The First Chinese Woman Serves at International Court of Justice

Xue Hanqin， a veteran Chinese diplomat and expert of international law， was elected as a member of the International Court of Justice by an absolute majority of votes in both the Assembly and the Council of the United Nations on June 29， 2010. On September 13， 2010， she was officially sworn in during an official ceremony at Peace Palace in The Hague， Netherlands， thus becoming the first Chinese woman who took judicial oath at the court. Sworn in at the same ceremony was Joan Donoghue， an American attorney. It was the first time in the court’s history that two female judges serve simultaneously.

Before the ceremony， Xue Hanqin observed in a Xinhua News Agency interview that it is a step forward in social progress that more women are now joining the major international justice organizations.

Xue was elected on June 29， 2010 to fill the vacancy created by Shi Jiuyong’s resignation in May 2010.

Veteran Diplomat

Born in September 1955 in Shanghai， China， Xue Hanqin grew up in Nanjing where her father served in the military. After graduation from Beijing Foreign Languages Institute (the predecessor of present-day Beijing Foreign Studies University) in 1980， Xue was assigned to work at the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Xue received an international law diploma from Beijing University in 1982 and got a Master of Law at Columbia University School of Law. While working as a diplomat she returned to Columbia University and got her doctorate in Juridical Science. As a career diplomat and legal expert， she took part in various international negotiations and hosted various bilateral and multilateral international talks. In 2002， she was elected a member of the International Law Committee of the UN. In 2003， she was appointed to be the Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands and served until 2008. In December of that year she became the first Chinese ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Family Woman

Xue Hanqin intensely dislikes terms such as “iron woman” or “dragon lady” which are frequently used to describe successful career women. The terms may fit some women and some people find these terms favorite. In her opinion， such terms means that successful women are an abnormal phenomenon.

However， Xue admits that foreign affairs and law are the fields where men dominate and she jokes that she is in a world of men. But she prefers to be a woman. She came to attend a meeting in June 2009 when Chinese officials met their ASIAN counterparts in Nanjing. During an interview with a local media， she reacted to a piece of news she had read in a local newspaper. A high school girl was killed when she met with an Internet acquaintance. Xue said she felt upset ad pained by the tragedy， for she was a mother with a daughter. In the same interview， she talked about herself and her daughter. “Don’t feel surprised if you see me carrying a basket and going to a vegetable market.” She felt sorry for not spending enough time with her daughter. She had some guidelines for bringing up her daughter. The mother encouraged her daughter to think actively and form her own judgment.

In the interview， Xue talked about the girls who appeared in the Super Girls， a popular television program. She was most tolerant toward these girls born in the 1980s and 1990s. She observed that some people would dismiss them as frivolous and highly assertive about themselves. But she asked， who were not frivolous and excessively self-assertive seen in the eyes of the people in the age groups of the 30s， or 40s or 50s? She said the young people were subjected to errors. While she spoke as a diplomat， she showed dignity and majesty. While talking about life and family， she showed tenderness just like an ordinary family woman.□