A Wall Street Journal report suggested that China would appoint Xie Feng, a deputy foreign minister and US affairs specialist, as its new ambassador to Washington.
The newspaper quotes people who say they are “informed” that Feng’s candidacy, if it happens, will be “a continuation of the gradual relaxation of the warrior wolf style that has characterized Chinese diplomacy in recent years”.
According to these people, whose identities the newspaper did not disclose, Beijing is resetting its foreign policy in a bid to stabilize strained relations with Washington, mitigate the damage to China’s global standing through its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, and pursue aggressively security, industrial and regional interests.
He quoted people working within China’s foreign ministry as saying that “the uncompromising spirit that took root among Chinese diplomats during the Trump administration, when Beijing saw itself under attack from the West, needs to be changed to reflect a changing international environment”.
That shift is starting to show in recent and upcoming foreign policy appointments, which have placed seasoned diplomats — known for their ability to balance conflict with friendliness — in key positions in Beijing’s foreign relations management, according to the newspaper.
Xie, 58, is seen by both his colleagues and foreign counterparts as a constant link between China and the United States, says the Wall Street Journal.
He helped organize a high-profile summit between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President Biden in November and worked on the complex negotiations for a prisoner exchange in 2021 that saw China release two Canadian citizens in exchange for American efforts to hand over a well-connected Chinese executive detained in Canada.
Although the decision to appoint Xie as an envoy to the United States has not been formalized, the newspaper said there are no other strong candidates, people familiar with the matter said.
Beijing will have to submit Xie’s name for Washington’s approval before he can be formally named.
Some foreign policy analysts say the appointments represent a tactical shift from Beijing, rather than a complete change from Xi’s “threatening” style.
Xi has returned to the world stage in recent months after more than two years of self-imposed isolation under China’s tight grip on the epidemic, as Beijing’s relations with Western powers and some Asian neighbors have soured on issues such as trade, technological competition, human rights and territorial disputes.
In recent days, for example, Chinese authorities suspended the issuance of short-term visas to South Korean and Japanese nationals in response to travel restrictions imposed by those countries on travelers from China to curb the spread of Covid-19.
A seasoned diplomat, Xie is familiar with Western officials from his previous roles working with US and North American affairs, including two stints at the Chinese embassy in Washington.
He served as China’s envoy to Indonesia and the foreign ministry’s top representative in Hong Kong before being promoted to deputy foreign minister in 2021.
He also spent time as an exchange associate at North Carolina State in 1999.
