Jean Ping

His father, Cheng Zhiping, called Wang Ping by the Gabonese, was a Chinese person from Wenzhou, Zhejiang, who was recruited as a labourer in the 1920s and became a timber harvester.

Cheng, who married Germaine Anina, a Gabonese daughter of a tribal chief that was born in Zaire, encouraged his son to study in France with a scholarship from the Gabonese government.

Jean Ping (born 24 November 1942) is a Gabonese diplomat and politician who served as Chair of the African Union Commission from 2008 to 2012.

Born to a Chinese father and Gabonese mother, he is the first individual of Chinese descent to lead the executive branch of the African Union.

In 1972, Ping began working as an international civil servant at UNESCO in Paris.

In 1972, Ping began working at UNESCO in its Sector for External Relations and Cooperation as an international civil servant.

Ping has a doctorate in economic science from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, which he obtained under René Passet in 1975.

Previously in a relationship with Pascaline Bongo, daughter of president Omar Bongo, with whom he has two children.

Ping also has children with Marie-Madeleine Liane.

However, he has always remained married to Jeanne-Thérèse, who is of Italo-Ivorian origin.

He is the father of eight children.

He served as Gabon's Permanent Delegate to UNESCO from 1978 to 1984 before becoming involved in his country's politics.

In 1978, he became advisor to the Gabonese embassy in France, and he subsequently became Gabon's Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, in which position he served until 1984.

On returning to Gabon in 1984, Ping began his political career as chief of staff to Omar Bongo, President of the Gabonese Republic.

On 26 February 1990, Ping was appointed Minister of Information, Postal Services, Telecommunications, Tourism, Leisure and Parastatal Sector Reform with responsibility for Parliamentary relations and government spokesman.

He held the position only briefly before moving to the head of the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Hydraulic Resources from 29 April 1990 to June 1991, then again for nineteen months from 28 August 1992 to 24 March 1994.

He was also president of OPEC in 1993.

On 25 March 1994, Ping was given responsibility for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation for the first time, before becoming Deputy Minister of Finance, Economy, the Budget and Privatization on 30 October.

Ping was elected to the National Assembly from Omboué in the December 1996 parliamentary election, the December 2001 parliamentary election, and the December 2006 parliamentary election.

Ping was Minister of Planning, Environment and Tourism for two years from 27 January 1997 to 25 January 1999, before again taking responsibility for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, joined this time by the Francophonie portfolio and with the title of Minister of State.

He served as the Minister of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Francophonie of the Gabonese Republic from 1999 to 2008, and was President of the United Nations General Assembly from 2004 to 2005.

In 2004, Ping was chosen to be the 59th President of the United Nations General Assembly.

It was during this final nine-year ministerial term that he served as President of the United Nations General Assembly in 2004–2005.

Ping was elected Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union in the first round in 2008.

He remained there until his election to Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union on 6 February 2008, a position that he held until 15 October 2012.

On 17 December 2010, he was asked by the African Union to attempt to find a solution to the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire.

The country was at that time rocked by a power struggle ongoing since the second round of the 28 November 2010 presidential election, with both candidates, Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, declaring themselves the victors.

Ping criticized France’s military intervention in Libya in 2011, which in his view destroyed the country and destabilized the region.

He described the policy as "neo-colonial", represented by the interventionism of Bernard-Henri Lévy and Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to reject traditional French policy and "go to war, guns blazing, and lead the hostilities from the front, under the cover of the UN flag and under the military umbrella of the US and NATO."

He condemned a Western policy "driven by base emotions and passions overriding opinions."

He left the role in 2012.

Ping has represented Gabon several times at numerous international conferences: UNESCO, Organisation of African Unity (now known as the AU), Non-aligned Movement, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC), World Bank, Francophonie Summits, France–Africa, Africa–Caribbean–Pacific–European Union, China–Africa Forums, Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), and US–Africa Conferences organized in relation to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Ping has contributed to several mediations launched by President Omar Bongo to restore peace and stability in central Africa: DRC, Republic of the Congo, Chad, the Central African Republic and São Tomé and Principe.

On 1 February 2014, Ping announced his disillusionment with the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) and resigned on 19 February 2014.

He has since been in open conflict with President Ali Bongo and focused on unifying the opposition forces in a structure called Front uni de l'opposition pour l'alternance (FUOPA).

At a political meeting in the city of Oyem on 25 August 2015, Ping officially launched his bid to become the sole opposition candidate standing for the 27 August 2016 presidential election.

He stood for the 2016 Gabonese presidential election against president Ali Bongo.

Ping was born in Omboué, a small town on the Fernan Vaz lagoon, south of Port-Gentil.

On the eve of the 2016 presidential election, Ping was, with the outgoing president Ali Bongo, one of the two favourites, alongside eight other candidates.

He was supported by four other candidates who stood aside for him: Casimir Oyé Mba, the former Prime Minister, Guy Nzouba-Ndama, former president of the National Assembly, Léon Paul Ngoulakia, President Bongo’s cousin, and Roland Désiré Aba'a Minko, an independent candidate.