China’s first lady re-elected vice-chairwoman of government sanctioned writers, artists body
Peng Liyuan picked to retain role at China Federation of Literary and Art Circles
China’s first lady Peng Liyuan has been re-elected as a vice-chairwoman of the country’s government sanctioned top body for artists and writers.
The national committee of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles met last week and elected Peng and 21 other writers and artists as deputy chairmen and women of the organisation, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
Tie Ning, an author and long-time chairwoman of the China Writers Association, was elected chairwoman of the federation.
Peng, a former army soprano and a nationally popular folk singer, rose to fame long before her husband Xi Jinping’s became president.
She is viewed by many as the highest profile spouse of a top Chinese leader since Jiang Qing, the wife of Mao Zedong, and Wang Guangmei, the wife of President Liu Shaoqi, who was in office from 1959 to 1968.
Peng was first elected a vice-chairwoman of the federation in 2011.
It has been seen as a crucial part of the party’s propaganda machine since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
President Xi told members of the federation last week that “promoting socialist core values should be fundamental to artists and writers who should firmly resort to Chinese people’s thoughts, emotions and aesthetics to create works catering to the times, featuring notable Chinese elements”, Xinhua reported.
Their works should also encourage every Chinese person’s “sense of national pride and honour”, Xi was quoted as saying.
