Yang Jiechi

Yang Jiechi
Yang Jiechi
杨洁篪
Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; August 2013
Deputy
General Secretary	Xi Jinping
Preceded by	Dai Bingguo
State councillor of the People's Republic of China
	In office; 16 March 2013 – 19 March 2018 Serving with Yang Jing, Chang Wanquan, Guo Shengkun, Wang Yong
Premier	Li Keqiang
10th Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China
	In office; 27 April 2007 – 16 March 2013
Premier	Wen Jiabao
Deputy	Zhang Zhijun
Preceded by	Li Zhaoxing
Succeeded by	Wang Yi
Personal details
Born	1 May 1950 (age 71); Shanghai, China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Spouse(s)	Le Aimei[citation needed]
Alma mater	University of Bath; London School of Economics; Nanjing University
Nickname(s)	Tiger Yang
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	杨洁篪
Traditional Chinese	楊潔篪
Hanyu Pinyin
showTranscriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Yáng Jiéchí

Yang Jiechi (Chinese: 杨洁篪; born 1 May 1950) is a high-ranking Chinese politician and diplomat specializing in American affairs.^[1]

Yang spent much of his professional life in the United States, where he was the Chinese Ambassador from 2001 to 2005. He served as the Foreign Minister of China between 2007 and 2013. Since 2013, he has been the director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office, the highest diplomatic position under General Secretary Xi Jinping. He is generally regarded as one of the foremost contemporary architects of China's foreign policy.^{[citation needed]}

Yang has also been a CCP Politburo member since 2017. He joined the inner circle of the State Council in 2013, as a State Councilor under Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

In March 2021, Yang headed the Chinese delegation at the United States–China talks in Alaska for a strategic dialogue with his US counterparts, where he has made a number confrontational critical statements about American foreign policy. Although these statements were criticized as undiplomatic by the Americans,^[2] they were reportedly popular and widely praised in China.^[3]^[4]

Early life and education[]

Yang was born in Shanghai on 1 May 1950.^[1] He graduated from Shanghai Foreign Language School and attended the University of Bath and the London School of Economics from 1973 to 1975. He received a PhD in history from Nanjing University through distance education while serving as the ambassador to the United States.^[1]^[5]

Career[]

Yang Jiechi with the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

He was previously a diplomat in the United States, beginning as a Second Secretary in 1983 and later as Ambassador from 2001 to 2005, and as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs responsible for Latin America and Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. During the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989, Yang accompanied Wan Li, the chairman of the National People's Congress, on a trip to North America.^[6]

During his tenure as ambassador to the United States, Yang worked to ease the tensions between the two countries following the 2001 mid-air collision between a U.S. EP-3 spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet off the coast of Hainan Island in the South China Sea.

In April 2007, Yang replaced Li Zhaoxing, who had been China's foreign minister since 2003, as the tenth foreign minister of China.

In July 2010 at the ASEAN Ministers Conference in Hanoi, Yang, responding to remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, called the remarks "an attack on China" and told Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo that "China is a big country and other countries are small countries, and that's just a fact."^[7] However, Yang issued a statement on the Foreign Ministry's Web site saying that there was no need to internationalize the issue, that China was still intent on solving all of the disputes bilaterally.^[8]

In a meeting with Australia's foreign minister Bob Carr, Yang criticized the decision to put US Marines in Australia's Northern Territory by stating to Carr "Cold War alliances" were out of date, to which Carr "reminded Yang that Chinese leaders like to relate the story of the Ming dynasty admiral Zheng He who took powerful Chinese fleets as far afield as India and Arabia but sought to occupy no lands".^[9]

In 2013, Yang Jiechi met with Japan's new ambassador to China and leader of Japan's New Komeito party. Yang also held group meetings with ambassadors from EU and its member states. He also met with Moo-sung Kim, Special envoy of South Korea's president-elect Park Geun-hye, to strengthen ties with South Korea. Yang has also made pledges for more contribution to world peace.^[1]

At the first plenary session of the 12th National People's Congress in March 2013, Yang Jiechi was elected as State Councilor.^[10]

Yang was a member of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. He was also a member of the 17th CCP Central Committee and an alternate member of the 16th CCP Central Committee.^[1] He was elevated to the decision making Politburo at the 19th CCP Congress in October 2017.

