Beijing: China’s new ambassador to the United States outlined the challenges the two countries face in what has become an increasingly competitive and contentious relationship, while avoiding any criticism in short remarks after coming to take his new position. We do.
China and the United States are entering a new period of mutual exploration, understanding and adaptation, trying to find a way to come together in a new era,” Qin Gang told the Chinese in Washington after their arrival. said in a comment posted by the embassy on Wednesday.
Qin’s arrival comes at a time when relations with the US are at their worst in decades and there is no sign of a downward spiral. The two sides sharply differ on a range of issues, including trade, technology, cyber security, human rights and China’s increasingly assertive foreign policy under President Xi Jinping.
Qin, 55, was until recently one of China’s nine deputy foreign ministers and has twice been the ministry’s spokesman, gaining a reputation for the scathing reactions that have now become standard fare among those in that position.
Xi Yinhong, professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said his open remarks to the West and the US are tougher than those of Chinese ambassadors from previous tenures.
The US currently has no ambassador in Beijing, although President Joe Biden is expected to nominate former NATO ambassador and State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns.
Relations between the countries deteriorated under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, but high-level meetings in Tianjin, China, this week again exposed the deep divide between them.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng told US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman that the United States was the inventor, and owner of patents and intellectual property, of tremendous diplomacy.
In a separate meeting with Sherman, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China would not tolerate US interference in its internal affairs and core development interests.
Sherman said in an interview after the meetings that human rights were not just an internal matter and called on China to work with the United States on global issues as a responsible great power.
Qin replaced Cui Tiankai, who had been ambassador to the United States for eight years during a steady decline in relations.
Qin made three visits to the Chinese embassy in London and headed the protocol department, but has not directly attributed any position to relations with the US, according to his official resume on the ministry’s website.
As Head of Protocol, he worked directly with Xi and has extensive experience with Chinese leaders abroad.
Xi cautioned that the state of US-China relations would limit the influence of any ambassador.
“In the current circumstances of perfect competition and conflict between China and the US, I do not think any ambassador can have a significant impact on relations, whether hard or soft in implementing policies,” he said. (AP)
