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Yang Jiechi

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description Yang Jiechi Overview

Yang Jiechi is a Chinese diplomat and retired politician who served as China's minister of foreign affairs from 2007 to 2013. He was also a state councilor from 2013 to 2018 and directed the Chinese Communist Party's Central Foreign Affairs Commission or its predecessor office from 2013 until 2023. Earlier in his career he served as China's ambassador to the United States from 2000 to 2004, and he later became a senior official responsible for foreign-affairs coordination.

help Yang Jiechi FAQ

When did Yang Jiechi serve as China's foreign minister?

He held the post from 2007 to 2013, succeeding Li Zhaoxing and handing over to Wang Yi. Before that he had already spent decades in the Chinese diplomatic service, including a stint as ambassador to the United States.

What did Yang Jiechi famously say to Antony Blinken at the Anchorage talks?

At the March 2021 meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, Yang delivered a lengthy rebuke to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, telling the Americans they were not qualified to speak to China 'from a position of strength.' The exchange became one of the most replayed moments of US-China diplomacy in recent years.

Was Yang Jiechi China's ambassador to the US during a major crisis?

Yes. He served as ambassador in Washington from 2001 to 2004, which spanned the 2001 Hainan Island incident, when a US EP-3 spy plane and a Chinese fighter collided. That posting helped establish him as one of China's most experienced America hands.

Who succeeded Yang Jiechi as China's top diplomat?

Wang Yi replaced him twice over: first as foreign minister in 2013, and then in early 2023 as director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office, the role Yang had held since 2013. Yang also sat on the Politburo from 2017 to 2022.