100 Notable alumni of
Peking University
Updated:
Peking University is 128th in the world, 21st in Asia, and 2nd in China by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Peking University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Li Keqiang
- Enrolled in Peking University
- 1978-1982 graduated with Bachelor of Laws
- In 1995 graduated with Doctor of Economics
- Occupations
- politicianeconomist
- Biography
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Li Keqiang was a Chinese economist and politician who served as the seventh premier of China from 2013 to 2023. He was also the second-ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2012 to 2022. Li was a major part of the "fifth generation of Chinese leadership" along with Xi Jinping, the CCP general secretary and president.
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Liu Xiaobo
- Occupations
- writerhuman rights activistpoetliterary critic
- Biography
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Liu Xiaobo was a Chinese literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end Chinese Communist Party one-party rule in China. He was arrested numerous times, and was described as China's most prominent dissident and the country's most famous political prisoner. On 26 June 2017, he was granted medical parole after being diagnosed with liver cancer; he died a few weeks later on 13 July 2017.
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Renhō
- Occupations
- tarentoactornews presenterpoliticianjournalist
- Biography
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Renhō Saitō, known mononymously as Renhō, is a Japanese politician and former journalist who served as member of the House of Councillors from 2004 to 2024. She was the leader of the now-defunct major opposition party, the Democratic Party from 2016 to 2017. Renhō was a candidate for the 2024 Tokyo gubernatorial election with the support of the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), Japanese Communist Party (JCP), and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), but was defeated by incumbent Yuriko Koike, placing third behind Shinji Ishimaru.
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Han Kuo-yu
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Han Kuo-yu, also known as Daniel Han, is a Taiwanese politician and retired Republic of China Army officer who is the current president of the Legislative Yuan.
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Zhong Nanshan
- Years
- 1936-.. (age 89)
- Occupations
- politicianphysicianresearcherpulmonologist
- Biography
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Zhong Nanshan is a Chinese pulmonologist. He was president of the Chinese Medical Association from 2005 to 2009 and is currently the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Thoracic Disease. Zhong was bestowed the Medal of the Republic, the highest honorary medal of the People's Republic of China, in August 2020.
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Hu Chunhua
- Enrolled in Peking University
- In 1983 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in Chinese
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Hu Chunhua is a Chinese politician. He currently serves as a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since 2023. From 2018 to 2023, he served as vice premier of China.
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Sirindhorn, Princess Royal
- Enrolled in Peking University
- Studied in 2001-2001
- Occupations
- diplomatuniversity teacherchildren's writerinstrumentalistphotographer
- Biography
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Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Princess Royal is a member of the Thai royal family. She is the second daughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit, and the younger sister of King Vajiralongkorn.
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Wang Dan
- Occupations
- human rights activist
- Biography
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Wang Dan is a leader of the Chinese democracy movement and was one of the most visible student leaders in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. He holds a PhD in history from Harvard University, and from August 2009 to February 2010, Wang taught cross-strait history at Taiwan's National Chengchi University as a visiting scholar. He then taught at National Tsing Hua University until 2015.
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Chai Ling
- Occupations
- businesspersonhuman rights activist
- Biography
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Chai Ling is a Chinese psychologist who was one of the student leaders in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. According in the documentary Gate of Heavenly Peace, she had indicated that the strategy of the leadership group she dominated was to provoke the Government to use violence against the unarmed students. She had also claimed to have witnessed soldiers killing student protesters inside Tiananmen Square.
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Tu Youyou
- Enrolled in Peking University
- Studied in 1951-1955
- Occupations
- inventorpharmacistchemistpharmacologistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Tu Youyou is a Nobel Prize-winning Chinese malariologist and pharmaceutical chemist. She discovered artemisinin (also known as qīnghāosù, 青蒿素) and dihydroartemisinin, used to treat malaria, a breakthrough in twentieth-century tropical medicine, saving millions of lives in South China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America.
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Ding Liren
- Occupations
- chess player
- Biography
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Ding Liren is a Chinese chess grandmaster who was the 17th World Chess Champion from 2023–24. He is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion and was a member of the Chinese chess teams that won the Chess Olympiads in 2014 and 2018. Ding is the first Chinese player ever to play in a Candidates Tournament and first Chinese player to pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE world rankings. In July 2016, with a blitz rating of 2875, he was the highest-rated Blitz player in the world. In July 2023, Ding became the No. 1 ranked Rapid player, with a rating of 2830. He achieved his highest classical rating of 2816 in November 2018 and a peak classical ranking of No.2 in November 2021 behind Magnus Carlsen.
