Wu Yi (politician)
Wu Yi | |
---|---|
吴仪 | |
Minister of Health | |
In office April 2003 – April 2005 | |
Premier | Wen Jiabao |
Preceded by | Zhang Wenkang |
Succeeded by | Gao Qiang |
Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation | |
In office March 1993 – March 1998 | |
Premier | Li Peng |
Preceded by | Li Lanqing |
Succeeded by | Shi Guangsheng |
Personal details | |
Born | November 1938 (age 85) China University of Petroleum |
Wu Yi | |
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Hanyu Pinyin | Wú Yí |
Wu Yi (born November 1938) is a retired Chinese politician who served as a
Early life
Wu was born in November 1938 to an ordinary intellectual family based in
Career
She was elected
During the SARS crisis, she replaced Zhang Wenkang, who had been fired for his role in the cover-up of the crisis, as health minister.[3] She headed a committee to solve the crisis.[1] Wu was praised internationally for her handling of the crisis.[3] She was called the "Goddess of Transparency" by Time magazine for her leadership during the SARS crisis and named one of the Time 100 Most Influential People of 2004.
In early 2007, an ailing Huang Ju, who was serving as senior Vice Premier at the time, could no longer continue fulfilling his duties. It was reported that Wu Yi would take over work in the financial sector which was formerly the portfolio of Huang. After Huang died in office in June 2007 Wu became the senior-most ranked Vice Premier.[4] Also in 2007, a coordination committee was formed to oversee quality control of consumer goods as well as food safety, and Wu was named its leader. There was speculation that Wu may continue to serve despite having reached the informal retirement age of 68.
At the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Wu was not named to the new Politburo. A month later, answering speculation about her political future at a U.S.-China Chamber of Commerce meeting, Wu said that she intends to "retire completely" (i.e. , luotui), and said that she will not take on any office, whether "official, semi-official, or with civic organizations." She also remarked that she wanted everyone to simply forget about her. During the last few months of her tenure she was involved in negotiations with U.S. toy giant Mattel over toy lead content that damaged the reputation of Chinese-made products. At a meeting held with Chinese business leaders in early 2008 Wu revealed that her personal salary totaled 120,000 yuan, or approximately $17,600 per year at the time, and told the business leaders that they should only "take money from the right places".[5]
Public image and personal life
Called by Chinese media as the "Iron Lady of China", Wu was regarded as a firm and direct woman who, unlike her mostly male colleagues, chose not to dye her graying hair black. Wu did not marry all her life. When questioned about this, Wu said, "it's not that I have always wanted to be alone, it's just that life has never given me the opportunity [for romance]; no one has ever entered my life in this way."[2]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-7-5006-6472-7.
- ^ a b "副总理吴仪自曝至今未嫁之谜". Sina. Archived from the original on 2017-08-27. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-5381-8725-8.
- ^ 吴仪接管经济金融工作 Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine 中国网,原载《中华工商时报》 May 16, 2007
- ^ 吴仪:明年「裸退」 把我完全忘记 Archived 2009-04-04 at the Wayback Machine 《联合早报》December 25, 2007 原载台湾《联合报》
- ^ "The 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes.com. 2007-08-30. Archived from the original on 2017-07-30. Retrieved 2008-01-28.