Chinese President Xi Jinping has appointed the current ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, as the new foreign minister, replacing Wang Yi, who is expected to assume the top diplomatic post within the Communist Party.
The change, announced by the official radio, has been agreed at the Standing Committee of the National Congress, according to Bloomberg news agency. Wang, 69, had been appointed at the last congress as a member of the single-party leadership.
Qin, meanwhile, arrives after a stint as head of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, a post to which he was appointed in July 2021. During this time, Beijing’s policy towards Washington has oscillated between frontal criticism and attempts at rapprochement.
The new minister, who has served in the past as spokesman for the same department, has sometimes distanced himself from Beijing’s official line, for example by dismissing fears of a potential war with Taiwan or admitting that China could have done more to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
