Chinese diplomat Zhao Lijian, known for his Twitter outbursts, is given senior foreign ministry post
- Zhao, who recently left his position as deputy chief of mission in Pakistan, is now deputy director general of the foreign ministry’s information department
- He became known for heated online confrontations with China’s critics, once being branded a ‘racist disgrace’ by a former Obama administration official
China’s former No 2 diplomat in Pakistan, known for taking to Twitter to defend his government in bellicose terms, has been handed a senior role in Beijing’s foreign ministry.
Recently updated records on the foreign ministry’s website indicate that Zhao Lijian, who left his position as deputy chief of mission in Islamabad earlier this month, now serves as deputy director general of the ministry’s information department.
In his new role, Zhao serves directly beneath the department’s newly appointed director general, Hua Chunying, and alongside fellow deputies Geng Shuang and Yu Dunhai.
Both Hua and Geng regularly host ministry press conferences for domestic and international reporters, suggesting that Zhao may be in line to take on public-facing duties.
One of the first Chinese diplomats to open an official account on Twitter, Zhao has used the platform prolifically during his four-year tenure at the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, tweeting over 51,000 times to his more than 200,000 followers.