Beijing appoints Wang Yi as new foreign minister
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China appoints former Foreign Minister Wang Yi back to his post after his successor resigns.
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Chinese Communist Party's foreign policy chief Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 12, 2023 (AP)
The Chinese parliament appointed Tuesday Wang Yi, the Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Office, as the new foreign minister before announcing that Qin Gang had resigned.
"As a result of the vote, it was decided to remove Qin Gang from the post of the foreign minister of China and to appoint Wang Yi as the new foreign minister," the parliament's statement read, as quoted by Xinhua.
Ambassador Qin Gang was nominated for Foreign Minister in December before he was appointed in early 2023. He is an official renowned for speaking out strongly against the West as a successor to Wang Yi, who had served as foreign minister previously.
Since last year, Qin has served as Beijing's top diplomat in Washington, where he was tasked with repairing the deteriorating ties between the two largest economies in the world.
Chinese diplomats who have responded firmly and strongly to hostile Western nations are often dubbed "wolf warriors." Qin earned that reputation given his vehement responses to Washington during his years there.
In 2020, he noted that China's reputation in the West had worsened because Europeans and Americans, particularly their media, had never embraced the country's governmental structure or its rapid economic growth.
Read more: China to 'recalibrate' relation with US, increase contact with Europe
Qin, a native English speaker, raised his visibility in Washington by making public and media appearances and outlining China's viewpoint. He had previously worked as a foreign ministry spokesperson for China.
It is also worth noting that between 2018 and last year, he also served as vice-minister of foreign affairs.
