A well-known face for US as China’s Wang Yi returns as overseas minister

By Reuters: China’s choice to reappoint its high diplomat Wang Yi as overseas minister one month after former rising star Qin Gang disappeared from public view means Washington can be coping with a well-recognized face in its bid to regular relations with its principal strategic rival.

But Wang’s return to a put up he held for many of the previous decade is unlikely to change the trajectory of a troubled bilateral relationship or dispel issues in regards to the opaque workings of President Xi Jinping’s authorities.

The elimination of Qin, seemingly a Xi protege, on Tuesday got here barely half a 12 months after he assumed the function. The 57-year-old former ambassador to the United States and Xi aide took over the ministry in December however has not been seen in public since June 25 when he met visiting diplomats in Beijing.

The ministry has mentioned he was off work for well being causes however has given no particulars.

Wang, recognized in Washington for his sharp mind and his typically aggressive protection of China’s positions, has been a fixture in U.S.-China relations for years.

Washington-based analysts say Wang’s return to the ministry ought to assist China’s overseas ministry resume regular operations after weeks of worldwide hypothesis about Qin’s destiny.

But it’s unlikely to yield any main enchancment in tense U.S.-China relations, which have hit their lowest level in a long time.

“None of this changes the structural reasons for friction in the relationship,” mentioned Joseph Torigian, an knowledgeable on China’s Communist leaders at American University in Washington.

China’s embassy in Washington didn’t reply to a Reuters request for remark.

At a briefing on Tuesday, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel mentioned it was as much as China to decide on its overseas minister and Blinken had met Wang a number of occasions.

A DIPLOMAT WITH SWAY

Wang’s second stint as overseas minister suggests an eagerness in Beijing for secure U.S. relations forward of Xi’s doubtless conferences with U.S. President Joe Biden later this 12 months on the sidelines of worldwide summits, together with the G20 in India in September and a gathering of APEC leaders in California in November.

“With a series of major international meetings coming up, Xi defaulted to someone who has relationships with many of his foreign counterparts,” mentioned Rorry Daniels, Managing Director of Asia Society Policy Institute. “In times of uncertainty, China wants continuity and predictability in this position.”

U.S. and Chinese diplomats are grappling with a spread of contentious points, together with China’s more and more aggressive actions over Taiwan, the self-governed island it claims as its personal, and the United States’ export controls aimed toward hobbling China’s potential to develop superior semiconductors.

Given these challenges, Wang’s seniority in China’s ruling Communist Party could possibly be useful to the U.S.

In the Chinese system, the highest diplomat shouldn’t be the overseas minister however fairly the director of the Chinese Communist Party’s overseas affairs fee, a job Wang will proceed to carry.

Jude Blanchette, a China knowledgeable at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, mentioned Wang’s concurrent perch atop the nation’s two high overseas coverage positions eliminated a layer of forms for U.S. interlocutors.

And as a member of the Communist Party’s 24-man ruling Politburo, Wang is a diplomat with arguably extra sway with China’s high leaders than his predecessor.

Even whereas Qin was overseas minister, Blinken had contacts with Wang, although exchanges had been frosty at occasions, significantly after an alleged Chinese spy balloon crossed U.S. airspace and was shot down earlier this 12 months, prompting Wang to scold Washington for its “hysterical” response.

Still, Wang’s reappointment is an indication of issues in China’s overseas coverage institution, mentioned Blanchette.

“The bigger story here is the sheer unpredictability and opacity of the Chinese system, which can see a top foreign policy official be thrown into a black hole for a month with absolutely zero information from Beijing,” he mentioned.

On Tuesday, content material mentioning Qin was rapidly faraway from China’s overseas ministry web site after Wang’s appointment. The tab on the web site that usually holds the biography of the overseas minister merely learn “Updating.”

The selection of Wang for the function additionally mirrored an absence of fine choices for Beijing, mentioned Craig Singleton, deputy director of the China program on the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“Simply put, there remains a dearth of seasoned Chinese diplomats that are both trusted by Xi and possess the requisite U.S. experience for this highly visible role,” he mentioned.