Wendy Sherman, No 2 at US State Department: tough negotiator, smooth diplomat
- Antony Blinken’s deputy led the US team in negotiating the Iran nuclear deal
- Her confirmation last week overcame opposition from Republicans who called her ‘weak on Communist China’
Last week, just days after the Biden administration placed China atop its list of global threats, the US Senate confirmed Wendy Sherman, a long-time diplomat who has negotiated with US adversaries like Iran and North Korea, as the No 2 official in the State Department.
Sherman, 71, is not generally recognised as a China specialist, and her path to confirmation as deputy secretary of state had to pass through widespread Republican opposition – she was approved in a 56-42 vote – in part because of her role as lead US negotiator on the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, but also due to doubts about her toughness towards Beijing.
Sherman “has a history of being weak on Communist China and has worked to normalise trade with one of our greatest adversaries”, a spokesperson for Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican who voted against her confirmation, told the South China Morning Post.
The State Department declined to make Sherman available for an interview, but former officials say the administration likely considers essential her years of work as a battle-tested negotiator at the highest diplomatic levels.
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Described by many observers as one of the most experienced and qualified diplomats to hold a senior foreign policy post in the new administration, Sherman returns to the building where she has worked on and off since the 1990s – in a new moment of growing geopolitical tensions, but with many of the same challenges.
Iran is again threatening to build nuclear weapons. North Korea, where Sherman travelled on a diplomatic mission in 2000, is again launching missiles.