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Zhao Leji
- Enrolled in Peking University
- 1977-1980 studied philosophy
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Zhao Leji is a Chinese politician who is the current chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
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Chen-ning Yang
- Years
- 1922-.. (age 103)
- Occupations
- physicistuniversity teachertheoretical physicist
- Biography
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Yang Chen-Ning or Chen-Ning Yang, also known as C. N. Yang or by the English name Frank Yang, is a Chinese theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to statistical mechanics, integrable systems, gauge theory, and both particle physics and condensed matter physics. He and Tsung-Dao Lee received the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on parity non-conservation of weak interaction. The two proposed that the conservation of parity, a physical law observed to hold in all other physical processes, is violated in the so-called weak nuclear reactions, those nuclear processes that result in the emission of beta or alpha particles. Yang is also well known for his collaboration with Robert Mills in developing non-abelian gauge theory, widely known as the Yang–Mills theory.
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Li Yuanchao
- Enrolled in Peking University
- Graduated with master's degree in management
- Occupations
- mathematicianpolitician
- Biography
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Li Yuanchao is a retired Chinese politician. He was the Vice President of China from 2013 to 2018 and the Honorary President of the Red Cross Society of China. He was a member of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party and head of its Organization Department between 2007 and 2012. From 2002 to 2007, Li served as the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Jiangsu, the top leader of an area of significant economic development. Between 2007 and 2017, he held a seat for two terms on the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party.
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Xu Zhimo
- Occupations
- translatorpoetwriter
- Biography
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Xu Zhimo was a Chinese romantic poet and writer of modern Chinese poetry who strove to loosen Chinese poetry from its traditional forms and to reshape it under the influences of Western poetry and the vernacular Chinese language. He died in a plane crash at age 34.
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Timothy Geithner
- Occupations
- politicianbankereconomist
- Biography
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Timothy Franz Geithner is an American former central banker who served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. He was the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 2003 to 2009, following service in the Clinton administration. Since March 2014, he has served as president and chairman of Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm headquartered in New York City.
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Hou Yifan
- Occupations
- chess player
- Biography
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Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and professor at Shenzhen University. She is the second highest rated female player of all time. A chess prodigy, she was the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of grandmaster (at the age of 14 years, 6 months, 16 days) and the youngest ever to win the Women's World Chess Championship (at age 16).
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Li Na
- Occupations
- journalistpolitician
- Biography
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Li Na, is the daughter of Mao Zedong and his fourth wife Jiang Qing, and their only child together. Her surname is Li rather than Mao, because her father used the pseudonym "Li Desheng" (李德胜; 李德勝) for a period of time during the Chinese Civil War.
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Clara Chou
- Enrolled in Peking University
- In 2012 graduated with Executive Master of Business Administration
- Occupations
- radio personalitytelevision presentertalk show hostjournalistpundit
- Biography
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Clara Chou or Chou Yuh-kow is a Taiwanese journalist, television and radio personality.
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Tsung-Dao Lee
- Occupations
- physicistuniversity teachertheoretical physicist
- Biography
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Tsung-Dao Lee was a Chinese-American physicist, known for his work on parity violation, the Lee–Yang theorem, particle physics, relativistic heavy ion (RHIC) physics, nontopological solitons, and soliton stars. He was a university professor emeritus at Columbia University in New York City, where he taught from 1953 until his retirement in 2012.
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Robin Li
- Occupations
- inventorentrepreneurcomputer scientistsoftware engineerbusinessperson
- Biography
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Robin Li Yanhong is a Chinese software engineer and billionaire internet entrepreneur who is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Chinese multinational technology company Baidu. As of June 2023, his net worth was estimated at US$8.6 billion by Forbes.
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Li Shufu
- Occupations
- entrepreneurbusinessperson
- Biography
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Eric Li Shufu is a Chinese billionaire entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of Geely.
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Wang Zhi'an
- Years
- 1968-.. (age 57)
- Enrolled in Peking University
- 1996-1998 graduated with master's degree
- Occupations
- journalistYouTuber
- Biography
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Wang Zhi'an is a Japan-based Chinese journalist. He served as a reporter and host for China Central Television and chief investigative reporter for The Beijing News. After being banned from the Chinese internet in 2019, he moved to Japan and has worked as an independent journalist. In May 2022, he started hosting news talk show Wang Ju Pai An on YouTube. In 2024, he was banned from entering Taiwan for five years.
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Deng Pufang
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Deng Pufang is a Chinese politician, who is the eldest son of former Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. He is mostly known for being injured during the Cultural Revolution by the Red Guards and becoming a paraplegic. He has since dedicated his life to improving the rights of people with disabilities.
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Fu Xiaotian
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Fu Xiaotian is a Chinese news correspondent. Fu worked in London when she first joined state media outlet Phoenix Television, taking on the roles of chief correspondent and bureau chief. In 2011, she journeyed twice to Libya as a wartime reporter. The following year, she transferred to Phoenix TV's Hong Kong headquarters, where she worked as a senior reporter, covering major political events internationally. In June 2023, she disappeared from public view.
