China's modern diplomacy began in 1861.
In that year, the Qing government set up the Prime Minister's Office of State Affairs, and the first minister was the famous "Devil Six" Prince Gong.
His face was sallow and his bones were soft, but he represented the image of China, and it was no wonder that the great powers did not take the "old empire" in their eyes.
The old Chinese diplomatic image
The new China's diplomatic spokesman system began in 1983.
Over the years, there have been 31 talents who have spoken out for the country in this post, including two foreign ministers, Qian Qichen and Li Zhaoxing.
The current foreign spokesman is Zhao Lijian, deputy director general of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Just like his name, he is firm and sharp-tongued, and is especially good at "eye killing".
Speaking on behalf of China's diplomacy, Zhao Lijian was straightforward and frank, and was widely loved by the people, so he became an Internet celebrity with positive energy.
At the same time, he is not yet 49 years old, which is the time when he is rich and powerful, and his future is unlimited.
How did such an excellent talent come about?
The diplomatic image of New China
Read on, stay tuned to learn more!
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In November 1972, Zhao Lijian was born in Tangshan, Hebei Province.
There is the former land of Yan Zhao, and there has been a chivalrous spirit since ancient times.
Although his parents are ordinary people, they are hardworking, down-to-earth, and pay special attention to the education of their children's conduct, in the popular words of the day, that is, "the family style is very positive."
Under such an environmental influence, Zhao Lijian has shown some special talents since he was a child.
He has a very good view, cares about class affairs, and is good at expressing and writing. Therefore, he was selected as a representative by the primary school teacher and took the lead in taking the oath when the national flag was raised every Monday, which was a good exercise of courage.
When the national flag was raised, he saluted the Young Pioneers and listened to the rousing national anthem, and every time he felt his heart stirring.
Flag-raising ceremony
In the 1970s, many major events occurred in China, two of which were closely related to Zhao Lijian's later events.
The first major event occurred in October 1971.
At the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, by an overwhelming majority of 76 votes in favour, 35 against and 17 abstentions, Resolution 2758 was adopted to restore China's legitimate seat in the Un.
This is a landmark victory for China's diplomacy!
However, at that time, Zhao Lijian had not yet been born.
But his fate thereafter was very much related to this matter.
China regains its seat in the United Nations
The second major event occurred in July 1976.
At that time, in the Tangshan area, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake broke out without warning. This earthquake, also known as the Tenth Natural Disaster of the twentieth century, was one of the first natural disasters of the twentieth century.
The intensity of the Tangshan earthquake is similar to that of the Wenchuan earthquake.
But the epicenter was located in a densely populated area, causing even greater damage.
The aftermath of the Tangshan earthquake reached Beijing and greatly shocked the Party Central Committee.
Under the overall planning of the central government, 300,000 rescue troops from all walks of life across the country were also quickly transferred to the disaster areas for disaster relief.
Tangshan earthquake
If one party has difficulties, the eight parties support it.
In the Tangshan earthquake, Chinese people created a miracle in the history of human disaster relief.
Without equipment, the relief workers used their bare bare hands, pickaxes and other rudimentary tools to extract more than 16,000 lives from the rubble.
More than 100,000 seriously injured people were evacuated to hospitals across the country for treatment within a week.
Less than a week after the earthquake, hundreds of thousands of victims were provided with food, clothing, and water.
Less than a month after the earthquake, hydropower transportation in the disaster area was fully restored.
Less than a year after the earthquake, Tangshan basically completed its reconstruction.
Rescuers rushed to the disaster area
Zhao Lijian was fortunate to be taken to the street in time by his alert parents and picked up a small life.
As a survivor, he also witnessed the touching scenes of earthquake relief.
Although he was still very young, he already had a clear memory.
These special experiences have played a very special role in shaping Zhao Lijian's complete personality.
Stills of the Tangshan earthquake
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Like most post-70s, Zhao Lijian can endure hardships.
At home, I always rushed to work and helped, and I studied hard at school.
His academic performance has always been excellent, so he was successfully admitted to Luannan No. 1 Middle School in high school.
This is a key school in Hebei Province founded in 1949, the school motto is "integrity, strictness, diligence and perseverance".
