What’s new: Beijing has appointed former Foreign Minister Wang Yi as head of the Communist Party’s foreign policy body, its highest diplomatic post.
The foreign ministry published an article Saturday written by Wang, which addressed him as the director of the office of the party’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, replacing Yang Jiechi.
Wang, 69, was promoted to the 24-member Politburo of the Central Committee during the party’s 20th National Congress last October. He was succeeded as foreign minister by Qin Gang, outgoing Chinese ambassador to the U.S., last week.
The background: Wang became China’s minister for foreign affairs in March 2013, and has served on the State Council, the country’s cabinet, since 2018. He has been a member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee since 2007.
A Japanese major at university, Wang held several positions at the Department of Asian Affairs in the foreign ministry before becoming the ambassador to Japan in 2004. He was also the director of the party’s Taiwan Work Office from 2008 to 2013.
A native of Beijing, Wang holds a master’s degree in economics and was a visiting scholar at Georgetown University from 1997 to 1998.
Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
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