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Zhang Guotao
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Zhang Guotao was a Chinese revolutionary who was a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and rival to Mao Zedong. During the 1920s he studied in the Soviet Union and became a key contact with the Comintern, organizing the CCP labor movement in the United Front with the Kuomintang. From 1931 to 1932, after the Party had been driven from the cities, Zhang was placed in charge of the Eyuwan Soviet. When his armies were driven from the region, he joined the Long March but lost a contentious struggle for party leadership to Mao Zedong. Zhang's armies then took a different route from Mao's and were badly beaten by local Muslim Ma clique forces in Gansu. When his depleted forces finally arrived to join Mao in Yan'an, Zhang continued his losing challenge to Mao, and left the party in 1938. Zhang eventually retired to Canada, in 1968. He became a Christian shortly before his death in Scarborough, Ontario (a suburb of Toronto), in 1979. His memoirs provide valuable and vivid information on his life and party history.
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Yitang Zhang
- Occupations
- mathematician
- Biography
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Yitang Zhang is a Chinese-American mathematician primarily working on number theory and a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Santa Barbara since 2015.
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Justin Yifu Lin
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
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Justin Yifu Lin is a Taiwanese-born Chinese economist and professor of economics at Peking University. He served as the Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank from 2008 to 2012. He has been appointed as China's State Council Counsellor since September 2013.
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Meng Hongwei
- Occupations
- politicianpolice officer
- Biography
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Meng Hongwei is a former Chinese politician and police officer who was the president of Interpol from 2016 to 2018. He also served as vice-minister of Public Security in China from 2004 to 2018. Meng purportedly resigned in absentia in October 2018 via Chinese officials after he was secretly detained and accused of taking bribes by Chinese anti-corruption authorities. On 21 January 2020, Meng had been sentenced to 13+1⁄2 years in jail by a Chinese court for bribery during his time at the Chinese coast guard and Ministry of Public Security.
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Justin Sun
- Occupations
- ambassadorbusiness executive
- Biography
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Justin Sun is a Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur and business executive. He is the founder of TRON, a cryptocurrency with an associated blockchain DAO ecosystem and USDD, a stablecoin issued by TRON DAO Reserve. Sun is also the owner of Rainberry (formerly Bitorrent Inc.), which developed the BitTorrent protocol and under Sun's leadership developed the BTT cryptocurrency token. Sun also owns the crypto exchange Poloniex, and is affiliated with the crypto exchange HTX (formerly Huobi). Sun served as Permanent Representative of Grenada to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva from 2021 to 2023.
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Li Ning
- Occupations
- entrepreneurartistic gymnastbusinessperson
- Biography
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Li Ning is a Chinese billionaire entrepreneur, the founder of the eponymous sportswear company Li-Ning, and retired gymnast of Zhuang ethnicity. He lives in Hong Kong.
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Alvin Yeung
- Occupations
- politicianbarrister
- Biography
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Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu is a Hong Kong barrister and politician. He was formerly the leader of the Civic Party and a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, representing New Territories East after winning the 2016 by-election. On 11 November 2020, Yeung was disqualified from the Legislative Council, along with three other lawmakers of the pan-democratic camp, by the central government in Beijing on request of the Hong Kong government. A mass resignation of pan-democrats the same day left the Legislative Council without a substantial opposition.
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Deng Yingchao
- Occupations
- Esperantistpolitician
- Biography
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Deng Yingchao was the Chairwoman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from 1983 to 1988, a member of the Chinese Communist Party, and the wife of the first Chinese Premier, Zhou Enlai.
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Michael Halliday
- Occupations
- university teacherpedagoguephilosopherlinguist
- Biography
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Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday was a British linguist who developed the internationally influential systemic functional linguistics (SFL) model of language. His grammatical descriptions go by the name of systemic functional grammar. Halliday described language as a semiotic system, "not in the sense of a system of signs, but a systemic resource for meaning". For Halliday, language was a "meaning potential"; by extension, he defined linguistics as the study of "how people exchange meanings by 'languaging'". Halliday described himself as a generalist, meaning that he tried "to look at language from every possible vantage point", and has described his work as "wander the highways and byways of language". But he said that "to the extent that I favoured any one angle, it was the social: language as the creature and creator of human society".
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Mulatu Teshome
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Mulatu Teshome Wirtu is an Ethiopian politician who was president of Ethiopia from 2013 to 2018.
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Lin Liguo
- Occupations
- military personnel
- Biography
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Lin Liguo was the son of Chinese marshal Lin Biao. He was the alleged leader of Project 571, a coup plot against Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong.
