????Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s wife Cheng Hong, a low-key professor who has translated a number of American English naturalism novels and mystery novels, makes political debut this week. ??? CHINA’S State media have published for the first time the photographs and resume of Premier Li Keqiang’s wife, a professor of English who has translated several books on American literature. ????State news agency Xinhua said May 4 that Li was married to Cheng Hong, who was born in 1957. Cheng — a professor of English with a low-profile career in academia — joined the premier on his visit to Ethiopia, Nigeria, Angola and Kenya. ????The couple have one daughter and met at the elite Peking University, Xinhua said. ????The move to put Cheng on public display could reflect a new effort by China to cultivate soft power and burnish its image on the international stage. ????Cheng has taught in the foreign languages department of the Capital University of Economics and Business for more than 30 years, Xinhua said. She specialized in English teaching and research and was responsible for a research project on “natural literature and eco-criticism.” ????The wives of Chinese leaders have taken on a higher diplomatic profile under the current leadership. President Xi Jinping’s wife, Peng Liyuan, hosted U.S. first lady Michelle Obama when she visited China in March. ????“It’s a general practice in Western countries that partners of senior government officials visit a foreign country together, but it’s still a rare thing here [in China],” said Wang Hongyi, a specialist on Africa with the China Institute of International Studies under the foreign ministry. “That’s why Cheng’s appearance has attracted so much media attention.” ????Wang noted that the head of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini Zuma, was a woman and said Cheng’s presence might help deepen the bilateral friendship. ????People familiar with Cheng described her as a “l(fā)ow-profile, humble and nice” woman. “She is very low-profile. Her style is different to Peng Liyuan,” said Tuo Guozhu, a professor at the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing. ????Cheng grew up in a family of intellectuals. Her father was a senior official in charge of anti-poverty efforts and her mother was a reporter with Xinhua, according to Chinese media reports. ????“Teachers and students have a very good impression of her, and some of her translation work has won high praise among professors,” Tuo said. “She never talks about her husband in public and we only knew who her husband was after 2008, when Li became vice premier. ????Like many who lived through the Cultural Revolution, Cheng felt she’d had enough excitement to last a lifetime. It was in 1995, while she was a visiting scholar in the United States at Brown University, Rhode Island, that these thoughts on writing crystallized. ????Cheng revealed how she developed her interest in writings on nature and ecology during her stay in New England in her book “Tranquillity is Beyond Price,” published a decade later. ????It perhaps helps explain why Cheng, a professor of English at the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing, remains little known among ordinary Chinese. Even among the generally low-profile wives of China’s elite, Cheng stands out as something of a recluse. ????“Cheng comes back to our university on an extremely rare basis, and most our staff members are not in contact with her,” said a professor from the same English department. “She was still teaching English and American literature for postgraduate students when her husband was the top leader of Liaoning Province. But ever since Li Keqiang assumed his role inside the central Politburo, she has given up any course workloads.” ????Three professors from the department confirmed that Cheng had rarely been seen on campus since the early 2000s. The university, established in 1956, is considered to be among the second tier of higher-education institutes in the capital, ranking behind more famous universities. ????Relatives of some leaders became very wealthy during their family members’ leadership. But people interviewed said Cheng was a serious scholar with no business interests. ????One professor said Cheng was once put forward by university officials to become dean of the department, but she refused. “Cheng is a dedicated scholar who prefers to concentrate on her work. She treats others with sincerity and courtesy,” said the professor, who also teaches English literature in the department. ????The university website lists Cheng as one of its “renowned scholars” and says she is a member of the institute’s academic committee. ????One graduate of the English department described Cheng as a strong competent teacher of English literature and a researcher who has made an impact in her chosen field. ????She is also considered one of the leading Chinese scholars of American nature writing, having published two books on the subject and translated several books from English to Chinese. ????“Her studies definitely played a role in popularizing nature literature in China,” said one literary critic based in Guangzhou. “Cheng’s books are beautifully written.” ????American author Terry Tempest Williams praised Cheng, translator of her “Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place,” said she “represents [my] vision through her translation with great beauty. ‘Refuge’ is, ultimately, a project of peace. I understand that her translation of ‘Refuge’ is a translation of great care, insight and sensitivity to both the language and spirit of my book.” ????In “Tranquillity is Beyond Price,” Cheng writes about the 19th-century naturist and philosopher Henry David Thoreau, paying tribute to his best-known book, “Walden,” a reflection on the tranquillity of living amid nature, based on Thoreau’s experience of living for two years in a cabin he built in rural Massachusetts. ????Cheng twice visited Walden Pond, where Thoreau built his cabin. The first time was in 2000, as she was about to finish her doctorate at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. It proved disappointing, as the site was overrun by tourists. ????But after a second visit, on a still autumn day with the tourists gone, she wrote: “When the original nature and the simple happiness are gradually gone, it seems Thoreau is even more remembered by many, and people want to follow his steps, to pursue pristine nature, a free mind, and a sound mind and body.”(SD-Agencies) | 