Kong Xuanyou (; ko, 공현우; born July 1959), is a Chinese diplomat and the current

Ambassador to Japan The is the ambassador from the United States of America to Japan. History Since the opening of Japan by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, in 1854, the U.S. has maintained diplomatic relations with Japan, except for the ten-year period between the at ...

. He is responsible of Asian affairs, treaty and law, land and sea boundaries and other affairs related to consulates.

Life

Kong was born to an ethnic Korean family in

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

province in 1959. Between 1979 and 1983, he studied

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and Japanese languages at Shanghai International Studies University. Between 1983 and 1985 he studied foreign relations at China Foreign Affairs University. His first diplomatic post was in the Chinese consulate of

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

as a clerk (1985–1989). In 2006, he was appointed the envoy of the embassy of China in Japan. Between 2011 and 2014, he was the ambassador of China in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. After working briefly as the deputy of Asian affairs, he was appointed the assistant minister of the ministry of foreign affairs in 2015. In August 2017, Gong succeeded

Wu Dawei 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. Personal life Wu was born in 1946 in Heilongjiang province, China. ...

as the chief representative of China in Six-party talks. He assumed the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs position in January 2018 until he was appointed as Ambassador to Japan. During his years in Japan, Kong worked together with the current Chinese ambassador to the US

Cui Tiankai Cui Tiankai (; born October 1952) is a Chinese diplomat and longest-serving Chinese Ambassador to the United States, a role he filled from April 2013 to June 2021. Early life and education In 1952, Cui was born in Shanghai, China. He is a nat ...

and Minister of Foreign affair Wang Yi. The three are said to be close friends. According to South Korean media

JoongAng Ilbo ''The JoongAng'', formally known as ''JoongAng Ilbo'', is a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and a newspaper of record for South Korea. The paper also publ ...

, when meeting with delegations of Korean parliamentarians, Kong expressed his regret on Korea's decision of deploying THAAD, but did not wish the Sino-Korean relationship to worsen because of that. Kong is married and has one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kong, Xuanyou 1959 births Living people Ambassadors of China to Vietnam Chinese people of Korean descent Recipients of Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam People's Republic of China politicians from Heilongjiang Shanghai International Studies University alumni China Foreign Affairs University alumni