Wei Huixiao
Wei Huixiao | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
韦慧晓 | |||||||
| Captain of Type 052D destroyer Shaoxing | |||||||
| Assumed office April 2022 | |||||||
| Personal details | |||||||
| Born | November 1977 (age 46–47) Baise, Guangxi, China | ||||||
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party | ||||||
| Alma mater | Nanjing University Sun Yat-sen University Dalian Naval Academy | ||||||
| Military service | |||||||
| Allegiance |  People's Republic of China | ||||||
| Branch/service |  People's Liberation Army Navy | ||||||
| Years of service | 2012–present | ||||||
| Rank | Captain | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 韦慧晓 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 韋慧曉 | ||||||
| |||||||
Wei Huixiao (Chinese: 韦慧晓; born November 1977) is a Chinese naval officer who is the current captain of Type 052D destroyer Shaoxing, in office since March 2022.[1] She is a representative of the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.[2]
Biography
[edit]Wei was born into a Zhuang ethnicity family in Baise, Guangxi, in November 1977.
Education and early career
[edit]In 1996, she entered Nanjing University.[3] In October 1998, the university awarded the "Honorary Doctor" degree to former U.S. President George H. W. Bush. The university determined Wei to be the messenger of flowers. When she congratulated Bush in fluent English, Bush held her hand and said, "you are a beautiful girl."[4]
After graduating in 2000, she joined Huawei as a senior vice president secretary and administrative assistant, and won the company's "Gold Medal Individual" award and the title of "Gold Medal Team" for her excellent performance.[5] In 2004, she became a graduate student at the Department of Earth Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University. During her studies, she became a volunteer in Nyingchi, Wenchuan County and later the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.[3]
Military career
[edit]Wei enlisted in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in January 2012 and became a crew member at the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning.[6] After studying navigation command and ship tactical command from Dalian Naval Academy in March 2014, she was promoted to deputy chief of Navigation Department of the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning. In January 2015, she visited the United States as a member of the delegation of the first batch of navy ship captains. In April 2015, she was promoted to practice vice captain of the Changchun destroyer and was promoted again to vice captain in March 2016.[6][7] In 2017, she was reassigned as vice captain of the Zhengzhou destroyer, and was elevated to practice captain in February 2018.[6] In April 2022, she rose to become captain of Type 052D destroyer Shaoxing, becoming the first female captain of the People's Liberation Army Navy.[1][3][8][9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Phoebe, Zhang (24 April 2022). "Chinese navy names its first woman captain of a warship". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ Shi Kuiji (史奎吉); Jiang Min (江敏); Liu Weitai (刘伟泰) (6 November 2017). 十九大代表、海军首位女舰长韦慧晓回到部队后都干了啥？. sian (in Chinese). Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ a b c Yang Tianzi (杨甜子) (25 April 2022). 南京大学校友韦慧晓成为人民海军首位女舰长. cnhubei.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ Ou Qijin (欧其锦) (24 March 2013). 辽宁舰首位美女博士军官 "嫁"给航母的壮乡妹(图). gxnews.com.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ Lin Shining (林世宁); Huang Aicheng (黄爱成) (25 March 2013). 韦慧晓，“嫁”给航母的女博士. people.com.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ a b c Fang Sihang (方思航); Liu Yaxun (刘亚迅) (8 March 2019). 海军某驱逐舰韦慧晓：博士舰长敢闯海. people.com.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ "Wei Huixiao: first female PhD to work on China's aircraft carrier". people.cn. 28 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ "China's PLA Navy Appoints its First Female Commanding Officer". maritime-executive.com. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ Yang, Jie (6 July 2018). "PLA navy training first female captain". Chinadaily.com. Retrieved 1 May 2022.