Wu Dawei ( ; ; born 1946) was the previous special representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs and former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Personal life

Wu was born in 1946 in

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He attended the Beijing Foreign Studies University before joining the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. Wu is married and has one daughter.

Career

Wu's career has largely taken him back and forth between China and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. His first assignment with the

was as an attaché to the Chinese embassy in Japan, lasting from 1973 to 1979. He returned to China in 1979 to take a position in the Ministry Department of Asian Affairs, and in 1980 was promoted to deputy office director of the General Office. He returned to Japan again in 1985 to serve as second secretary and later first secretary in the Chinese embassy. In 1994, he was posted back to Japan as minister counselor. Wu's first ambassadorial-level assignment was to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

in 1998. Following his time in South Korea, Wu became China's ambassador to Japan in 2001. He returned to China to take up his post as Vice Minister of Foreign affairs at the end of that assignment. In 2005, Wu acted as the chairman to the fourth round of six-party talks looking to bring a peaceful resolution to security concerns on the Korean Peninsula. He retained the position of chairman until the dissolution of the talks in 2007.

Controversies

Controversies which arose during his tenure there include his 1999 remarks in which he condemned South Korean and non-governmental organization involvement with the issue of

North Korean defectors People defect from North Korea for political, material, and personal reasons. Defectors flee to various countries, mainly South Korea. In South Korea, they are referred to by several terms, including "northern refugees" and "new settlers". To ...

northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...

, deriding it as "neo-interventionism", and claimed that the safety of refugees repatriated to North Korea had been guaranteed. His comments spurred South Korean

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activists to hold protests at the Chinese embassy in Seoul and circulate a petition urging the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

to grant refugee status to North Koreans in China.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Dawei Ambassadors of China to Japan People's Republic of China politicians from Heilongjiang 1946 births Living people Recipients of the Order of Friendship (North Korea) People from Suihua Ambassadors of China to South Korea