Diplomatic novice picked for top Communist Party job at China’s foreign ministry amid deteriorating relations with US
- Qi Yu is parachuted in from the party’s personnel wing as President Xi Jinping continues to shake up his foreign affairs team
- Appointment puts Qi just below Foreign Minister Wang Yi and top-ranking diplomat Yang Jiechi.
Beijing has taken the unprecedented move to elevate a veteran personnel cadre – and diplomatic novice – to be the foreign ministry’s Communist Party chief, amid growing international tensions and a sharp deterioration in relations between China and the United States.
The announcement on Tuesday night that Qi Yu, 58, former deputy head of the party’s all-powerful Organisation Department, would be the ministry’s party secretary took many Chinese diplomats and veteran China observers by surprise because of his lack of diplomatic experience.
Analysts said the appointment appeared to be part of ongoing restructuring of President Xi Jinping’s foreign policy team to further entrench party control of foreign affairs, particularly given Beijing’s strains with the US and other major powers.
Zhu Lijia, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said Qi’s promotion was in line with Xi’s focus on tightening party control, and showed the importance the Chinese leaders attached to foreign affairs.
“With the rise of China’s global standing, foreign relations have become increasingly important for the country, which is at a critical juncture of its reform and opening up,” Zhu said.
Under the new line-up, Qi will be in charge of the ministry’s personnel affairs while Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi, who served as the ministry’s party chief between 2007 and 2008, would still be responsible for implementing Xi’s foreign policies.
