Retired in March 2008, China's iron lady, Wu Yi, earned her reputation owing to her competence and vision in domestic and foreign affairs. She was one of four Vice Premiers of the State Council of the People's Republic of China (the western equivalent of Vice Prime Minister), and was the first woman to hold such a leading position since economic and political reforms in 1978. Known as one of the toughest negotiators in the PRC government, Forbes magazine ranked her as the second most powerful woman in the world behind Condoleezza Rice in 2004, 2005, and Angela Merkel in 2007. At home, following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, she helped persuade coal workers threatening to go on strike to continue working. From 1991 until 1998, she held successively the posts of Deputy Minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, Minister of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, and was a member of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the highest Party authority. During the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) crisis, her replacing Zhang Wenkang, who had been fired for his cover-up of the crisis as health minister, and her investigations of the crisis opened a new chapter in the country's standards in cadre management. Time magazine called her the "Goddess of Transparency" for her leadership during the crisis and named her one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2004. In foreign affairs, realizing the importance of the PRC's participation in the international arena, and seeing the PRC's contribution as a crucial boost to the country's overall development, Wu helped negotiate the country's entry into the World Trade Organization while making efforts to tighten the customs after U.S. complaints over the widespread violation of intellectual property rights. During the last months of her tenure, Wu continued to be heavily involved in negotiations with U.S. toy giant Mattel over toy lead content as a means to alleviate the significant woes to the reputation of Chinese products. Wu's achievements are significant because they help build a role model for future Chinese leaders and tell the world that the PRC's call for competent and clean officials is genuine.
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3 comments:
So interesting. Thanks Jessica for telling us about Wu Yi. I look forward to future China posts!
Welcome JH! Very interesting! Is Wu Yi the only high ranking government official who is a woman? How easy or hard is it for Chinese women to achieve positions of power in the government?
Babs, I would say women are definitely the minority in positions of power. There is however another by the name of Liu Yandong whom is head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party, an organization that keeps non-Communist Chinese political parties in line with the general Party ideology. She entered the 17th Politburo of the Communist Party of China in 2007, the political organization which really matters and is the only female member there.
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