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Yang Jiechi

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Not to be confused with Yang Jiachi.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yang.
Yang Jiechi
杨洁篪
Yang in February 2020
Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission General Office
Assumed office
August 2013
DeputyLiu Jianchao
General SecretaryXi Jinping
Preceded byDai Bingguo
State Councillor of the People's Republic of China
In office
16 March 2013 – 19 March 2018
PremierLi Keqiang
10th Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China
In office
27 April 2007 – 16 March 2013
PremierWen Jiabao
DeputyZhang Zhijun
Preceded byLi Zhaoxing
Succeeded byWang Yi
Personal details
Born (1950-05-01) 1 May 1950 (age 74)
Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Political partyCommunist Party of China (1971-present)[1]
SpouseLe Aimei[citation needed]
Alma materShanghai Foreign Language School
Ealing College
University of Bath
London School of Economics
Nanjing University, PhD
NicknameTiger Yang
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese杨洁篪
Traditional Chinese楊潔篪

Yang Jiechi (Chinese: 杨洁篪; born 1 May 1950) is a high-ranking Chinese politician and diplomat, who served as a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party between 2017 and 2022.

Yang spent much of his professional life in the United States, where he was the Chinese Ambassador from 2001 to 2005. He served as the Foreign Minister of China between 2007 and 2013. Since 2013, he has been the secretary-general, later renamed director of the general office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, the highest diplomatic position under CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping. He is generally regarded as one of the foremost contemporary architects of China's foreign policy.[citation needed]

He joined the inner circle of the State Council in 2013, as a State Councilor under Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Early life and education

Yang was born in Shanghai on 1 May 1950.[2] In 1963, Yang Jiechi was admitted to the Shanghai Foreign Language School. Affected by the Cultural Revolution, he dropped out of school in 1968 and entered Shanghai Pujiang Electric Meter Factory as a worker. During the four years in the factory, he still insisted on learning English and maintained his foreign language proficiency. After President Nixon visited China in 1972, Zhou Enlai instructed that China should accelerate the training of new foreign language talents to meet the needs of the development of the international situation. In 1972 and 1973, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs selected more than 130 people. Yang was selected. He graduated from Shanghai Foreign Language School and attended the Ealing College, University of Bath and the London School of Economics from 1973 to 1975. From 2001 to 2006, He received a PhD in World History from Nanjing University through distance education while serving as Chinese ambassador to the United States.[2][3]

Career

Yang Jiechi with the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

He was previously a diplomat in the United States, beginning as a Second Secretary in 1983 and later as Ambassador from 2001 to 2005, and as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs responsible for Latin America and Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. During the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989, Yang accompanied Wan Li, the chairman of the National People's Congress, on a trip to North America.[4]

During his tenure as ambassador to the United States, Yang worked to ease the tensions between the two countries following the 2001 mid-air collision between a U.S. EP-3 spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet off the coast of Hainan Island in the South China Sea.

In April 2007, Yang replaced Li Zhaoxing, who had been China's foreign minister since 2003, as the tenth foreign minister of China.

In July 2010, at the ASEAN Ministers Conference in Hanoi, Yang, responding to remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, called the remarks "an attack on China" and told Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo that "China is a big country and other countries are small countries, and that's just a fact."; however, Yang issued a statement on the Foreign Ministry's Web site saying that there was no need to internationalize the issue, that China was still intent on solving all of the disputes bilaterally.[5] [6]

In a meeting with Australia's foreign minister Bob Carr, Yang criticized the decision to put US Marines in Australia's Northern Territory by stating to Carr "Cold War alliances" were out of date, to which Carr "reminded Yang that Chinese leaders like to relate the story of the Ming dynasty admiral Zheng He who took powerful Chinese fleets as far afield as India and Arabia but sought to occupy no lands".[7]

Yang meets with U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo in Honolulu, HI on June 17, 2020.

In 2013, Yang Jiechi met with Japan's new ambassador to China and leader of Japan's New Komeito party. Yang also held group meetings with ambassadors from EU and its member states. He also met with Moo-sung Kim, Special envoy of South Korea's president-elect Park Geun-hye, to strengthen ties with South Korea. Yang has also made pledges for more contribution to world peace.[2]

At the first plenary session of the 12th National People's Congress in March 2013, Yang Jiechi was elected as State Councilor.[8]

Yang was a member of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. He was also a member of the 17th CCP Central Committee and an alternate member of the 16th CCP Central Committee.[2] He was elevated to the decision making Politburo at the 19th CCP Congress in October 2017.

