Career diplomat and Russia expert Le Yucheng retires after move to state media body

Name: Big political questions linger after China abruptly replaces its foreign minister
Uploaded: 2023-07-31T07:00:14.000Z
Duration: 2 min 49 s
Description: Big political questions linger after China abruptly replaces its foreign minister

The 60-year-old was foreign vice-minister and a key voice on Russia before he was transferred to the NRTA

It was Le who first described the relationship between the two nations as a ‘friendship without limits’

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Le Yucheng has stepped down as deputy head of the NRTA after reaching the official retirement age of 60, according to state media. Photo: AP

Sylvie Zhuangin Beijing

Published: 3:00pm, 31 Jul 2023Updated: 5:07pm, 31 Jul 2023

Career diplomat and Russian affairs expert Le Yucheng, who has played a key role in shaping Beijing’s ties with Moscow, has retired, according to state media.

A former foreign vice-minister, Le stepped down as deputy head of the National Radio and Television Administration a month after he turned 60, the official retirement age for vice-ministerial roles, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday.

It came days after Beijing dismissed Qin Gang as foreign minister – a job he had only held for seven months – following a month-long absence from public view. Qin was replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi, with no explanation given.

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Big political questions linger after China abruptly replaces its foreign minister

Le, once seen as a candidate for foreign minister himself, was transferred from the ministry in June last year to take up the post at the NRTA, which oversees state broadcasting in China – a move that was also unexplained but widely seen as a demotion.

Le was the most senior of four vice-ministers at the NRTA but had no media experience. He also lost his seat as an alternate member of the ruling Communist Party’s Central Committee during a reshuffle in October.

Helena Legarda, a lead analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin, said it was impossible to know what the rationale was behind Le’s departure from the foreign ministry.

But she said it had left the ministry without any senior officials with Russian expertise.

“Having a Russia expert like Le – who understands the language, is familiar with the country, may have personal connections – definitely helps China to conduct diplomatic exchanges with Russia,” Legarda said.

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