Ma Zhaoxu (also spelled as Ma Chao-hsü; ; born 1 September 1963) is a Chinese diplomat who is currently the
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He previously served as the Chinese Ambassador to Australia, the
spokesman
A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.
Duties and function
In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...
for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
of the
People's Republic of China (PRC), as well as the
director-general of its Information Department. He also served as China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in
New York City from January 2018 to July 2019.
Early life
Ma Zhaoxu was born in
Harbin
Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...
,
Heilongjiang province in September 1963. He graduated from
Peking University
Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
with a degree in
international relations. In 1986, he participated in the inaugural Asian college students
debating competition organized by the
Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) and won the "best debater" award, becoming well known to PRC college students at the time.
Career
Ma joined the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1987 and served in various departments and embassies, including
counselor at the
PRC embassy
This is a list of diplomatic missions of the People's Republic of China. The People's Republic of China has the largest diplomatic network in the world, representing the country's significant economic, commercial, political, cultural, and milit ...
in the
United Kingdom from 2001 to 2002 and counselor at the PRC embassy in
Belgium from 2002 to 2004. He was appointed deputy director of the
Policy Planning Department in 2004 and director in 2006. In January 2009, he replaced
Liu Jianchao
Liu Jianchao (; born February 23, 1964) is a Chinese diplomat and politician who is the current head of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party, in office since June 2022. He was formerly the chief spokesperson for Chi ...
as the director-general of the Information Department as well as the head spokesperson of the ministry.
Ma is married with one daughter and one grandchild. His daughter was a student at Carnegie Mellon University and George Washington University.
Recently, there has been some controversy surrounding Ma Zhaoxu's statement “there are no dissidents in China”, while China responds disapprovingly to the Nobel prize having been awarded to incarcerated Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
On 6 April 2016, he was appointed as the Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) and other International Organizations.
In 2018, Ma succeeded
Liu Jieyi as China's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York.
Ma was appointed Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs on July 15, 2019.
As vice minister, he is responsible for managing international organizations and conferences, international economy and arms control affairs.
See also
*
Chinese in New York City
References
External links
Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu's biography(Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC).
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Zhaoxu
1963 births
Living people
Chinese Communist Party politicians from Heilongjiang
People's Republic of China politicians from Heilongjiang
Ambassadors of China to Australia
Peking University alumni
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Permanent Representatives of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations
Diplomats of the People's Republic of China