December was a tough month for China. The nation's diplomats have been trying to project a softer and kinder image abroad. But during the festive season, criticism and condemnation escalated as Beijing sentenced prominent dissident Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in jail and executed Briton Akmal Shaikh for drug smuggling despite claims that Shaikh was mentally unfit. And, earlier that month, China took a tough stance on emissions cuts which has been blamed for causing the ineffectual agreement reached in Copenhagen.
These instances are a stark reminder that mainland actions are often viewed with scepticism from abroad, and especially the West. In many cases, they have also been interpreted as China thumbing its nose at the world. Whether justified or not, that perception calls for more skilful management of international concerns - through moderating rougher rhetoric from its recent past and deploying so-called 'soft power' more effectively.
China has moved some ways in this direction already; and this week it unveiled a major reshuffle at the Foreign Ministry. Senior ministers in their 60s have been sent off, to be replaced by younger ambassadors with more worldly experience rather than ideological conviction. An example is ambassador to Britain Fu Ying . She is of Mongolian origin and only the second woman to be made a vice-minister since 1949. She is part of a new diplomatic corps adept at using international news media and protocols to defend the nation's interests, and eschewing ideological rhetoric.
Promoting younger talent has been the norm at practically all major ministries in recent times. Each year, tens of thousands of officials are rotated, and preference for promotion is given to younger and better-educated officials. Many are educated in law, economics, history and management, rather than the long-preferred engineering fields. The Foreign Ministry is no exception. But given the nature of their work, mainland diplomats especially benefit from such promotion preferences. As a rising power, China needs effective and skilful advocates to represent its interests.
