![]() ![]() Qin’s access was reportedly limited to only a few high-ranking US figures, according to Politico, so he pivoted to lower levels of government, travelling around the country. In his first interview, he accused Taiwan’s government of seeking independence, warning it would probably lead to a US-China military conflict, and he defended the crackdown on Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Asked what his mission was as ambassador, he replied: “Don’t mess it up.”ĭuring his 17 months in the role, Qin – whose experience was in western Europe relations more than American – built on his wolf warrior reputation. Qin appeared determined to repair the US-China relationship, which he said was China’s most important. Six months after the end of the Trump presidency, still deep in the pandemic and amid ongoing tit-for-tat sanctions, relations with Washington were at a low. Qin spent a few years as assistant minister and then vice-minister of foreign affairs, then in mid-2021 he was given his highest-profile role yet, ambassador to the US. Photograph: UPI/Shutterstockįrom 2011 to 2018, Qin was director of the foreign ministry’s information department and then its protocol department, where he is thought to have grown close to Xi as an aide organising the leader’s trips and accompanying him. Qin and Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, the week before Qin disappeared. In a profile for Foreign Policy magazine, Melinda Liu wrote: “Those of us in the press corps who have known Qin for years have seen a deft, wily player … who knows how to bend with the prevailing wind from Beijing.” He has been a member of the Communist party since 1998, joining in the early stages of his career when he was working at the embassy in the UK, the first of three postings to the country.īetween 20, he made a name for himself as one of China’s self-styled “wolf warrior” diplomats during two stints as a ministry spokesperson. ![]() Qin was born in the north-eastern city of Tianjin in 1966 and is married with a son, according to public biographies. “It certainly smells like a temporary arrangement to end further embarrassment tasking Wang Yi with … meeting foreign counterparts when he lacks the title as foreign minister.” “The saga is not done,” said Wen-ti Sung, a political analyst at the Australian National University’s Australian Centre on China in the World. The meeting by the standing committee that decides cabinet changes was announced with just one day’s notice, and there are signs that Wang’s return is only temporary. His appointment to the role was seen as a leapfrog ahead of other candidates, and analysts say a fall from grace would be highly embarrassing for Xi, whose judgment is not supposed to be questioned.ĭespite Qin’s month-long absence, his dismissal and the appointment of Wang in his place appear rushed. This week, the Washington Times quoted an unnamed Biden administration official as saying Qin was not liked by the Chinese foreign ministry. Qin’s rise had been linked to his closeness to Xi. ![]() Two weeks later, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson cited unspecified health reasons for Qin’s absence from an upcoming Asean meeting in Indonesia, and after that his absence was not mentioned again and questions from foreign reporters were dismissed. Qin was last seen at a meeting with foreign officials in Beijing on 25 June. ![]()
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