Liu Xiaoming, one of the “diplomatic wolves” of the Chinese Communist Party, has taken up his post as the Communist Party’s special representative for the Korean Peninsula. He was formerly the CCP’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, where he was exposed to a number of scandals, particularly when he was found to have liked a post with pornographic content, prompting international ridicule.
On April 12, the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, under the name of spokesman Zhao Lijian, issued the news of Liu Xiaoming’s transfer to the position of the CCP’s Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs through a press release, stating that his new position is mainly to assist the CCP’s Foreign Ministry in coordinating the handling of peninsula affairs.
The Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs was established in February 2010, after Wu Dawei and Kong Hyun-you held the post. Liu previously served as the CCP’s ambassador to North Korea from 2006 to 2009.
Since President Biden took office, the U.S. has held high-level talks with Japan and South Korea twice in January to exchange views on issues related to the CCP, North Korea, and Indo-Pacific security to create an Asia-Pacific alliance. The Chinese Communist Party has been alleged to have been manipulating North Korea behind the scenes in the issue of the Korean Peninsula. Shortly after the U.S.-China meeting in Alaska, North Korea test-fired a cruise missile and two short-range ballistic missiles.
Liu Xiaoming, 65, was the longest-serving ambassador to the United Kingdom in the history of the Communist Party of China (CPC), having served for 11 years since 2009 and stepping down earlier this year. On the eve of his departure, Liu said that the UK was the longest and last stop of his 47-year diplomatic career. At the time, he was interpreted as hinting that he would retire.
Liu has served as first secretary of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, counsellor of the North American and Oceanian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, minister to the United States, ambassador to Egypt, deputy secretary-general and assistant governor of the Gansu provincial government, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Foreign Affairs, ambassador to North Korea and ambassador to the United Kingdom.
In recent years, Beijing’s top brass has pursued a hard-line foreign policy, allegedly engaging in “battle wolf diplomacy”, with Hua Chunying, Zhao Lijian and Liu Xiaoming being called “battle wolf diplomats”. In a live broadcast on CCTV last May, Liu Xiaoming admitted that the CCP now has many “war wolves” and encouraged CCP diplomats at all levels to take the initiative in foreign wars.
Liu’s “war wolves” comments have drawn criticism from various sectors, such as his claim that the Sino-British Joint Declaration has expired and is invalid.
Harry Cole, political editor of the British newspaper Sun, tweeted that Liu’s behavior was so crude that it could not even be reported in Sun, “Awaiting response from CCP embassy …….”
In addition, Liu Xiaoming has been exposed to various scandals. Last September, his official Twitter account @AmbLiuXiaoMing was exposed for liking pornographic content posted by an account called “Slutty Wife Daily,” which was reported in the British media and ridiculed by British lawmakers as a disgrace to Liu Xiaoming.
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