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BEIJING: Qin Gang, currently the Chinese ambassador to the United States, was appointed as the country’s new foreign minister on Friday, replacing Wang Yi.
A rising star in the foreign ministry, Qin rose through various positions, including as the ministry’s spokesman and postings at the Chinese embassy in Britain.
A trusted aide of President Xi Jinping, Qin also served as the leader’s chief protocol officer between 2014 and 2018.
He will now return to Beijing from Washington after 17 months as China’s 11th ambassador to the US.
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In an essay published in US bi-monthly magazine the National Interest this week, Qin gave an overview of China’s position on foreign policy and reiterated that China-US relations were not a zero-sum game.
Qin’s stint in the US has been underscored by rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies, even as their leaders tried to re-engage in diplomacy in recent weeks.
At the meeting, Biden signalled that the US believed China was undermining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region and jeopardised global prosperity by engaging in “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions towards Taiwan”.
