Chai Zemin

Chai Zemin joined the Communist Party in 1933 and moved into the foreign ministry in 1960 after a career in Chinese public service. He represented China in Hungary, Guinea, and Egypt, headed the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and became the first Chinese ambassador to Thailand. ¹

Chai transferred to the Washington liaison office in 1978 as the two governments negotiated full diplomatic relations. He worked with deputy head Han Xu and became the People’s Republic’s first ambassador to the United States when the mission became an embassy in March 1979. After leaving Washington, he became vice president of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs in 1983. ^{1, 2}