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Fang Lizhi
- Occupations
- university teacherastrophysicisthuman rights activistphysicist
- Biography
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Fang Lizhi was a Chinese astrophysicist, vice-president of the University of Science and Technology of China, and activist whose liberal ideas inspired the pro-democracy student movement of 1986–87 and, finally, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Fang was considered as one of the leaders of the New Enlightenment in the 1980s. Because of his activism, he was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party in January 1987. For his work, Fang was a recipient of the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award in 1989, given each year. He was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1980, but his position was revoked after 1989.
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Lin Zhao
- Enrolled in Peking University
- 1954-1958 studied news
- Occupations
- poetwriter
- Biography
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Lin Zhao, born Peng Lingzhao (彭令昭), was a prominent Chinese dissident who was imprisoned and later executed by gunshot by the People's Republic of China during the Cultural Revolution for her criticism of Mao Zedong's policies. She is widely considered to be a martyr and exemplar for Chinese and other Christians, like the Chinese church leader and teacher Watchman Nee.
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Zhu Ziqing
- Years
- 1898-1948 (aged 50)
- Occupations
- poetscholaressayistprose writerwriter
- Biography
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Zhu Ziqing, born Zhu Zihua, was a renowned Chinese poet and essayist. Zhu studied at Peking University, and during the May Fourth Movement became one of several pioneers of modernism in China during the 1920s. Zhu was a prolific writer of both prose and poetry, but is best known for essays like "Retreating Figure" (Chinese: 背影; pinyin: Bèiyǐng), and "You. Me." (Chinese: 你我; pinyin: Nǐ wǒ). His best known work in verse is the long poem "Destruction" or Huimie (Chinese: 毀滅; pinyin: Huǐmiè).
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Zhang Lingfu
- Years
- 1903-1947 (aged 44)
- Occupations
- military personnelpolitician
- Biography
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Zhang Lingfu was a high-ranking general of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army. He successfully fought against the Communists and the Imperial Japanese Army. In 1947, his unit was surrounded by Chinese communist forces commanded by Field Marshal Chen Yi and General Su Yu. Zhang was unable to breakout from the communist encirclement because the relief efforts headed by his nationalist colleagues did not arrive in time, and he was killed in action in the Menglianggu Campaign on May 16, 1947.
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Feng Congde
- Occupations
- human rights activist
- Biography
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Feng Congde is a Chinese dissident and Republic of China Restoration activist. He was a student leader from Peking University during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, which placed him onto the Chinese government's 21 Most Wanted list. After Tiananmen Massacre, he spent 10 months hiding in various locations in mainland China with the help of a group of Qigong practitioners, until he was smuggled out to Hong Kong on a shipping vessel.
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Shen Congwen
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Shen Congwen, formerly romanized as Shen Ts'ung-wen, was a Chinese writer who is considered one of the greatest modern Chinese writers, on par with Lu Xun. Regional culture and identity plays a much bigger role in his writing than that of other major early modern Chinese writers. He was known for combining the vernacular style with classical Chinese writing techniques. Shen is the most important of the "native soil" writers in modern Chinese literature. Shen Congwen published many excellent compositions in his life, the most famous of which is the novella Border Town. This story is about the old ferryman and his granddaughter Cuicui's love story. Shen Congwen and his wife Zhang Zhaohe were married in 1933, Shen Congwen and Zhang Zhaohe had two sons and one daughter after their marriage.
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Fu Ssu-nien
- Occupations
- historianlinguist
- Biography
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Fu Ssu-nien was a Chinese historian, linguist, and writer. He was one of the leaders of the May Fourth Movement in 1919. He was also one of the creators of the Academia Sinica, and was named director of the Institute of History and Philology upon its founding in 1928.
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Cheng Chung-tai
- Enrolled in Peking University
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- politicianradio personalitylecturer
- Biography
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Cheng Chung-tai is a Hong Kong academic, social activist, and politician. After winning a seat in the New Territories West constituency in the 2016 legislative election, he took over from Wong Yeung-tat as chairman of Civic Passion until the dissolution in 2021.
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Chen Yu-jen
- Enrolled in Peking University
- 1998-1999 graduated with master's degree
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Chen Yu-jen is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer who serves as a Member of the Legislative Yuan. She was previously a member of the Kinmen County Council.
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K. Natwar Singh
- Occupations
- writerpoliticiandiplomat
- Biography
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Kunwar Natwar Singh, IFS was an Indian diplomat and politician who served as the Minister of External Affairs from May 2004 to December 2005. Having been suspended by the Congress in 2006, he joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 2008 but was removed from the party within four months.
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Xia Baolong
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Xia Baolong is a Chinese politician. Originally from Tianjin, Xia began his political career in the Communist Youth League. He served as the vice mayor of Tianjin, governor and Communist Party Secretary of Zhejiang province. Between 2018 and 2023, he served as a vice chairman of the 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), being its secretary general from 2018 to 2020. Xia was appointed director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in February 2020.
