China’s
First Lady Strikes Glamorous Note on Her First Trip in New Role
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/world/asia/peng-liyuan-chinas-new-first-lady-adds-glamour.html?ref=global-home
BEIJING — Peng Liyuan, China’s new first lady, is glamorous,
fashionable and one of her nation’s best-known singers, a startling contrast to
her dour-looking predecessors. As she accompanies her husband, President Xi
Jinping, on his first trip abroad as China’s leader, Ms. Peng appears
ready to carve out a new role for herself.
China’s fashion editors were scrutinizing the
first sightings of her wardrobe — a dark trench coat and a handsome handbag —
as she descended onto the tarmac at the Moscow
airport on the first stop of the couple’s trip, which also includes visits to Tanzania and South Africa. Music aficionados are
waiting to see whether she offers any performances. (Unlikely.) Policy advisers
hope she gives a speech on AIDS on the sidelines of a summit meeting Mr. Xi is
attending in South Africa.
(Possible, because she is a United Nations ambassador for health.)
At a time when China’s Foreign Ministry is struggling to improve
China’s
international image, Ms. Peng, 50, who has dazzled audiences at home and abroad
with her bravura soprano voice, comes as a welcome gift.
“Because of her
performer’s background and presence, I think she will definitely add points for
her husband,” said Tian Yimiao, an associate professor at the Shanghai
Conservatory of Music. “It could make her into a diplomatic idol.”
Concerned about China’s
difficulties in projecting a global soft power presence, the government
recently established a Public Diplomacy Association made up of former
ambassadors and other notable figures.
The association’s
task is to make the “voice of China
and the story of China
more engaging and more convincing,” said Yang Jiechi, the new state councilor
in charge of foreign affairs. Officials now talk publicly about the need for
Chinese companies, especially mining and construction conglomerates, to be more
sensitive to local needs in Africa and Asia.
It could be that Ms.
Peng’s star power will push the diplomats into the background. Although Mr. Xi
may not like the comparison, some see her as a figure akin to Raisa Gorbachev,
the wife of Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who helped humanize the Soviet leader as the Soviet Union fell apart. Mr. Xi has singled out Mr.
Gorbachev as a man who let down the cause of Communism.
Others see her as
roughly equivalent to Michelle Obama: modern, outgoing, intrigued by fashion.
They await the moment when Ms. Peng and Mrs. Obama stand with their husbands at
a state visit, either in Washington or Beijing, a lineup that is
likely to happen in the next four years. The couples share some common ground.
The Obamas have two daughters; Mr. Xi and Ms. Peng have one daughter, Xi Mingze,
who is registered under a pseudonym as an undergraduate at Harvard.
Ms. Peng became a
household name in China
well before her husband. She joined the People’s Liberation Army as a civilian
when she was 18.
She soon emerged as a
talented singer with a voice suited to folk tales and operatic scores that
heralded the bravery of China’s
soldiers. For several decades, she starred in the nation’s annual New Year’s
television extravaganza, where she wore boldly hued gowns with well-fitted
bodices and flouncy skirts.
In 2004, Ms. Peng
took the role of Mulan, the heroine of a Chinese folk tale depicted in “Mulan
Psalm,” an opera about a young woman who disguises herself as a man to take the
place of her ailing father in the army. The virtues of peace, the hard times of
war and the glory of victory, assured by Mulan, make for a stirring spectacle.
The work combines
musical theater, drama and dance with elements of Western opera, according to
the composer of the score, Guan Xia. Ms. Peng performed the central role with a
full orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln
Center in New York in 2005, and at the Vienna State
Opera House in 2008.
“She has deep
technical roots, and very good technique,” Ms. Tian said. “In the folk singer
category, no one can surpass her.”
When Mr. Xi became
vice president in 2007, Ms. Peng began cutting back her performances, in step
with the traditional secondary role played by the wives of Chinese leaders.
Still, the Chinese news media have reported that she remains the leader of the
Chinese Song and Dance Ensemble in the General Political Department of the
People’s Liberation Army.
In 2011, the World
Health Organization selected her as a good-will ambassador for AIDS and
tuberculosis, a position that lasts for two years.
Ms. Peng will join
Mr. Xi at the annual meeting of the emerging markets group, known as the BRICS,
in Durban, South Africa, an appropriate place
for her to talk about health, according to speculation in the Chinese news
media.
As for her fashion
taste, a Chinese fashion blog, Jing Daily, reported that the trench coat Ms.
Peng wore for her arrival in Moscow
was from Exception de Mixmind, a domestic ready-to-wear brand that she favors.
The clothes sell for $300 to $400. In brand-crazy China, her handbag, a Tod
lookalike, stood out for being “no brand,” the blog said.
“Many people online
are saying, ‘Finally we have a beautiful first lady,’ ” Ms. Tian said.