Yang Jiechi

Yang Jiechi
杨洁篪
State Councilor of the People's Republic of China
Assumed office
16 March 2013
Serving with Yang Jing, Chang Wanquan, Guo Shengkun, Wang Yong
Premier Li Keqiang
Director of the Foreign Affairs Leading Group Office
Assumed office
August 2013
General Secretary Xi Jinping
Preceded by Dai Bingguo
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 (1950-05-01) 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
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. He was 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. In this capacity, he serves as director of the Foreign Affairs Leading Group Office, one of the most prominent architects of China's foreign policy. 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

Yang Jiechi with the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

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.

Yang Jiechi and the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva

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 is 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]

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

Party political offices
Preceded by
Dai Bingguo		 Secretary-general of the Foreign Affairs Leading Small Group
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
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