China’s new ambassador to the US adopts placating tone

Qin Gang, a trusted aide to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, indicates a desire to reset relationship, but on China’s terms.

Qin Gang, China’s ambassador to the US, struck an optimistic note in his first remarks after arriving in Washington on Wednesday. Picture: Xinhua

China’s new envoy to the US struck a conciliatory note upon his arrival in Washington on Thursday AEST, pledging to repair the increasingly testy relationship between the two world powers days after Chinese Foreign Ministry officials greeted a visiting senior State Department official with a chilly lecture on diplomacy.

Qin Gang, a veteran diplomat and trusted aide to President Xi Jinping, said in remarks posted on the website of China’s embassy in the US that he will “endeavour to bring China-US relations back on track, turning the way for the two countries to get along with each other … from a possibility into a reality”.

His tone contrasted sharply with the tense exchange between senior Chinese and U.S. diplomats in the port city of Tianjin on Monday, when a Chinese vice-foreign minister gave US Deputy Secretary of the State Wendy Sherman an earful, saying Washington was entirely to blame for the souring bilateral relationship.

The more placating remarks by Mr Qin — in which he said he would “seek to build bridges of communication and co-operation with all sectors of the US”— show that Beijing still hopes to reset relations with Washington — but on its own terms.

In a commentary that roughly coincided with Mr Qin’s remarks, China’s official Xinhua News Agency urged the U.S. to “discard its habitual bullying of China”.

Relations between the US and China have continued to deteriorate after having plummeted during the Trump administration. President Joe Biden has been trying to build alliances to confront a more self-confident and assertive China on issues as diverse as human rights, technology and geopolitics, while Mr Xi is intent on reshaping the relationship as one between two head-on competitors.

The chasm was on full display on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met a representative of the Dalai Lama while visiting New Delhi, a move bound to further anger Beijing, which sees the Tibetan spiritual leader as a separatist. Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with the Taliban in a high-profile meeting that signalled Beijing’s intention to step in diplomatically as American troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

The Wall Street Journal reported Beijing’s plan to appoint Mr Qin as US envoy in April.

One of his tasks in Washington will be to help restore regular, high-level meetings between the two sides. The so-called strategic-dialogue format was first put in place during the George W. Bush administration, but was abolished by the Trump administration as an exercise that tied up the US in fruitless discussions.

With the relationship becoming more competitive, Beijing sees the mechanism as a stabiliser to reduce chances of conflict. So far, the Biden team has shown no interest in re-establishing the talks.

Within China, Mr Qin, 55, is seen as a polished career diplomat — and one who has earned Mr Xi’s trust. Since joining the Foreign Ministry in 1988, he has worked his way up from a junior aide to the ministry’s spokesman, before becoming a vice-minister responsible for overseeing European affairs and news as well as planning events for Mr. Xi.

When Mr Xi gave former president Donald Trump and his wife Melania a tour of the Forbidden City during Mr Trump’s state visit to China in late 2017, Mr Qin was right by the side of the Chinese leader.

Still, some within the Biden administration view Mr Qin as a hawk, pointing to his remarks early this year in which he called those smearing China “evil wolves.” And unlike his predecessor, Cui Tiankai, who had served as Beijing’s envoy for eight years and built relationships in the US capital, Mr Qin has no previous experience in Washington.

Mr Qin faces a stiff challenge in representing Beijing’s stance while still building bridges with a Washington that is exhibiting rare bipartisan unity in its hard-line stance toward China.

He nevertheless struck an optimistic note in his first remarks after arriving in Washington. “China and the U.S. are entering a new round of mutual exploration, understanding and adaptation,” he said.

The Wall Street Journal