U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 23, 2022 .
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BEIJING – China’s latest leadership appointments show greater emphasis on relations with the US
Foreign Minister Wang Yi joins the new Politburo, the second highest level of power, state media announced on Sunday. That is despite expectations he might retire.
These changes show that Mr. Yang Jiechi, a longtime diplomat involved in US-China relations, did not stay at the Politburo. Yang has headed the foreign affairs office of the party’s central committee and is widely expected to retire.
Qin Gang, China’s ambassador to the US, also made the list of new central committee members announced on Saturday.
Mr. Qin has been actively reaching out to American society and businesses, while Wang’s comments on a recent trip to New York “show a desire to pull back on a fiercely competitive relationship with the US”, Dali said. Yang, professor of political science at The University of Chicago.
“I think there may be an opportunity to ease tensions, hopefully, given the challenges China faces in keeping the Chinese economy afloat,” Mr. Yang said.
He pointed out that the 1970s, during the Cultural Revolution, was another difficult period for the Chinese economy, but it was during that time that Chinese leader Mao Zedong decided to continue close to the US.
The global pandemic that began in early 2020 has limited international travel, and China’s tight control of Covid has made it difficult for diplomats.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden have yet to meet face-to-face since Biden took office. The two had met before while Biden held other government roles.
Biden has said he will meet Xi if the Chinese leader attends the G-20 summit in November.
Asked last week, China’s foreign ministry declined to confirm Xi’s attendance, but said it would issue an update in time.
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Qi Yu, party secretary of China’s foreign ministry, was also appointed to the central committee, state media reported on Saturday.
Tensions between the US and China have escalated under the Trump administration, which has used tariffs and sanctions to put pressure on China in the face of criticism for unfair business practices.
The Biden administration later said the US was competing with China and introduced many new restrictions, including an almost-monthly ban on American companies selling advanced chip technology to Chinese businesses.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has been strengthening ties with its allies, especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. China, which hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month, has refused to call the attack an invasion.
However, there are some signs that China’s relationship with Russia has cooled a bit.
Le Yucheng, the deputy foreign minister who said in December 2021 that “there are no limits” to China’s friendship with Russia, was removed from his post in June. appointed as Deputy Director of the National Radio and Television Administration without any explanation.