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Chen Gongbo
- Years
- 1892-1946 (aged 54)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Chen Gongbo was a Chinese politician, noted for his role as the second and final president of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, a puppet state of Japan.
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Yu Jie
- Enrolled in Peking University
- 1992-1997 graduated with bachelor's degree
- 1997-2000 graduated with master's degree
- Occupations
- biographerhuman rights activistliterary criticwriterpundit
- Biography
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Yu Jie, is a Chinese-American writer and Calvinist democracy activist. The bestselling author of more than 30 books, Yu was described by the New York Review of Books in 2012 as "one of China's most prominent essayists and critics". In addition, he has a Revisionist tendency towards the Japanese militarism in World War II.
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Edward Zhang
- Occupations
- television actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Zhang Luyi, also known as Edward Zhang, is a Chinese actor and director.
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Zhang Zhaozhong
- Occupations
- military theorist
- Biography
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Zhang Zhaozhong is a retired Chinese military theorist at the PLA National Defense University. He held the rank of rear admiral in the People's Liberation Army Navy prior to his retirement.
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Xu Zhiyong
- Enrolled in Peking University
- In 2002 graduated with Doctor of Laws
- Occupations
- university teacherhuman rights activistlawyerlecturer
- Biography
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Xu Zhiyong is a Chinese civil rights activist and formerly a lecturer at the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications. He was one of the founders of the NGO Open Constitution Initiative and an active rights lawyer in China who campaigned against corruption and helped those underprivileged. He is the main founder and icon of the New Citizens' Movement in China. In January 2014 he was sentenced to four years in prison for "gathering crowds to disrupt public order". He was detained again on February 15, 2020, in the southern city of Guangzhou after two months in hiding, for his participation in a meeting of rights activists and lawyers in Xiamen in December 2019 in which "democratic transition in China" was discussed. He was sentenced for subversion to 14 years in jail on April 10, 2023.
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Yiyun Li
- Occupations
- short story writerjournalistscreenwriterwriteruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Yiyun Li is a Chinese-born writer and professor in the United States. Her short stories and novels have won several awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award and Guardian First Book Award for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, the 2020 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for Where Reasons End, and the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for The Book of Goose. Her short story collection Wednesday's Child was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She is an editor of the Brooklyn-based literary magazine A Public Space.
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Yi Gang
- Occupations
- authoreconomist
- Biography
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Yi Gang is a Chinese economist who served as the governor of the People's Bank of China from 2018 to 2023, vice governor of the People's Bank of China from 2007 to 2018, director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange from 2009 to 2015, and assistant governor of the People's Bank of China from 2004 to 2007.
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Deng Rong
- Occupations
- entrepreneurbiographerwriter
- Biography
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Deng Rong is a Chinese politician and the third daughter of paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.
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Liu Qing
- Occupations
- business executive
- Biography
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Liu Qing or Jean Liu, is a Chinese business executive. Liu is the President of Didi Chuxing ("DiDi", formerly known as Didi Duache and Didi Kuaidi), China's largest mobile transportation platform. She worked at Goldman Sachs Asia for 12 years, becoming a managing director in 2012, before switching to Didi Dache serving as its chief operating officer in July 2014.
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Zhuo Lin
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Zhuo Lin was the third and last wife of Deng Xiaoping, former Paramount leader of China.
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Mao Dun
- Occupations
- opinion journalistpoliticianwritercriticliterary historian
- Biography
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Shen Dehong, best known by the pen name of Mao Dun, was a Chinese novelist, essayist, journalist, playwright, literary and cultural critic. He was highly celebrated for his realist novels, including Midnight, which depicts life in cosmopolitan Shanghai. Mao was one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party and participated in a number of left-wing cultural movements during the 1920s and 1930s. He was the editor-in-chief of Fiction Monthly and helped lead the League of Left-Wing Writers. He formed a strong friendship with fellow left-wing Chinese author Lu Xun. From 1949 to 1965, Mao served as the first Minister of Culture in the People's Republic of China.
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Li Zhaoxing
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Li Zhaoxing is a Chinese diplomat and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of China from 2003 to 2007. He previously served as Ambassador of China to the United States from 1998 to 2001, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations from 1993 to 1995, and deputy director and director of information department at Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1985 to 1993.
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Dashan
- Occupations
- sinologisttelevision actorxiangsheng performeractor
- Biography
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Mark Henry Rowswell, CM, better known by his Chinese stage name Dashan (Chinese: 大山; pinyin: Dàshān; lit. 'Big Mountain'), is a Canadian comedian, xiangsheng performer, and television personality popular in China. Relatively unknown in the West, from the late 1980s through the early 2000s Dashan was one of the most famous Western personalities in China's media industry, where he occupied a unique position as a foreign national who had become a domestic celebrity, largely through his repeated appearances on China Central Television (CCTV) during that period. Since 2012 Dashan has largely turned away from mainstream media to focus on solo performances in live venues, helping to introduce stand-up comedy to China.