In 2019 Yang was described as "the most senior Chinese official to attend [the] Munich Security Conference since it began in 1963."^[11] He gave a keynote address.^[12]

Alaska Summit[]

In March 2021, Yang led the Chinese delegation for a strategic dialogue with the US in Alaska. The US team was headed by the Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in the first interaction with China during the Biden Administration. In the opening session in the presence of media, after 2-minute opening remarks by Blinken, Yang responded with an unexpected 16-minute speech.^[4] He said that it was necessitated by the "tone" of the US delegation.^[13] He harangued the United States for its human rights record, called it a global "champion of cyber attacks", and declared that "many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States".^[3]

So for China, it was necessary that we made our position clear. So let me say here that, in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength.^[4]

These remarks went viral in China and Yang was praised for his forthrightness.^[4] The Washington Post said that the Biden Administration gets a taste of China's "wolf warrior" diplomacy.^[13]

Honors[]

Yang Jiechi received an honorary degree from the Geneva School of Diplomacy in 2009.^[14] It was announced by the President of Pakistan on 14 August 2012 that Hilal-i-Pakistan (Crescent of Pakistan) would be given to Yang Jiechi on 23 March 2013.^[15]

Nickname[]

George H. W. Bush said Yang Jiechi's other name is "Tiger Yang", because Yang Jiechi was born in 1950, the year of the Tiger according to the Chinese zodiac, and because his name, "Chi" (篪) contains a variant of "Hu" (虎, Tiger).^[16]

Family[]

Yang's daughter, Alice Yang, graduated from Yale.^[17]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Biography of Yang Jiechi". China Vitae. March 19, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
^ Taylor, Adam; Rauhala, Emily (March 19, 2021). "The Biden administration gets a taste of China's 'wolf warrior' diplomacy". Washington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Matthew Knott, US-China meeting in Alaska begins with on-camera confrontation, The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 March 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d Ananth Krishnan, Eye of the tiger, The Hindu, 21 March 2021.
^ Yi Wang, Yang Jiechi: Xi Jinping's Top Diplomat Back in His Element, China Brief, The James Town Foundation, 8 December 2017.
^ "Partially Declassified White House Memorandum" of May 23, 1989
^ Michael Pompeo (July 13, 2020). "U.S. Position on Maritime Claims in the South China Sea". State Department. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
^ "U.S. takes a tougher tone with China". The Washington Post. July 30, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
^ "China throws book, but Carr parries with chapter and verse". The Sydney Morning Herald. May 22, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
^ NPC endorses new cabinet lineup
^ Bloomberg News, "It's Yang versus Pence as US and China set to Rumble in Europe"
^ Philippine Star, "Full text of Yang Jiechi's keynote speech at the 55th Munich Security Conference"
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Adam Taylor, Emily Rauhala, The Biden administration gets a taste of China's ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy, The Washington Post, 19 March 2021.
^ "Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Expounds on China's Foreign Policy at the Geneva School of the Diplomacy and International Relations". China. August 12, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
^ "President confers civil awards on Pakistani citizens and foreign nationals". The News. August 15, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
^ 杨洁篪出使美国与中美关系，联合早报
^ Ma, Damien (November 28, 2011). "Meet the Red Princesses and Princes: The Chinese Elite's Globe-Trotting Kids". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 21, 2021.

External links[]

Biography of Yang Jiechi, Xinhuanet.
[1]
Appearances on C-SPAN

Party political offices
Preceded by Dai Bingguo	Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office March 2013－	Incumbent
Preceded by Dai Bingguo	Secretary-general of the CCP Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs March 2013－	Incumbent
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Li Zhaoxing	Chinese Ambassador to the United States 2001–2005	Succeeded by Zhou Wenzhong
Government offices
Preceded by Li Zhaoxing	Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China 2007–2013	Succeeded by Wang Yi

[cvitae-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Biography of Yang Jiechi". China Vitae. March 19, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.

[2] Taylor, Adam; Rauhala, Emily (March 19, 2021). "The Biden administration gets a taste of China's 'wolf warrior' diplomacy". Washington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2021.

[SMH-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Matthew Knott, US-China meeting in Alaska begins with on-camera confrontation, The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 March 2021.

[Hindu-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d Ananth Krishnan, Eye of the tiger, The Hindu, 21 March 2021.

[ChinaBrief-5] Yi Wang, Yang Jiechi: Xi Jinping's Top Diplomat Back in His Element, China Brief, The James Town Foundation, 8 December 2017.

[6] "Partially Declassified White House Memorandum" of May 23, 1989

[statedepartment-7] Michael Pompeo (July 13, 2020). "U.S. Position on Maritime Claims in the South China Sea". State Department. Retrieved July 22, 2020.

[8] "U.S. takes a tougher tone with China". The Washington Post. July 30, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2013.

[9] "China throws book, but Carr parries with chapter and verse". The Sydney Morning Herald. May 22, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2013.

