Lü Zhixian

Lü Zhixian (; July 12, 1917 – October 31, 2016), formerly known by the names Yao Wanqing and Yao Xiping , was a Chinese politician and diplomat. A native of Pingyuan County, Guangdong, he joined the Chinese Communist Party clandestinely in October 1936. He later served as vice chairman of the China Foreign Cultural Relations Association, Vice Minister of Culture, and as a Chinese ambassador to several countries.

Biography

Lü Zhixian was born on July 12, 1917, in Fengguang Village, Chaozhu, Pingyuan County, Guangdong. He studied at Qiyu Primary School in Pingyuan and later attended the affiliated secondary school of Sun Yat-sen University. In October 1936, he secretly joined the Chinese Communist Party and was subsequently assigned to conduct underground work among the Northeast Army commanded by Zhang Xueliang.

In 1938, Lü established a clandestine Party branch within the 112th Division of the 57th Army of the Northeast Army. He worked to promote cooperation between the Northeast Army and the Eighth Route Army in the resistance against Japan. In September 1940, he was transferred to the Chinese Communist Party Shandong Branch to participate in armed resistance and the construction of Communist base areas. He subsequently worked in the southern Shandong region during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Beginning in March 1951, Lü successively served as Secretary of the CCP Wenzhou Prefectural Committee, a member of the Standing Committee of the CCP Zhejiang Provincial Committee, Head of the Zhejiang Provincial Publicity Department, Secretary-General of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee, and First Secretary of the CCP Jinhua Prefectural Committee. He also served as president and Party Secretary of Hangzhou University. From 1962 to 1964, he was president and Party Secretary of Hangzhou University.

In January 1965, Lü was appointed China's first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Mauritania. During the Cultural Revolution, he was subjected to political persecution and criticism. Beginning in June 1970, he successively served as China's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Hungary, the Republic of the Congo, and North Korea.

In March 1981, Lü was appointed vice chairman and a member of the Party Leadership Group of the China Foreign Cultural Relations Association. In May 1982, he became Vice Minister and a member of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Culture. In 1986, he became vice chairman of the China Association for Cultural Exchange. He retired in 2001. Lü Zhixian died in Beijing on October 31, 2016, at the age of 99.