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Yu Min
- Occupations
- nuclear physicist
- Biography
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Yu Min was a prominent Chinese nuclear physicist. He was an academic of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), a lead nuclear weapon designer in the Ninth Academy, and a recipient of Two Bombs, One Satellite Achievement Medal. Though he personally refused to accept the title, he is honored as “the father of Chinese Hydrogen Bomb”.
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François Jullien
- Occupations
- university teachersinologisthellenistphilosopher
- Biography
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François Jullien is a French philosopher, Hellenist, and sinologist.
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Liu Siqi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Liu Siqi, also known as Liu Songlin (刘松林), was the wife of Mao Anying, the first son of Mao Zedong.
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Yu Pun Hoi
- Occupations
- entrepreneur
- Biography
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Yu Pun-hoi, commonly known as P H Yu, is a Hong Kong entrepreneur in the information technology, cinema, culture and media industries. He is the Chairman of the Board and largest shareholder of Hong Kong-listed Nan Hai Corporation Limited (0680.HK) and Sino-i Technology Limited (0250.HK). Yu is also the founder and chairman of the Tsinghua University Center for US-China Relations (CUSCR), and the Peking University Chinese Culture Research Center.
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Wang Juntao
- Biography
-
Wang Juntao is a Chinese dissident and democracy activist accused by the Communist government for being one of the “black hands” behind the Tiananmen Student Movement. He was listed first on the government's “six important criminals” list, and was sentenced to a thirteen-year prison term in 1991 for his alleged work of “conspiring to subvert the government and of counter-revolutionary propaganda and agitation”. Wang was released from prison for medical reasons in 1994 and has been living in exile in the United States.
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Yuan Hongbing
- Enrolled in Peking University
- 1979-1983 graduated with bachelor's degree
- 1983-1986 graduated with master's degree
- Occupations
- writeruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Yuan Hongbing is a Chinese-Australian jurist, novelist, and Chinese dissident.
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Xia Yeliang
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
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Xia Yeliang is a former associate professor of economics at Peking University. He was one of the early drafters and signers of Charter 08 in 2008. In June 2013, he was given notice by a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official at the School of Economics that a faculty vote regarding termination of his position at the university was scheduled. He was dismissed in October 2013. PKU issued an announcement afterwards, claiming "In recent years, Xia's teaching evaluations has been consistently the lowest of the whole School of Economics. The school has received more than 340 student complaints since 2006. The hiring and promotion committee voted against the renewal of his contract on Oct 26, 2012. As a courtesy, the school gave Xia one year extension for possible improvement. On Oct 11, 2013, the committee voted again. 34 out of 37 members showed up. 3 voted yes, 1 abstained, and 30 voted no. The school therefore terminated the contract."
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Deng Liqun
- Enrolled in Peking University
- In 1936 studied economics
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Deng Liqun was a Chinese politician and theorist who was one of the leading figures of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the 1980s, most well known for his involvement with the party's propaganda work. Deng was born in Guidong County, Hunan province, and joined the CCP in 1936. He came from an intellectual family and joined the party out of intellectual commitment. He was often referred to as "Little Deng", to be distinguished from Deng Xiaoping (no relation), the "Old Deng".
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Yu Minhong
- Occupations
- entrepreneurbusinessperson
- Biography
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Yu Minhong, or Michael Yu is the founder and president of New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc., and a member of the central committee of China Democratic League. As the owner of one of the largest private educational services, Yu is known as the "richest teacher in China", and "Godfather of English Training". On Hurun Report's China Rich List 2013, he had an estimated wealth $1.1 billion and was ranked No. 245 on the list. On the same list of 2015, he had an estimated wealth of $1.09 billion and was ranked No. 487. Also he was ranked No.1759 on Hurun Global Rich List 2015, with an estimated wealth of $1.1 billion. As of November 2018, he is ranked #148 on Forbes China Rich List 2018 and #1020 on Forbes Billionaires 2018, with an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion.
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Feng Youlan
- Occupations
- university teacherhistorianphilosopherphilosophy historian
- Biography
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Feng Youlan was a Chinese philosopher, historian, and writer who was instrumental for reintroducing the study of Chinese philosophy in the modern era. The name he published under in English was 'Fung Yu-lan,' as used in the Bodde translation of A History of Chinese Philosophy. This earlier spelling also occurs in philosophical discussions, see for example the work of Wing-tsit Chan.
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Dai Sijie
- Occupations
- writerfilm directorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Dai Sijie is a Chinese French author and filmmaker, he is still alone (lonely like Mason) and doesn't have any family.
