Ambassador Lu a versatile diplomat

Ambassador Lu a versatile diplomat

Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Departing Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Lu Shumin has always
kept in mind an important piece of advice on how to come out
ahead in the survival of the fittest: Adjust, adjust and adjust.

While this has helped China to grow stronger economically
throughout the years, Lu said it also helped him in dealing with
people from various background during his service as ambassador.

"The saying goes, 'Time and tide wait for no man,' and the
late chairman Mao Zedong also said that we need to change the
mentality and to tap more positive and active approaches to this
matter (of change)," said Lu, who was educated at Carleton and
Toronto Universities in Canada.

With such a flexible approach, he said he had been able to
adjust to the Indonesian lifestyle, including the cuisine, though
he still found it difficult to identify food by its Indonesian
name.

"I adjust quickly to different situations, so I had no
difficulty with Indonesian food. Moreover, the food here has
similar ingredients to those used in Chinese cuisine. The seafood
in Jimbaran, which we savored during our visit to Bali, is very
enjoyable," he told The Jakarta Post in an interview at the
Chinese Embassy in South Jakarta on Wednesday.

Lu presented his credentials to then president Megawati
Soekarnoputri in May, 2002. Lu was born in February, 1950, in
Shanxi province, which is home to much ancient Chinese cultural
heritage, including the World Cultural Heritage Ancient City Wall
of Pingyao.

The 55-year-old father of one began his career in the civil
service after finishing his studies in Canada in 1976. With his
familiarity with Canada, and North America in general, and his
proficiency in English, he was appointed to the Department of
North American and Oceanian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.

After a year in the department, he returned to Canada to serve
at the Chinese Embassy as a staff member. In 1979, he returned to
China to work in the Beijing Diplomatic Service Bureau.

From 1985 to 1989, he worked in the Chinese Embassy in
Australia, initially as third secretary and then second
secretary.

From 1989 to 1993, Lu's career took off: from second secretary
to deputy director, director and then counselor at his previous
department in the foreign ministry. In 1993, he was promoted to
deputy director general of the department.

In 1994, he was assigned to the United States as the counselor
and later the minister counselor at the Chinese Embassy.

Four years later, he was promoted to director general of the
Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs before being
assigned as ambassador to Indonesia in 2002.

Though he has spent most of his career in the West, Lu has had
not trouble adjusting to the lifestyle. His affection for golf
and tennis help him socialize with the people he meets during his
overseas stints.

"Our country is opening up. People, including diplomats and
ambassadors, would like to see how China is changing. Golf is
becoming a popular sport in China. It's also a very good means of
communication, and of making friends.

"I simply try to do my best to become part of the communities
(where I am posted). I try to increase mutual understanding and
to foster friendship."

Lu picked a proverb to emphasize this point. "There's an
English saying, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do.' I think here
we can also say, 'When in Jakarta or in Indonesia, do as the
Indonesians do.' So you have to adapt yourself to local
conditions and try to be part of the community."

It is the people of Indonesia that attract him the most. He
said the struggle of the Indonesians in overcoming terrorist
attacks, and especially the Acehnese in overcoming the agony of
losing relatives and belongings in the Dec. 26 earthquake and
tsunami, left a deep impression on him.

"These are some things that have left a lasting memory. But
it's not because those things actually happened, but because of
the fact that those were the times when people displayed courage
to overcome difficulty."

What he regrets most as he prepares to leave Jakarta on
Friday, is losing the opportunity to travel to all of the
Indonesian provinces. Some of the places he was able to visit
include Borobudur Temple in Central Java, Yogyakarta and Bali. He
added that he was greatly impressed by the culture of the Toraja
people of Central Sulawesi.

"I have been to a dozen provinces but there are a lot more I
have not yet visited, to see the people and the land. This is a
source of some regret.

"But I think there should be opportunities in the future to
come and see more of this country -- perhaps as a tourist."