Editorial | US posting requires all the skills of new Chinese ambassador Xie Feng
- Despite a slight thaw in relations, Beijing’s new ambassador to Washington can have no illusions about the challenges that lie ahead
Beijing’s new ambassador to Washington is no stranger to troubled times, having served as China’s foreign affairs commissioner in Hong Kong through anti-government protests, the pandemic and imposition of the national security law.
But Xie Feng can have no illusions about the challenges he faces in his latest posting, having said on arrival in the United States last week that the two sides faced serious difficulties.
The fact that the post has been vacant for more than four months since Qin Gang, now foreign minister, left is evidence enough of strained relations. That gap included months without high-level contact after the US shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon in February.
Xie begins his new posting amid signs of a thaw in relations, such as frank talks earlier this month between foreign policy chief Wang Yi and American National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao’s meetings last week with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Seretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
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This may turn out to be no more than a pause in rising bilateral hostility. It may take all the skills of veteran diplomat Xie, and good intent on the US side, to prevent a fresh chill descending.