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Huang Jing
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Huang Jing, born Yu Qiwei (Chinese: 俞启威; Wade–Giles: Yü Ch'i-wei), was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician who served as Mayor and Communist Party Chief of Tianjin municipality, Minister of the First Ministry of Machine Building, and Chairman of the National Technological Commission. He was an ex-husband of Jiang Qing, who later married Mao Zedong, and the father of Yu Qiangsheng, a top Chinese intelligence officer who defected to the United States in 1985, and Yu Zhengsheng, the fourth-ranked member of the 18th Politburo Standing Committee.
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Wang Hao
- Occupations
- chess player
- Biography
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Wang Hao is a Chinese chess grandmaster. In November 2009, Wang became the fourth Chinese player to break through the 2700 Elo rating mark.
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Li Yinhe
- Occupations
- sexologistsociologist
- Biography
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Li Yinhe is a Chinese sociologist, sexologist, and activist for LGBT rights in China. Her main academic interests have been sexual norms in contemporary China, homosexuality, diverse sexual behaviors including sadomasochism, and women's studies.
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Mou Tsung-san
- Occupations
- translatorphilosopher
- Biography
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Mou Zongsan was a Chinese philosopher and translator. He was born in Shandong province and graduated from Peking University. In 1949 he moved to Taiwan, and later Hong Kong, remaining outside of mainland China for the rest of his life. His thought was heavily influenced by Immanuel Kant, whose three Critiques he translated from English, possibly first, into Chinese, and above all by Tiantai Buddhist philosophy.
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Wang Youcai
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Wang Youcai is a Chinese dissident and was one of the prominent student leaders in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. At the time he was graduate student at the Peking University, he was arrested in 1989 and sentenced to four years in 1991 for "conspiring to overthrow the Government of China".
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Hu Deping
- Enrolled in Peking University
- Studied in 1962-1967
- Occupations
- politicianeconomist
- Biography
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Hu Deping is a Chinese politician and former vice chairman of All-China General Chamber of Industry & Commerce, Secretary of National Association of Industry and Commerce (under the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party), former chairman of China-Africa Business Council. He is the eldest son of late Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang.
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Zhu Jun
- Occupations
- television presenterxiangsheng performer
- Biography
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Zhu Jun is a Chinese host and actor. Zhu was a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a member of 8th National Committee of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and a member of 10th National Committee of the All-China Youth Federation.
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Julia Ebner
- Enrolled in Peking University
- 2013-2014 graduated with master's degree in development economics
- Occupations
- political adviserresearcher
- Biography
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Julia Ebner is an Austrian researcher and author based in London. She has written the books The Rage: the Vicious Circle of Islamist and Far-Right Extremism, Going Dark: the Secret Social Lives of Extremists and Going Mainstream: how extremists are taking over.
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Xiong Yan
- Occupations
- chaplainhuman rights activist
- Biography
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Xiong Yan is a Chinese-American human rights activist, military officer, and Protestant chaplain. He was a dissident involved in 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Xiong Yan studied at Peking University Law School from 1986 to 1989. He came to the United States of America as a political refugee in 1992, and later became a chaplain in U.S. Army, serving in Iraq. Xiong Yan is the author of three books, and has earned six degrees. He ran for Congress in New York's 10th congressional district in 2022, and his campaign was reportedly attacked by agents of China's Ministry of State Security.
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Lu Kang
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Lu Kang is a Chinese diplomat currently serving as deputy minister of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party since May 2024. He previously served as the Director of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. His most recent diplomatic post was as the Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia where he served from 2022 to 2024.
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Qian Zhuangfei
- Years
- 1895-1935 (aged 40)
- Occupations
- film directorphysician
- Biography
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Qian Zhuangfei was a Chinese doctor, film director and a secret agent for the Chinese Communist Party. After the Kuomintang (KMT) began its suppression of the Communists in 1927, Qian infiltrated the KMT secret service, and in 1931 intercepted a telegram reporting the arrest and defection of the Communist leader Gu Shunzhang. His quick reaction allowed the Communist leadership in Shanghai to evacuate, and he was credited with saving the lives of top leaders including Zhou Enlai, later the Premier of China. Zhou called Qian and his fellow agents Li Kenong and Hu Di "the three most distinguished intelligence workers of the Party." Qian was killed in 1935 during the Long March. He was the father of Li Lili, one of China's most popular film stars in the 1930s.
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Teng Biao
- Enrolled in Peking University
- In 2002 graduated with Doctor of Laws
- Occupations
- lawyerhuman rights activist
- Biography
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Teng Biao is a Chinese lawyer and political activist. He is a lecturer at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing. He has been a vocal supporter of human rights activists such as Chen Guangcheng and Hu Jia. He has been arrested at least twice, in March 2008 and in February 2011. He was also a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School from (2015-16) and at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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Zheng Yongnian
- Occupations
- columnistpolitical scientist
- Biography
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Zheng Yongnian is a Chinese political scientist and political commentator who has studied and written on contemporary China and especially on Chinese politics. Zheng joined the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen in September 2020 and was appointed Director of the Advanced Institute of Global and Contemporary China Studies. He became the founding dean of the university's School of Public Policy in September 2024. He was a professor and director of the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore since 2008 until his resignation in 2020 amid alleged incidents of sexual misconduct.
