Zhang Hanzhi

Zhang Hanzhi (Chinese: 章含之; pinyin: Zhāng Hánzhī; Wade–Giles: Chang Han-chih; 1935 – 26 January 2008) was a Chinese diplomat who was Mao Zedong's English tutor and U.S. President Richard Nixon's interpreter during his historic 1972 trip to China.

Early life and education

Zhang was born in Shanghai in 1935, the love child of socialite Tan Xueqing and Chen Du, son of General Chen Tiaoyuan.^[1] She was adopted by General Chen's friend, educator and statesman Zhang Shizhao. Her family moved to Beijing in 1949 and four years later, Zhang entered the Beijing Foreign Studies University, where she taught after graduating with a master's degree.

Career

Zhang met Mao in 1950 and then started to translate English for him. The lessons abruptly stopped in 1964 as the Cultural Revolution began taking shape. In 1971, Zhang was transferred to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she began her diplomatic career and attended a series of landmark meetings, including the ones with Nixon, when the countries began restoring diplomatic relations.

Personal life

Zhang married her first husband Hong Junyan (洪君彦), a Peking University professor, in 1949. Zhang and Hong had a daughter, Hung Huang, who later became an entrepreneur and media figure.^[2] The couple divorced in 1973, and Zhang remarried Qiao Guanhua,^[3] the head of the UN delegation.

Zhang passed away on 26 January 2008, due to a lung-related illness.^[4]

References