Famed Chinese War Correspondent Tang Shizeng Dies at 65
SingTao · 3 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
Tang Shizeng, one of China's most celebrated war correspondents, passed away on March 23 in Beijing at the age of 65, according to multiple sources close to the journalist. His death came after years of battling aplastic anemia, a condition he developed in 1998 due to radiation exposure sustained during his extensive coverage of Middle Eastern conflict zones. Former colleagues noted that Tang was critically ill in his final months, described by university alumni as a "critically ill patient with white blood cell count nearly at zero" whose immune system had been severely compromised by chemotherapy .
Key Points
- Tang Shizeng was born in 1961 in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, and joined Xinhua News Agency in 1986 after serving as a political studies lecturer at China University of Political Science and Law
- During the 1990s, he spent years covering war zones across the Middle East, braving depleted uranium dust exposure while reporting from active conflict areas
- He interviewed a remarkable roster of international leaders including Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Muammar Gaddafi, Hosni Mubarak, Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Nelson Mandela
- Tang was a member of both the China Writers Association and China Photographers Association, and served as a director at Peking University's School of International Relations
- His major published works include "I Returned from the Battlefield," "I Entered the Pyramids," "Return to Baghdad," and "My Normandy"
- He shared ancestral ties with former Hong Kong Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-nien, both descending from the Piling Tang clan of Wuxi
Why It Matters
Tang's death marks the end of an era for Chinese war journalism, as he was among the first generation of Chinese reporters to bring comprehensive battlefield coverage from the Middle East to Chinese audiences . His legacy reflects the personal sacrifices correspondents make to document history firsthand, as evidenced by the radiation-induced illness that plagued his later years .
Tang's death marks the end of an era for Chinese war journalism, as he was among the first generation of Chinese reporters to bring comprehensive battlefield coverage from the Middle East to Chinese audiences . His legacy reflects the personal sacrifices correspondents make to document history firsthand, as evidenced by the radiation-induced illness that plagued his later years .