Zhao Lijian is worthy of being a good student of Luannan No. 1 Middle School. When he was studying, he achieved "decent behavior", "strict discipline", "diligent study" and "perseverance".
Therefore, the division commanders were very optimistic about his future.
A middle school motto
In 1990, he took the college entrance examination.
Because of his good grades, he volunteered to fill in the School of Foreign Languages of Central South University according to his personal interests.
After graduation, becoming a foreign language teacher or engaging in a very popular translation work was Zhao Lijian's original idea.
But in the 1990s, two more major events occurred, which eventually led to a relationship with diplomacy.
The first major event occurred in December 1991.
A powerful Soviet union collapsed almost overnight.
This event is not only close to China, but also has a great impact. People of insight in China are extremely concerned about this change and have launched a fierce discussion in the newspapers.
Although Zhao Lijian is still in the ivory tower, he is also concerned about "family affairs, state affairs, and world affairs", so he can't help but have a strong research interest in the unpredictable international political situation.
Zhao Lijian was young
The second major event occurred in July 1993.
At that time, the Chinese Galaxy freighter was heading for the Middle East.
The United States suddenly declared out of thin air that the freighter was carrying chemical weapons raw materials. This called for a forced search on board the ship and threatened to sanction China under domestic law.
Without waiting for China to respond, the United States shut down GPS navigation signals, forcing the Galaxy to drift in the Indian Ocean for three weeks. Due to the lack of supplies, the crew had to fish for a living, with insufficient food and festering skin.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Sha Zukang was ordered to fight with the US side in a courteous and respectful manner. Although the problem was finally solved perfectly, seventeen "nests" were said in a row.
This matter has been continuously followed up on the domestic television news.
Patriotic youth suddenly realized that in every corner of the world, China had its people and interests to protect.
Zhao Lijian was one of them, and after graduation, he resolutely applied for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In that short period of time, there were actually many international incidents that were "nested" and indignated.
During the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis, the United States openly stood for Lee Teng-hui and dispatched an aircraft carrier battle group to Taiwan's waters.
When NATO bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, the United States brazenly used the expiration of the map as an excuse to fire deadly missiles at the Chinese Embassy.
In 2001, over the South China Sea, an EP-3 reconnaissance plane of the United States collided with the J-8 fighter of the Chinese Air Force, causing the death of pilot Wang Wei.
These events undoubtedly had a strong impact on the young people who grew up in that era. "Patriotism" has become no longer a slogan, but a brand carved in the depths of the soul.
This imprint of the soul undoubtedly also influenced Zhao Lijian's later diplomatic style.
The Western media once called his diplomatic style "wolf diplomacy."
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In fact, Zhao Lijian is really not a "wolf warrior".
On this point, I will know it when I ask the Pakistani brothers. Because he had spent eight years in Pakistan, he spent eight years of diplomatic career.
In 1999, Zhao Lijian was stationed in Pakistan as an attaché. During his four-year tenure, he was promoted to third secretary for his outstanding performance.
The work of this period allowed his diplomatic ability to be fully tempered and also entered the eyes of his superiors.
In 2015, Zhao Lijian was again sent to Pakistan and promoted to counsellor at the Chinese Embassy.
In an interview, he shyly admitted that he was the "second in command" of the embassy, and his cute appearance attracted the attention of many netizens.
In Pakistan, Zhao Lijian truly felt the strong friendship between the two countries.
It has been 69 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan, and the relationship between the two sides has withstood many tests, but it has always been rock solid and unbreakable.
For Pakistan, China is an ally around the clock.
For China, Pakistan is also a reliable friend.
At a critical moment in China's fight against the epidemic, Pakistan took out the masks in the national hospital inventory and sent them all to China.
At the time of the previous Wenchuan earthquake, Pakistan also sent 2 military aircraft to send all the tents in the war stock to China. In order to load a little more supplies, the plane also removed all the seats, and random people crowded on the ground.
The so-called icing on the cake is easy, it is difficult to send charcoal in the snow, Pakistan is worthy of being a real Pakistani iron and a true friend.
