's Congress (NPC) met for a 5-year term, from 2008 to 2013. It held five annual two week plenary sessions during this period. It succeeded the 10th National People's Congress. There were 2,987 deputies elected to the ...
in 2008. He retired in March 2013. He was initially appointed as one of the
Elders but chose not to continue with the role. He served as a professor at Peking University.
Li was appointed as the president of China Public Diplomacy Association in 2012, a position he would serve till 2019.
On 5 March 2012, at a press conference of the National People's Congress, Li stated that China does not have
direct election
Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they want to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen ...
s as China is too big and some places have inconvenient transportation so direct elections are inconvenient. He was ridiculed for his comments by netizens.
In January 2022, he joined the Chinese video platform
Bilibili
Bilibili (stylized in all lowercase), nicknamed B Site, is a Chinese online video sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view, and add overlaid commentary on videos.
Bilibili hosts videos on various themes, including ...
. In his first video published in the platform, he spoke of his life and diplomatic experiences, and concluded the video by remarking a quote made by
Confucius
Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...
: "When I walk with two others, they may serve as my teachers." Li was the Chinese representative for the 7th China–Australia High-Level Dialogue held in Beijing in September 2023, the first such summit in three years.
Personal life
Li is married to Qin Xiaomei, who also served as a diplomat. Qin's father served a secretary to former President of China
Liu Shaoqi
Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary and politician. He was the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1954 to 1959, first-ranking Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communis ...
and as head of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Li's son Li Hehe is a graduate of
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
and
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
who founded a network which exclusively handles queries of China's
CET
CET or cet may refer to:
Places
* Cet, Albania
* Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus
* Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Comcast En ...
-4 and CET-6 exam scores.
His niece-in-law Qin Feng worked as a reporter for
Phoenix Television
Phoenix Television is a majority State-owned enterprise, state-owned television network that offers Standard Chinese, Mandarin and Cantonese-language channels that serve mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and other markets with substantial C ...
and has interviewed Chinese politicians.
Awards
*:
** Grand Officer of the
Order of Central African Merit (6 January 2007)
*:
**

Sash of the
Order of the Aztec Eagle
The Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle () forms part of the Mexican Honors System and is the highest Mexican order awarded to foreigners.
History
It was created by decree on December 29, 1933, by President Abelardo L. Rodríguez as a reward to ...
(16 November 2006)
References
External links
Biography China Vitae
China Today
*
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Zhaoxing
1940 births
Ambassadors of China to the United States
Beijing Foreign Studies University alumni
Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shandong
Diplomats of the People's Republic of China
Ministers of foreign affairs of the People's Republic of China
Living people
Members of the 16th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
Peking University alumni
People's Republic of China politicians from Shandong
Permanent representatives of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations
Politicians from Qingdao
20th-century Chinese politicians
21st-century Chinese politicians
Delegates to the 11th National People's Congress
Spokespersons for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China
Academic staff of Peking University
The Elders (organization)