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Wang Yi (; born 19 October 1953) is a senior Chinese diplomat and politician serving as the
Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
since 2012, State Councilor since 2018, and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party.


Personal life

Wang was born in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
. After graduating from high school in September 1969, he was sent to Northeast China. He subsequently served in the Northeast Construction Army Corps in Heilongjiang Province for eight years. In December 1977, Wang returned to Beijing and in the same year was enrolled in the department of Asian and African Languages of Beijing International Studies University. He studied Japanese at the institution, graduating in February 1982 with a bachelor's degree. He is known to speak fluent
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
and Japanese.


Career


Early career

Upon graduation from university, Wang was sent to the Asian section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by his father-in-law Qian Jiadong, where he began his career as a diplomat. In September 1989, he was sent to the Chinese embassy in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
and served there for five years. When he returned to China in March 1994, Wang was appointed as vice section chief of the Asian section of the foreign ministry and was promoted to section chief the next year. From August 1997 to February 1998, Wang was a visiting scholar at the Institute of Foreign Relations of
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...
in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. Soon after his return, he was promoted to assistant minister and the director of office of policy research. From September 1999, Wang studied international relations at China Foreign Affairs University and obtained a doctoral degree. In February 2001, Wang was elevated to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, in charge of Asian affairs. He was then the youngest Deputy Minister. In September 2004, Wang was appointed as China's Ambassador to Japan. He served in this post until September 2007. In June 2008, Wang succeeded Chen Yunlin as the director of
Taiwan Affairs Office The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council is an administrative agency under the State Council of Mainland China. It is responsible for setting and implementing guidelines and policies related to the Republic of China (Taiwan), as stipul ...
of the State Council of China.


Minister of Foreign Affairs


Appointment

On 16 March 2013, Wang was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs after he was approved by the Congress.


Middle East mediation

Wang initiated a significant state visit to the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
in December 2013 to visit
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and Palestine. He discussed with leaders of both countries the importance of the nuclear agreement with
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and the importance of the continued peace talks, saying "War does not solve the problems. Violence increases the hatred. The peace talks are the appropriate and the only path". In November 2017, he expressed 3 points ( counter-terrorism, negotiation and
reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
) to improve
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
's situation. Wang criticized the speed and timing of withdrawal of the American-led
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
forces from
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
and urged them to withdraw in a "responsible and orderly manner".


China-Somalia Summit

In June 2014, during the China-Arab summit in Beijing, Foreign Minister Wang met his Somali counterpart Abdirahman Duale Beyle to discuss bilateral cooperation between China and
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...
. The meeting was held at the Chinese foreign ministry center and focused on trade, security and reconstruction. Among the issues discussed were the various Chinese development projects that are in the process of being implemented in Somalia. Beyle also indicated that the Chinese authorities are slated to broaden their support for Somalia, which would serve to create new employment opportunities. Additionally, Wang commended the Somali federal government on its peace-building efforts. He likewise reaffirmed the historically close diplomatic ties between both territories, recalling China's recognition of the nascent Somali Republic in 1960 and Somalia's subsequent campaigning which helped the PRC government attain a position on the
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, ...
.


East Asia

On the evening of 15 April 2018, Wang was received by his Japanese counterpart
Taro Kono is a Japanese politician serving as the Minister of Digital Affairs of Japan since August 2022. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he previously served as Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform from 2015 to 2016 and fro ...
, on the first such official visit of a Foreign Minister of China to Japan since November 2009.


Canadian journalist incident

During a joint news conference in
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...
on 1 June 2016, with Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Dion, Wang responded to Canadian reporter Amanda Connolly of online news site IPolitics over a question she raised regarding human rights in China, saying "Your question was full of prejudice against China and an arrogance that comes from I don’t know where. This is totally unacceptable to me".


Xinjiang internment camps

Wang Yi said the world should ignore "
gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...
" about
Xinjiang internment camps The Xinjiang internment camps, officially called vocational education and training centers ( zh, 职业技能教育培训中心, Zhíyè jìnéng jiàoyù péixùn zhōngxīn) by the government of China, are internment camps operated ...
. In March 2021, Wang said that "We welcome more people to visit Xinjiang - seeing is believing. This is the best way to debunk rumours." However, journalists from the British state broadcaster BBC claim to have been followed by unmarked cars, chased out of restaurants and shops, and compelled to delete footage while trying to report from Xinjiang.


COVID-19

It was reported that during Wang's visit in
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
in August 2020, he said that while China was the first country to report the existence of the virus to the World Health Organization, "it does not mean that the virus originated in China. Actually, for the past months, we have seen reports ... showing that the virus emerged in different parts of the world, and may have emerged earlier than in China."


US sanctions

On 22 February 2021, Wang Yi urged the
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
of US President Joe Biden to lift the sanctions on trade and people-to-people contact imposed by his predecessor,
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
. At the Foreign Ministry forum on US-China relations, he said that the US "must not interfere in the internal affairs of China".


Hong Kong

In March 2021, Wang supported the decision to have only "patriots" rule Hong Kong, stating that "loving Hong Kong and loving the motherland are consistent requirements...in the past 24 years since Hong Kong's
andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...
no one has cared more about the AR'sdemocracy, prosperity and stability than the central government."


State Councilor

In March 2018, Wang was appointed as a State Councilor.


Diplomatic relations

During Wang's current Foreign Ministry leadership he has facilitated obtaining the diplomatic recognition of China by
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
in 2017 as well as getting the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
and
El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...
to switch over in recognizing China (People's Republic of China) instead of
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
(Republic of China) in 2018.


Internet celebrity

In July 2016, Wang became an internet celebrity on the Chinese micro-blog Sina Weibo. A fan club on Weibo devoted to Wang has more than 130,000 followers in a country of over 1,400,000,000 people.


Awards and Decorations

: * Order of Danaker (2016) : * Hilal-e-Pakistan (2015)


See also

* List of foreign ministers in 2017 * List of current foreign ministers


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Yi Foreign Ministers of the People's Republic of China State councillors of China 1953 births Living people Ambassadors of China to Japan Beijing International Studies University people 20th-century Chinese politicians 21st-century Chinese politicians Members of the 20th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Recipients of Hilal-i-Pakistan