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The promotion of US Ambassador Qin Gang as one of China's most prominent 'Wolf Warrior' diplomats, shows that China's aggressive approach to international affairs will not die down as long as Chinese President Xi Jinping remains in power, reported Radio Free Asia (RFA).
China recently appointed Qin Gang, who was China's ambassador to the US, as the country's new foreign minister. Qin was promoted as he is a strong backer of Xi's vision of leading China to a position of global power and influence, said Wang Weizheng, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Adelphi University in the United States, reported RFA. Qin's term in Washington saw a sharp deterioration in bilateral ties over trade, Taiwan and human rights, said Weizheng. "Obviously, Xi has promoted Qin Gang because he trusts him and has high expectations of him. As the ambassador to the United States, Qin is someone who understands Western affairs ... which would be a fairly new situation for China's diplomatic system," Weizheng said. "If the era of Western hegemony has [supposedly] passed, then China has to come up with its own plan. Xi Jinping has ambitious expectations of China's future position in the world order, which is linked to his notion of the 'great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,' the foundation of his foreign policy," Weizheng added as quoted by RFA. Weizheng said that Jinping's vision is all about conducting diplomacy like a major power. According to him, Xi and Qin might soften their outlook a bit but the underlying strategy will remain the same. Qin is the first ambassador to Washington to be directly promoted to foreign minister in 20 years and the first to be appointed outside of a National People's Congress annual session, according to RFA. Qin in an op-ed piece for the US-based magazine, The National Interest, has indicated that Beijing seeks to improve ties with New Delhi. Days before replacing Wang Yi, Qin in an article titled 'How China Sees the World', referred to India-China border issues and said, "both sides are willing to ease the situation and jointly protect peace along their borders." Recently, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang, discussed the Washington-Beijing ties and to keep the lines of communication open. Taking to Twitter, Blinken said, "Spoke by phone this morning with incoming People's Republic of China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang as he departs Washington for his new role. We discussed the US-PRC relationship and maintaining open lines of communication." (ANI)
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