Dai Bingguo

Dai Bingguo
戴秉国
Chairman of Jinan University
In office
15 November 2013 – 15 November 2019
PresidentHu Jun → Song Xianzhong
Preceded byQian Weichang
State Councilor of the People's Republic of China
In office
17 March 2008 – 16 March 2013
PremierWen Jiabao
Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Leading Group
In office
April 2005 – August 2013
General SecretaryHu JintaoXi Jinping
Foreign MinisterLi ZhaoxingYang Jiechi
Preceded byLiu Huaqiu
Succeeded byYang Jiechi
Personal details
Born (1941-03-31) March 31, 1941 (age 83)
Yinjiang County, Guizhou, Republic of China
Political partyChinese Communist Party
Alma materSichuan University
China Foreign Affairs University

Dai Bingguo (simplified Chinese: 戴秉国; traditional Chinese: 戴秉國; pinyin: Dài Bǐngguó; born March 31, 1941) is a Chinese politician and professional diplomat. Starting in 2008, Dai emerged as one of the foremost and highest-ranking figures of Chinese foreign policy in the Hu Jintao administration.

A graduate of Sichuan University, majoring in Russian language, Dai was instrumental in the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and the Soviet Union. Between 1989 and 1991 Dai served as the Chinese ambassador to Hungary. He then served in a succession of roles in the Department of Foreign Affairs. He served as a State Councilor, director of the general office of Central Foreign Affairs Commission of CCP Central Committee, an office that acts as the primary foreign affairs organ of the Chinese Communist Party, and director of the general office of the National Security Leadership Group of the CCP Central Committee, in which he serves in the capacity as a national security advisor to the CCP General Secretary.

Biography

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Dai Bingguo was born in a village located in Yinjiang County, Guizhou Province. He belongs to the Tujia ethnic minority. He graduated from the Department of foreign languages of Sichuan University, majoring in Russian, and later studied at the China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU). He joined the Chinese Communist Party in June 1973. He served as the Chinese Ambassador to Hungary from 1989 to 1991. He had previously served in the Foreign Ministry of the PRC for many years. He was elevated to Vice Foreign Minister in December 1993. In June 1995, Dai was transferred from the "foreign affairs system" of the State Council to the "international liaison system" of the Central Committee of the CCP and became Vice Director of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CCP. In August 1997, on the eve of the 15th CCP National Congress, he was promoted to Director of the International Department. In May 2003, Dai returned to the Foreign Ministry and served as Vice Minister until April 2008, being responsible for handling the North Korean nuclear crisis. In March 2008, he was appointed State Councillor and Party group member on the State Council.

Wang Qishan and former State Councilor Dai Bingguo holding a basketball in the Oval Office with U.S. President Barack Obama (2009)

On July 8, 2009, Dai replaced Chinese President Hu Jintao at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy[1] after Hu had to leave the summit because of July 2009 Ürümqi riots involving Uyghurs and Han-Chinese.

Dai Bingguo (right) and J.N. Dixit in 2004, 3rd round of talks of the Special Representative mechanism on the India-China boundary question

Dai was appointed by Chinese leader Hu Jintao as his special representative to chair the Strategic Track of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue for the Chinese side in 2009.[citation needed]

On October 7, 2012, Dai Bingguo met with Hsieh Chang-ting, the former Premier of the Republic of China, who was visiting mainland China in his private capacity, in Beijing. Dai and Hsieh exchanged views on topics of mutual interest.

In March 2013, Dai Bingguo retired as a State Councillor at the end of his term and retired from politics in China.

Dai Bingguo became chairman of Jinan University[2]: 82  in November 2013, and he stepped down as chairman in November 2019.

In September 2019, Dai Bingguo represented Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend memorial ceremonies held by the French government in Paris for late President Jacques Chirac.

Development of core interests

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During Hu Jintao's administration, Dai developed the concept of China's "core interests" to define the primary goals that determine the country's foreign policy choices.[3]: 193  The core interests are: maintaining the power of the Communist Party, continuing China's social and economic growth, and preservation of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.[3]: 193  China also views these core interests as red lines that other countries' behavior should not cross.[3]: 193 

Personal

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Dai Bingguo's father-in-law is former Culture Minister Huang Zhen.

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References

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  1. ^ "Chinese President Hu Jintao cancels G8 attendance". MarketWatch. 2009-07-10. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
  2. ^ Loh, Dylan M.H. (2024). China's Rising Foreign Ministry: Practices and Representations of Assertive Diplomacy. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9781503638204.
  3. ^ a b c Šimalčík, Matej (2023). "China in the World". In Kironska, Kristina; Turscanyi, Richard Q. (eds.). Contemporary China: a New Superpower?. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-03-239508-1.
Party political offices
Preceded by Secretary-general of the Foreign Affairs Leading Small Group
2005–2013
Succeeded by
Secretary-general of the Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs
2005–2013
Preceded by Head of the CCP Central Committee International Liaison Department
1997–2003
Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by
Qian Weichang (until 2010)
Chairman of the Board of Jinan University
November 2013 -
Incumbent