Yang Jiechi
| H.E. Ambassador Yang Jiechi | |
|---|---|
| 杨洁篪 | |
 | |
| Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office | |
|
Assumed office August 2013 | |
| General Secretary | Xi Jinping |
| Preceded by | Dai Bingguo |
| State Councilor 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 Shanghai, China |
| Political party | Communist Party of China |
| Spouse(s) | Le Aimei |
| Alma mater |
University of Bath London School of Economics Nanjing University |
| Signature |
 |
| Nickname(s) | Tiger Yang |
| Yang Jiechi | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 杨洁篪 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 楊潔篪 | ||||||
| |||||||
Yang Jiechi (born 1 May 1950) is a high-ranking Chinese politician and diplomat. Since 2013, he has served as director of the Office of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China under Party General Secretary Xi Jinping. He is generally regarded as one of the foremost contemporary architects of China's foreign policy. Yang served as the tenth Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China between 2007 and 2013. He joined the inner circle of the State Council in 2013, as a State Councilor under Premier Li Keqiang. Yang spent much of his professional life in the United States, where he served as Chinese Ambassador from 2001 to 2005.
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.[1]
Career
He previously served as 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.[2]
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 served as 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." 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.[3]
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".[4]
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.[5]
Yang was a member of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. He was also a member of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and an alternate member of the 16th Central Committee.[1] He was elevated to the decision making Politburo at the 19th CPC Congress in October 2017.
Honors
Yang Jiechi received an honorary degree from the Geneva School of Diplomacy in 2009.[6] 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.[7]
Other name "Tiger Yang"
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).[8]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Biography of Yang Jiechi". China Vitae. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ↑ "Partially Declassified White House Memorandum" of May 23, 1989
- ↑ "U.S. takes a tougher tone with China". The Washington Post. 30 July 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ↑ "China throws book, but Carr parries with chapter and verse". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ↑ NPC endorses new cabinet lineup
- ↑ "Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Expounds on China's Foreign Policy at the Geneva School of the Diplomacy and International Relations". China. 12 August 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ↑ "President confers civil awards on Pakistani citizens and foreign nationals". The News. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ↑ 杨洁篪出使美国与中美关系，联合早报
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yang Jiechi. |
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Dai Bingguo |
Secretary-general of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission March 2013－ |
Incumbent |
| Secretary-general of the Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs March 2013－ | ||
| 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 |
.jpg)
.svg.png){kind=small} .svg.png){kind=small}    | |
|---|---|
| Qing ministers to the U.S. 1875–1912 |
|
| ROC's envoys to the U.S. 1912–35 |
|
| ROC's ambassadors to the U.S. 1935–79 |
|
| Chiefs of the PRC Liaison Office in the U.S. 1973–79 |
|
| PRC's ambassadors to the U.S. 1979–present |
|