The U.S.-China relationship has been delicate since President Biden took office. Cui Tiankai, who has been on the front line of the U.S.-China friction, is rumored to be retiring at the end of his term, with at least five people rumored to replace him.
According to an article in the February 9 edition of Taiwan‘s Shanghai Daily, according to the Chinese Communist Party‘s practice of appointing ambassadors to the U.S., from Li Zhaoxing in 1998 to Cui Tiankai in 2013, all of them were appointed by vice ministers of foreign affairs, but Cui Tiankai’s predecessor, Zhang Yesui, was the only exception.
There were rumors in Beijing‘s political circles that Zheng Zeguang, the current vice foreign minister in charge of U.S. affairs, might be stationed in the United States. However, since the current ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, is also retiring at an advanced age, Zheng Zeguang is rumored to have been appointed to the UK, and Ma Chaoxu, the third ranking vice minister among the current five vice ministers of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, may be appointed to the US.
Ma is currently in charge of international organizations and arms control, and has served as a permanent representative to the United Nations in the past.
However, reports indicate that the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. may not necessarily come from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping makes one-person decisions through the CPC Central Committee’s National Security Commission, Yang Jiechi, a current member of the National Security Commission and director of the Central Foreign Affairs Office, is the only person in charge of the U.S., and the next ambassador to the U.S. may come from Yang Jiechi’s ministry. Possible candidates include Deng Hongbo, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee, and Xie Feng, the recently transferred special envoy of the CPC Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong, who were Yang Jiechi’s subordinates during his stay in the US, and Liu Jianchao, another deputy director of the current Foreign Affairs Office, who was Yang Jiechi’s deputy in the Foreign Affairs Office.
According to the article, Yang Jiechi’s recent frequent statements on U.S.-China relations, especially as the Chinese representative on his first call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken since taking office, have increased the possibility.
The article also mentioned that Cui Tiankai has experienced the ups and downs of U.S.-China relations during his stay in the U.S., which in recent years has become the “lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations” between China and the U.S., and rumors of his departure have repeatedly emerged. In the past, most ambassadors to the U.S. were promoted to ministerial or ministerial positions after returning to China, but Cui Tiankai’s retirement is a special case in recent years in the Chinese Communist Party’s diplomatic system.
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