Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c14.s4.t15: Soong Ching-Ling
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c14.s4.t15
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Soong Ching-Ling
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Soong Ching-ling (January 27, 1893～May 29, 1981) was a Chinese politician and social activist. She was the vice-chairman of the People's Republic of China and the vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
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Born in Shanghai with her ancestral home in Wenchang County, Guangdong Province (present-day Wenchang City in Hainan Province), she was formerly named as Song Ching-ling. Soong Ching-ling had paid much attention to the Anti-British
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Soong Ching-ling
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War of the Indian people at the early times. She mentioned that the Indian women have started to protect their own rights during her speech in Kobe, Japan in 1924. She paid a visit to the Soviet Union on November 10, 1927, when she met Jawaharlal Nehru, the leader of the Indian Congress Party, in the hotel she stayed and forged a strong friendship with him. She wrote to Nehru who was the then Chairman of the Indian Congress Party and expressed her gratitude for his support for the Anti-Japanese activity of the Chinese people after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937. As the Chairman of China Defense League, she received the India Assisting China Medical Corps in Guangzhou in September 17, 1938, and kept a long-term relationship with Nehru to discuss how to encourage
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Soong Ching-ling on her visit to India
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and support the medical corps to carry out work in China. In the early 1950s, she attended the first cultural activity held by India in China. In May 1951, she sent a telegraph to congratulate the foundation of the India-China Friendship Association in Kolkata and Mumbai. As the Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, she received Nehru, who was the then Prime Minister of India and invited him and his daughter, Indira Gandhi, to her house for lunch in October 1954. She paid a visit on invitation to India from December 16, 1955 to January 2, 1956. Nehru, who received her in the airport, made a passionate speech at the grand welcoming banquet in New Delhi Red Fort. She visited the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and attended the reception held by the congresswomen of India, and she also visited the family members of the India Assisting China Medical Corps and deeply cherished her memory of Dr Dwarkanath S Kotnis. (Qiao Anquan)