Riding the Waves for Thirty Years -- "Diplomats Look at the World" Series

Author: Yang Guanqun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The author joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1950. During the Korean War, he served as a staff member of the Chinese delegation to the armistice negotiations in Panmunjom, participating in the entire process of the armistice talks, welcoming returning Chinese POWs, and attending the signing ceremony of the armistice agreement. In 1954, he accompanied Premier Zhou Enlai's delegation to the Geneva Conference on the Korean and Indochina issues. As a member of the advance team, he participated in the establishment of the Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan and later served as the first ambassadorial translator. In the 1980s, he accompanied Vice Chairman Apai A on his first overseas visit to five Central and South American countries. He also observed President Ronald Reagan's re-election campaign in Washington and attended his inauguration. Later, he headed the work of the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). As the deputy representative of the Chinese government delegation, he carried out advance missions to Indonesia, which had broken diplomatic relations with China, and South Korea, which had not yet established diplomatic ties. In 1992, he successfully promoted the holding of the largest and highest-level international conference in the United Nations system—the 48th session of the ESCAP in Beijing.