At that time, considering that Pakistan was not rich, the Chinese Embassy had wanted to pay the other party a certain economic report in the form of purchase, but it was simply and neatly rejected.
The Pakistani irons said: These aid is not measured by money, when the Chinese brothers helped us before, did they ask us for money?
That makes sense, and it does.
Chinese since ancient times, pay attention to the grace of dripping water, and repay the spring.
In the 2010 floods in Pakistan, the number of people affected by the flood reached more than 20 million.
A few days later, China's first material assistance arrived. This was followed by three batches of aid, amounting to 320 million yuan. At the time of the final fourth aid, $200 million was provided for post-disaster reconstruction at one time.
After Pakistan was also hit by the epidemic, China, which has eased up, has provided a large number of anti-epidemic materials. Masks, protective clothing, medical equipment, vaccines, expert groups and funding are all in short supply.
Zhao Lijian also remembered this friendship. He once said affectionately: "Pakistan stole my heart."
At a press conference in July 2020, after answering a visit from a Pakistani journalist, he gave another Urdu quote: Chin-Pakistan dosti zindabad! “
The meaning of this sentence is "Long live the friendship between China and Pakistan".
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To friends, Zhao Lijian is enough friends. But for people with ulterior motives, he also dared to fight back.
As a post-70s generation, he experienced the rapid development of China's national strength.
Since 2010, China's GDP has been the second largest in the world. By 2021, China's GDP will reach 80% of that of the United States, 3.5 times that of Japan and 10 times that of South Korea. There are even optimistic estimates that China's economy will catch up with the United States in five years.
This has made a new generation of Chinese diplomats more confident and outstanding in the face of international conflicts.
And Zhao Lijian is undoubtedly the best of them. He used his professional working attitude to show China's firm diplomatic attitude, and thus left many famous scenes.
One of the most famous examples is a fierce debate between him and former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Internet Twitter.
In 2019, due to the Western countries led by the United States, they openly slandered the Chinese national issue.
Zhao Lijian spoke up on Twitter, Bingshi wrote: White people in Washington, D.C., never go to the Southwest District. Because it's a black and Hispanic area.
This tweet annoyed Rice, the 66th secretary of state of the United States. She quickly replied to Zhao Lijian, calling him a shameful person, a racist, an astonishing ignorance, and would be listed as an undesirable person in the United States.
Rice
Zhao Lijian replied: You don't like to listen to the truth, and you are labeled as a racist, which is shameless and disgusting behavior.
It was this time that the Western media learned Zhao Li's strong and hard diplomatic style, and soon they invented the term "wolf diplomacy".
But Zhao Lijian just told the truth, what could be wrong with this?
It should be those who are wrong, because others are telling the truth, label others.
Injustice is in the hearts of the people, and not all people will be deceived by the inverted black and white deception.
So even in the West, there are many people who are fascinated by Zhao Lijian and like his frank and humorous diplomatic style.
His Twitter soon had 160,000 followers, and the number continues to grow.
Zhao Lijian's tweet
When the United States tried to suppress China's Huawei company, Zhao Lijian also found an entry point to fight back.
He humorously posted a photo linking Huawei's brand logo to Apple cut into pieces.
In the tweet, Zhao Lijian wrote: "I finally understand why the United States hates Hua so much, because it cut apples into pieces."
Another commendable example is that at a press conference, he used easy-to-understand words to counter the provocation of the United States to sanction Hong Kong in an attempt to interfere with Hong Kong-related national security legislation.
At that time, Zhao Lijian only said 7 words slowly: China is not frightened!
This language style is really too lifely! Hearing the hearts of the post-60s, post-70s, and post-80s, it is really too relieved.
The latest famous scene is related to China's ultra-high-speed spacecraft. At that time, the Reuters reporter asked twice: Is it really not a missile that China tested, but a spacecraft?
Zhao Lijian was concise and concise, and only said two words: Yes.
Then he smiled confidently again. This smile was meaningful and quickly sparked an Internet boom.
Zhao Lijian is undoubtedly a rising diplomatic star.
His sharp language and humorous actions undoubtedly represent China's diplomacy in the new era.
Undoubtedly, it also represents a rising China.
Self-confidence, self-improvement, played the strongest sound of the times!
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