Yang Jiechi

Yang Jiechi
杨洁篪
State Councilor of the People's Republic of China
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 March 2013 Serving with Yang Jing, Chang Wanquan, Guo Shengkun, Wang Yong
Premier	Li Keqiang
Secretary-general of the Foreign Affairs Leading Group
Incumbent
Assumed office March, 2013
Leader	Xi Jinping
Preceded by	Dai Bingguo
Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China
In office 27 April 2007 – 16 March 2013
Premier	Wen Jiabao
Deputy	Zhang Zhijun
Preceded by	Li Zhaoxing
Succeeded by	Wang Yi
Personal details
Born	May 1950 (age 66) Shanghai, China
Political party	Communist Party of China
Spouse(s)	Le Aimei
Alma mater	University of Bath London School of Economics Nanjing University
Signature

Yang Jiechi (born May 1950) is a high-ranking Chinese politician and diplomat. He was the tenth Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, between 2007 and 2013. He joined the inner circle of the State Council in 2013, as a State Councilor under Premier Li Keqiang. In this capacity, he serves as one of the most prominent architects of China's foreign policy. Yang spent much of his professional life in the United States, where he served as Chinese Ambassador from 2001 to 2005.

Early life and education

Yang was born in Shanghai in May 1950.^[1] He graduated from Shanghai Foreign Language School and attended the University of Bath and the London School of Economics from 1973 to 1975. He received a PhD in history from Nanjing University.^[1]

Career

Yang Jiechi with the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

He previously served as a diplomat in the United States, beginning as a Second Secretary in 1983 and later as Ambassador from 2001 to 2005, and as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs responsible for Latin America and Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. During the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989, Yang accompanied Wan Li, the chairman of the National People's Congress, on a trip to North America.^[2]

During his tenure as ambassador to the United States, Yang worked to ease the tensions between the two countries following the 2001 mid-air collision between a U.S. EP-3 spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet off the coast of Hainan Island in the South China Sea.

Yang Jiechi and the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva

In April 2007, Yang replaced Li Zhaoxing, who had served as China's foreign minister since 2003, as the tenth foreign minister of China.

In July 2010 at the ASEAN Ministers Conference in Hanoi, Yang, responding to remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, called the remarks "an attack on China" and told Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo that "China is a big country and other countries are small countries, and that's just a fact." However, Yang issued a statement on the Foreign Ministry's Web site saying that there was no need to internationalize the issue, that China was still intent on solving all of the disputes bilaterally.^[3]

In a meeting with Australia's foreign minister Bob Carr, Yang criticized the decision to put US Marines in Australia's Northern Territory by stating to Carr "Cold War alliances" were out of date, to which Carr "reminded Yang that Chinese leaders like to relate the story of the Ming dynasty admiral Zheng He who took powerful Chinese fleets as far afield as India and Arabia but sought to occupy no lands".^[4]

In 2013, Yang Jiechi met with Japan's new ambassador to China and leader of Japan's New Komeito party. Yang also held group meetings with ambassadors from EU and its member states. He also met with Moo-sung Kim, Special envoy of South Korea's president-elect Park Geun-hye, to strengthen ties with South Korea. Yang has also made pledges for more contribution to world peace.^[1]

At the first plenary session of the 12th National People's Congress in March 2013, Yang Jiechi was elected as State Councilor.^[5]

Yang is a member of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. He was also a member of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and an alternate member of the 16th Central Committee.^[1]

Honors

Yang Jiechi received an honorary degree from the Geneva School of Diplomacy in 2009.^[6] It was announced by the President of Pakistan on 14 August 2012 that Hilal-i-Pakistan (Crescent of Pakistan) would be given to Yang Jiechi on 23 March 2013.^[7]

Other name "Tiger Yang"

George H. W. Bush said Yang Jiechi's other name is "Tiger Yang", because Yang Jiechi was born in 1950, the year of the Tiger according to the Chinese zodiac, and because his name, "Chi" (篪) contains a variant of "Hu" (虎, Tiger).^[8]

See also

• Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China
• People's Republic of China diplomatic missions
• Foreign relations of the People's Republic of China

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yang Jiechi.

• Biography of Yang Jiechi, Xinhuanet.

12th State Council of the People's Republic of China (2013-2018)
Li Keqiang (Premier)
Vice Premiers	Zhang Gaoli Liu Yandong Wang Yang Ma Kai
State Councilors	Yang Jing (also Secretary-General) Chang Wanquan Yang Jiechi Guo Shengkun Wang Yong
Ministers	Agriculture Han Changfu Civil Affairs Li Liguo→Huang Shuxian Commerce Gao Hucheng Construction Jiang Weixin→Chen Zhenggao Culture Cai Wu→Luo Shugang Defense Chang Wanquan Education Yuan Guiren→Chen Baosheng Finance Lou Jiwei→Xiao Jie Foreign Wang Yi Environment Zhou Shengxian→Chen Jining Human Resources Yin Weimin Industry and Information Miao Wei Justice Wu Aiying Public Security Guo Shengkun Resources Jiang Daming Science and Technology Wan Gang State Security Geng Huichang→Chen Wenqing Supervision Huang Shuxian Transport Yang Chuantang→Li Xiaopeng Water Chen Lei
Commissioners	Development Xu Shaoshi Ethnic Affairs Wang Zhengwei→Bagatur Health Li Bin
Other bodies	Auditor General Liu Jiayi Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan

China's Ambassadors to the U.S.
Qing ministers to the U.S. 1875–1912	Chen Lanbin 1875–81 Zheng Zaoru 1881–85 Zhang Yinheng 1885–89 Cui Guoyin 1889–93 Yang Yu 1893–96 Wu Tingfang 1896–1902 Liang Cheng 1902–07 Wu Tingfang 1907–09 Zhang Yintang 1909–11 Alfred Sao-ke Sze 1911–12
ROC's envoys to the U.S. 1912–35	Zhang Yintang 1912–13 Xia Xiefu 1913–15 V. K. Wellington Koo 1915–20 Alfred Sao-ke Sze 1920–29 Wu Chaoshu 1929–31 Yan Huiqing 1931–33 Alfred Sao-ke Sze 1933–35
ROC's ambassadors to the U.S. 1935–79	Alfred Sao-ke Sze 1935–36 Wang Zhengting 1936–38 Hu Shih 1938–42 Wei Tao-ming 1942–46 Wellington Koo 1946–56 Hollington Tong 1956–58 George Yeh 1958–61 Tsiang Tingfu 1961–65 Zhou Shukai 1965–71 James Shen 1971–79
ROC's representatives to the U.S. 1979–present	Konsin Shah 1979–81 Cai Weiping 1981–82 Frederick Chien 1982–88 Ting Mao-shih 1988–94 Benjamin Lu 1994–96 Jason Hu 1996–97 Stephen S.F. Chen 1997–2000 Chen Chien-jen 2000–04 David Lee 2004–07 Joseph Wu 2007–08 Jason Yuan 2008–12 King Pu-tsung 2012–14 Shen Lyu-shun 2014–2016 Stanley Kao 2016–
Chiefs of the PRC Liaison Office in the U.S. 1973–79	Huang Zhen 1973–77 Chai Zemin 1978–79
PRC's ambassadors to the U.S. 1979–present	Chai Zemin 1979–82 Zhang Wenjin 1983–85 Han Xu 1985–89 Zhu Qizhen 1989–93 Li Daoyu 1993–98 Li Zhaoxing 1998–2001 Yang Jiechi 2001–05 Zhou Wenzhong 2005–10 Zhang Yesui 2010–13 Cui Tiankai 2013–present