Apr 27, 2010
Trade pact? Done Tianjin Eco-city? Done
Chinese ambassador to Singapore heading home after fruitful 3-year stint
Madam Zhang Xiaokang, the outgoing Chinese Ambassador to Singapore, has overseen many bilateral projects during her three-year stint. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
EVEN by Singapore's fast-paced standards, Madam Zhang Xiaokang, the outgoing Chinese Ambassador to Singapore, has had a hectic three years.
During this period, Singapore and China inked pacts to establish a free trade agreement, the Tianjin Eco-city, a major environmental development initiative, as well as numerous other bilateral projects.
Ticking off her 'done' list at a press conference with Singapore and Chinese media yesterday, Madam Zhang said matter of factly in English: 'I've made a difference in a small way.'
The self-professed perfectionist took up the post in March 2007, her latest overseas appointment in a career that had included an ambassadorial stint in Ireland and five years in Britain as Minister Counsellor.
Besides cooperation on trade and commerce, education and cultural exchanges between Singapore and China have progressed, she added.
Zhejiang University, the third-ranked college in China, is one of the international partners of Singapore's fourth university. Work on the new China Cultural Centre here is on course to start before October this year. More Singaporean students go to China for immersion trips, while more Chinese officials come here for training.
'I can say I've done my best in everything I did,' Madam Zhang said in Mandarin, in response to a question on her top achievement and regret during her stint.
'If I have any regret, it would be that I've not had a chance to taste local food,' said the 61-year-old mother of one. All her meals had been taken care of by the embassy, or at hotels when she attended events.
On her impression of Singapore, Madam Zhang said she had been 'deeply touched' by the outpouring of support from Singaporeans in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008.
'During that one month and a half, my colleagues and I worked from early in the morning to late at night to receive donations from Singaporeans.
'We said to each other that something like this could only happen in Singapore, because the majority of people here are ethnic Chinese,' said the ambassador, who was born in Sichuan. Nearly 90,000 people were killed in the earthquake.
It is due to the same cultural factor that Singapore occupies a 'unique' spot among China's diplomatic relationships, she said. That, plus the Republic's position as an international commercial hub, and its mesh of cultures from East and West.
While some Singaporeans have had difficulties getting used to the new immigrants from China, it is only to be expected, she said.
Even in China, she noted, people from one region can find people from another part of the country irksome.
'To me, it is not really an issue. The Shanghainese, for example, find it hard to accept Beijingers' appearance, way of speaking, eating habits and so on. People from Guangxi are very different from folks in Fujian. We don't think too much about differences like this,' she said in Mandarin.
Madam Zhang, whose husband, Mr Zha Peixin, is also a career diplomat, will take up a post at China's Foreign Ministry after she returns to Beijing on Thursday.
Her successor has not been named. In the interim, Mr Wang Xiaolong, the Minister Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy, will serve as acting ambassador, or charge d'affaires ad interim.
SMALL MATTER
'To me, it is not really an issue. The Shanghainese, for example, find it hard to accept Beijingers' appearance, way of speaking, eating habits and so on. People from Guangxi are very different from folks in Fujian. We don't think too much about differences like this.'
Madam Zhang, in response to a question on perceived differences between Singaporeans and new Chinese immigrants
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