[10] NPC endorses new cabinet lineup

[11] Bloomberg News, "It's Yang versus Pence as US and China set to Rumble in Europe"

[12] Philippine Star, "Full text of Yang Jiechi's keynote speech at the 55th Munich Security Conference"

[WP-13] Jump up to: ^a ^b Adam Taylor, Emily Rauhala, The Biden administration gets a taste of China's ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy, The Washington Post, 19 March 2021.

[14] "Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Expounds on China's Foreign Policy at the Geneva School of the Diplomacy and International Relations". China. August 12, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2013.

[15] "President confers civil awards on Pakistani citizens and foreign nationals". The News. August 15, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2013.

[16] 杨洁篪出使美国与中美关系，联合早报

[17] Ma, Damien (November 28, 2011). "Meet the Red Princesses and Princes: The Chinese Elite's Globe-Trotting Kids". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 21, 2021.

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show v t 19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (2017–2022)
Standing Committee	Xi Jinping (General Secretary) Li Keqiang Li Zhanshu Wang Yang Wang Huning Zhao Leji Han Zheng
Other members in surname stroke order	Ding Xuexiang Wang Chen Liu He Xu Qiliang Sun Chunlan ♀ Li Xi Li Qiang Li Hongzhong Yang Jiechi Yang Xiaodu Zhang Youxia Chen Xi Chen Quanguo Chen Min'er Hu Chunhua Guo Shengkun Huang Kunming Cai Qi
7th→8th→9th→10th→11th→12th→13th→14th→15th→16th→17th→18th→19th

show v t State Councilors of the People's Republic of China
5th State Council	Yu Qiuli Geng Biao Fang Yi Gu Mu Kang Shi'en Chen Muhua ♀ Bo Yibo Ji Pengfei Huang Hua Zhang Jingfu Zhang Aiping
6th State Council	Fang Yi Gu Mu Kang Shi'en Chen Muhua ♀ Ji Pengfei Zhang Jingfu Zhang Aiping Wu Xueqian Wang Bingqian Song Ping Song Jian
7th State Council	Li Tieying Qin Jiwei Wang Bingqian Song Jian Wang Fang Zou Jiahua Li Guixian Chen Xitong Chen Junsheng Qian Qichen
8th State Council	Li Tieying Chi Haotian Song Jian Li Guixian Chen Junsheng Ismail Amat Peng Peiyun ♀ Luo Gan
9th State Council	Chi Haotian Luo Gan Ismail Amat Wu Yi ♀ Wang Zhongyu
10th State Council	Chen Zhili ♀ Hua Jianmin Cao Gangchuan Zhou Yongkang Tang Jiaxuan
11th State Council	Liu Yandong ♀ Ma Kai Liang Guanglie Meng Jianzhu Dai Bingguo
12th State Council	Yang Jing (dismissed) Chang Wanquan Yang Jiechi Guo Shengkun Wang Yong
13th State Council	Wei Fenghe Wang Yong Wang Yi Xiao Jie Zhao Kezhi

show v t China's Ambassadors to the U.S.
Qing ministers to the U.S. 1875–1912	Chen Lanbin 1875–81 1881–85 1885–89 Cui Guoyin 1889–93 Yang Yü 1893–96 Wu Tingfang 1896–1902 Liang Cheng 1902–07 Wu Tingfang 1907–09 1909–11 Alfred Sao-ke Sze 1911–12
ROC's envoys to the U.S. 1912–35	1912–13 1913–15 V. K. Wellington Koo 1915–20 Alfred Sao-ke Sze 1920–29 Wu Chaoshu 1929–31 Yan Huiqing 1931–33 Alfred Sao-ke Sze 1933–35
ROC's ambassadors to the U.S. 1935–79	Alfred Sao-ke Sze 1935–36 Chengting T. Wang 1936–38 Hu Shih 1938–42 Wei Tao-ming 1942–46 Wellington Koo 1946–56 Hollington Tong 1956–58 George Yeh 1958–61 Tsiang Tingfu 1961–65 1965–71 James Shen 1971–79
Chiefs of the PRC Liaison Office in the U.S. 1973–79	Huang Zhen 1973–77 Chai Zemin 1978–79
PRC's ambassadors to the U.S. 1979–present	Chai Zemin 1979–82 Zhang Wenjin 1983–85 Han Xu 1985–89 Zhu Qizhen 1989–93 Li Daoyu 1993–98 Li Zhaoxing 1998–2001 Yang Jiechi 2001–05 Zhou Wenzhong 2005–10 Zhang Yesui 2010–13 Cui Tiankai 2013–present