Huang Hua was born
Wang Rumei in
Ci County,
Hebei Province in 1913. He also talked with left-wing professors and read Marxist books, leading him to support communism.
Yan'an In 1936, he joined the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at Yenching, and assumed the name Huang Hua. Later that year, he accompanied American journalist
Edgar Snow to the
revolutionary base area in
Yan'an, acting as the interpreter between Snow and the Communist leaders including
Mao Zedong. Snow wrote the book
Red Star Over China, which introduced the Chinese Communists to the world. Huang Hua remained in Yan'an after Snow left, and worked as an assistant to Marshal
Zhu De and later as secretary of Marshal
Ye Jianying. During Mao's
Rectification Movement which started in 1942, Huang was reported by another CCP member for using his boss's official seal without permission. Due to protection from Zhu De, Huang managed to avoid repercussions. In 1944, the United States dispatched an Army Observer Group to Yan'an to assess the CCP and its military capabilities, prompting the CCP to create a Foreign Affairs Group to receive the guests. Huang was put in charge of the Group's translation affairs. During US Army General
George C. Marshall's
peace missions to China, Huang served as the translator for the CCP side.
People's Republic of China After the CCP
took over Nanjing in April 1949, Huang was sent to the city to take over the
Republic of China's foreign ministry and send ministerial documents to Beijing. He was also authorized by Mao to meet John Leighton Stuart, who was by now the
US Ambassador to China, though the talks ultimately failed. Mao
proclamated of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949, and Huang's English skills ensured him a position in the newly established Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Initially staying in Nanjing, Huang was later transferred to handle foreign affairs in
Shanghai. In 1953, he was involved in the
Korean War armistice talks. He was also part of the initial contacts with the
United States in
Warsaw,
Poland in 1958. During the 1960s, Huang spent much of his time abroad serving as ambassador to
Ghana and then
Egypt. By summer 1967, Huang, ambassador to Egypt at this time, was China's only remaining ambassador overseas due to the
Cultural Revolution. When he returned home during the height of the Cultural Revolution, he was arrested along with his wife and banished to labor reform in the countryside. His exile did not last long however, as he was rehabilitated in 1970, and served as Mao's translator during an interview with Edgar Snow in August 1970. Beginning in 1971, Huang was the first Permanent Representative to the UN from the People's Republic of China after the UN seat was transferred to the mainland Chinese government. Huang also signed the Sino-Japanese
Peace and Friendship Treaty with Japanese Foreign Minister Sonoda on August 12, 1978. After Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Foreign Minister
Qiao Guanhua, an ally of the radical
Gang of Four, was dismissed from his post and Huang appointed as his replacement. Huang accompanied Chinese leader
Deng Xiaoping during his
visit to the United States in January 1979, which led to the establishing of diplomatic relations. Along with Premier
Zhao Ziyang, Huang participated in the 1981
North–South Summit. At the summit, Huang received instructions from Zhao to soften the PRC's anti-Soviet talking points. Huang and his deputy Pu Shoucang did not comply, which Zhao saw as a challenge to his authority. When Soviet leader
Leonid Brezhnev died in November 1982, a Chinese delegation headed by Huang Hua as Foreign Minister attended the funeral, where Huang praised the late Soviet leader as "an outstanding champion of world peace," and expressed his hope for normalized relations with Moscow. This was during the
Sino-Soviet split, when PRC and the USSR
competed for influence in the world. Huang was succeeded as Foreign Minister by
Wu Xueqian after his return to China. Huang nevertheless stayed active in "friendship diplomacy" after his retirement, meeting
Henry Kissinger during the
2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Huang died on 24 November 2010 at the age of 97. ==Personal life==