When Xi Jinping was looking for someone to succeed the abruptly removed Qin Gang as foreign minister last summer, people familiar with the matter say, one name made it to the top of the Chinese leader’s list. As a stopgap measure, Xi reassigned former Foreign Minister Wang Yi to his old post in July. “The Chinese were basically telling us that he’s going to be the next foreign minister," a U.S. official said. Chinese officials in similar discussions in the past were mostly interested in repeating Beijing’s talking points. Speaking at a Jan. 9 forum held by the Council on Foreign Relations, Liu said in response to a question from the audience that he was picked for that job because of his experience in international cooperation.

Source: Wall Street Journal January 24, 2024 11:15 UTC