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Ma Zhaoxu
- Occupations
- government spokespersonpoliticiandiplomat
- Biography
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Ma Zhaoxu is a Chinese diplomat who is currently the Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.
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Wang Shiwei
- Occupations
- journalistwriter
- Biography
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Wang Shiwei was a Chinese journalist and literary writer. He became famous for his contribution to the Chinese history of modern revolution and to Chinese modern literature. Wang joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1926, but later wrote critically of some aspects of the Chinese Communist Revolution. Under order from Mao Zedong, he was expelled from the CCP, and executed in 1947.
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Yi Huiman
- Occupations
- politicianbanker
- Biography
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Yi Huiman is a Chinese banker who served as chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission from 2019 to 2024. He is the former chairman of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
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Xue Hanqin
- Occupations
- judgeinternational law scholardiplomatjuristuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Xue Hanqin is a Chinese jurist at the International Court of Justice. On 29 June 2010, she was elected to fill the vacancy created by Shi Jiuyong's resignation on 28 May 2010. She is one of three female judges serving on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and one of only four women elected as members of the Court to date. Xue is the fifth Chinese judge at the ICJ, and the third representing the People's Republic of China (see Judges of the International Court of Justice).
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Sam Hou Fai
- Occupations
- judgepolitician
- Biography
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Sam Hou Fai is a Macau judge and politician who is currently the Chief Executive of Macau since 2024 and previously served as the 1st President of the Court of Final Appeal of Macau, the highest court in Macau, China.
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Shen Tong
- Occupations
- television produceractivistbusinesspersonentrepreneur
- Biography
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Shen Tong is an American impact investor, activist, and writer. He founded business & Impact accelerators TheFutureCo in 2023, FoodFutureCo in 2015, and Food-X in 2014, recognized by Fast Company as one of "The World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in Food". He was a Chinese dissident who was exiled as one of the student leaders in the democracy movement at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Shen was one of the People of the Year in Newsweek 1989, and he became a media, software, social entrepreneur, and impact investor in the late 1990s. He serves on multiple boards and advisory.
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Peng Zhao
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
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Peng Zhao is a Chinese-American businessman who is the CEO of market making firm Citadel Securities. Peng Zhao was born in Beijing, China.
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Peng Qinghua
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Peng Qinghua is a Chinese politician who is currently a vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. He served as Communist Party Secretary of Sichuan from March 2018 to April 2022, and was formerly the director of the Hong Kong Liaison Office from 2009 to 2012 and the Communist Party Secretary of Guangxi from 2012 to 2018.
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Tang Chun-i
- Occupations
- university teacherphilosopher
- Biography
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Tang Chun-I or Tang Junyi was a Chinese philosopher who was one of the leading exponents of New Confucianism. Born in Sichuan, he moved to Hong Kong in 1949 due to the establishment of the People's Republic of China and co-founded New Asia College with the dual objective of modernizing China while upholding its traditional values.
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Tang Jiaxuan
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Tang Jiaxuan is a Chinese diplomat and politician who was foreign minister of the People's Republic of China from 1998–2003.
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Gang Tian
- Occupations
- university teachermathematicianacademic
- Biography
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Tian Gang is a Chinese mathematician. He is a professor of mathematics at Peking University and Higgins Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He is known for contributions to the mathematical fields of Kähler geometry, Gromov-Witten theory, and geometric analysis.
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Guo Yonghuai
- Occupations
- physicistengineer
- Biography
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Guo Yonghuai was a Chinese aerospace engineer and aerodynamics scientist.
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Chen Baosheng
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Chen Baosheng is a Chinese politician and academic administrator. He was once the Minister of Education, and the party chief and vice-president of the China National School of Administration and vice-president of the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party.
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Gu Jiegang
- Occupations
- historian
- Biography
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Gu Jiegang was a Chinese folklorist, historian, and sinologist who was best known for his seven-volume work Gushi Bian (《古史辨》, or Debates on Ancient History). He was a co-founder and the leading force of the Doubting Antiquity School, and was highly influential in the 20th century development of Chinese historiography.
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Bai Chunli
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticianphysicistchemist
- Biography
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Bai Chunli ForMemRS HonFRSC HonFRSE is a Chinese physical chemist, nanotechnology scientist, and academic administrator. He is a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Chemistry.
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Liang Hongzhi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Liang Hongzhi; was a leading official in the Anhui clique of the Beiyang Government, later noted for his role as in the collaborationist Reformed Government of the Republic of China during World War II.