In 2019, Yang was described as "the most senior Chinese official to attend [the] Munich Security Conference since it began in 1963."[9] He gave a keynote address.[10]

Alaska Summit

In March 2021, Yang led the Chinese delegation for a strategic dialogue with the US in Alaska. The US team was headed by the Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in the first interaction with China during the Biden Administration. In the opening session in the presence of media, after 2-minute opening remarks by Blinken, Yang responded with an unexpected 16-minute speech.[11] He said that it was necessitated by the "tone" of the US delegation.[12] He harangued the United States for its human rights record, called it a global "champion of cyber attacks", and declared that "many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States".[13]

So for China, it was necessary that we made our position clear. So let me say here that, in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength.[11]

These remarks went viral in China and Yang was praised for his forthrightness.[11] The Washington Post said that the Biden Administration gets a taste of China's "wolf warrior" diplomacy.[12] Although these statements were criticized as undiplomatic by Americans,[14] they were reportedly popular and widely praised in China.[13][11]

Zurich Summit

In October 2021, Yang travelled to Zürich, Switzerland to meet with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to further discuss current issues regarding diplomatic relations and a possible virtual meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.[15] The virtual summit between the leaders eventually happened on 16 November 2021.[16][17]

Honors

Yang Jiechi received an honorary degree from the Geneva School of Diplomacy in 2009.[18] It was announced by the President of Pakistan on 14 August 2012 that Hilal-i-Pakistan (Crescent of Pakistan) would be given to Yang Jiechi on 23 March 2013.[19]

Nickname

George H. W. Bush said Yang Jiechi's other name is "Tiger Yang", because Yang Jiechi was born in 1950, the year of the Tiger according to the Chinese zodiac, and because his name, "Chi" (篪) contains a variant of "Hu" (虎, Tiger).[20]

Family

Yang is married to Le Aimei.[21] Yang's daughter, Alice Yang, graduated from Yale.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/china_20171025_19thpartycongress_yang_jiechi.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  2. ^ a b c d "Biography of Yang Jiechi". China Vitae. March 19, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  3. ^ Yi Wang, Yang Jiechi: Xi Jinping's Top Diplomat Back in His Element, China Brief, The James Town Foundation, 8 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Partially Declassified White House Memorandum" of May 23, 1989
  5. ^ Michael Pompeo (July 13, 2020). "U.S. Position on Maritime Claims in the South China Sea". State Department. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  6. ^ "U.S. takes a tougher tone with China". The Washington Post. July 30, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  7. ^ "China throws book, but Carr parries with chapter and verse". The Sydney Morning Herald. May 22, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  8. ^ NPC endorses new cabinet lineup
  9. ^ Bloomberg News, "It's Yang versus Pence as US and China set to Rumble in Europe"
  10. ^ Philippine Star, "Full text of Yang Jiechi's keynote speech at the 55th Munich Security Conference"
  11. ^ a b c d Ananth Krishnan, Eye of the tiger, The Hindu, 21 March 2021.
  12. ^ a b Adam Taylor, Emily Rauhala, The Biden administration gets a taste of China's ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy, The Washington Post, 19 March 2021.
  13. ^ a b Matthew Knott, US-China meeting in Alaska begins with on-camera confrontation, The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 March 2021.
  14. ^ Taylor, Adam; Rauhala, Emily (March 19, 2021). "The Biden administration gets a taste of China's 'wolf warrior' diplomacy". Washington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  15. ^ "China-US Meeting in Zurich Paves the Way for a Biden-Xi Virtual Summit". The Diplomat. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  16. ^ "President Xi Jinping Had a Virtual Meeting with US President Joe Biden". Foreign Ministry PRC. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  17. ^ "'Healthy debate,' but no breakthroughs in Biden's critical talks with China's Xi Jinping". CNN. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  18. ^ "Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Expounds on China's Foreign Policy at the Geneva School of the Diplomacy and International Relations". China. August 12, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  19. ^ "President confers civil awards on Pakistani citizens and foreign nationals". The News. August 15, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  20. ^ 杨洁篪出使美国与中美关系，联合早报
  21. ^ "Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi's Wife Le Aimei Invites the Wives of the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN Countries for a Visit in Kunming". www.mfa.gov.cn. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  22. ^ Ma, Damien (November 28, 2011). "Meet the Red Princesses and Princes: The Chinese Elite's Globe-Trotting Kids". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 21, 2021.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yang Jiechi.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Yang Jiechi.
Party political offices
Preceded by Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office
March 2013－ 		Incumbent
Secretary-general of the CCP Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs
March 2013－
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Chinese Ambassador to the United States
2001–2005 		Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China
2007–2013 		Succeeded by
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