The move to the borders department is the latest sign that Beijing is rethinking its foreign policy approach. Read more at straitstimes.com.
He had 19 appearances at the podium from Sept 1 to the end of the year, compared with 72 in the first eight months of the year. News of Mr Zhao’s transfer had attracted more than 23 million readers on Weibo as of Tuesday morning, with many interpreting it as a demotion. Mr Qin, 56, has demonstrated a more traditional, less social-media-driven approach and signalled a desire to mend ties with countries such as the US and Australia, some of the most prominent targets of Mr Zhao’s criticism. In 2022, Mr Zhao was among the chief purveyors of Russian-backed conspiracy theories about US bioweapons labs in Ukraine. His appointment to the spokesman’s office in August 2019 was seen as Beijing’s endorsement of Mr Zhao’s style, and numerous other Chinese diplomats around the world embraced it. While technically a lateral move, the new post is far less prominent than the spokesman’s podium, where Mr Zhao had since February 2020 become one of China’s most prominent public officials, with almost 8 million followers on the Weibo social media platform.
Zhao's new responsibilities will include negotiating maritime and land boundaries with neighbouring countries.
Foreign ministry's rising star Zhao Lijian now listed as deputy director for boundary affairs.
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Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, who gained prominence as one of China's most outspoken "wolf warrior" diplomats, has been transferred to ...
In a controversial Twitter post in March 2020, Zhao wrote that the U.S. Register for free to Reuters and know the full story Zhao and the ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his change in role.
Zhao Lijian, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, has been transferred to the Boundary and Ocean Affairs department for his aggressive remarks and tweets ...
We believe this is a matter of science and required professional and scientific assessment”. It might be the US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. What are the names of the hospitals?
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has been moved to a less prominent role in what is seen as the end of an era for Beijing's “wolf warrior” ...
China’s Foreign Ministry defended Mr Zhao’s use of a doctored image on Twitter in 2020. Protests were also lodged through the embassy in Beijing. There has been a significant change of tone since Xi Jinping met Joe Biden and other world leaders, including Anthony Albanese, at the G20 summit in Bali in November. He was promoted to ministry spokesman in 2020. His outspoken comments during daily press briefings and his huge social media following attracted widespread criticism in the West. Those officials, nick-named after a series of patriotic movies about Chinese soldiers, were encouraged by Beijing to use aggressive and confrontational language.
A controversial Chinese diplomat who epitomised China's "Wolf Warrior" approach to diplomacy appears to have been demoted. Ex-foreign ministry spokesman ...
Last November, Mr Zhao was uncharacteristically caught at a loss for words when asked in a press conference whether China would continue its zero-Covid policies amid rare protests in the country. The role of foreign ministry spokesperson is considered to be a prominent role that has in the past led to further promotion. Writing on his Sinocism blog, US journalist Bill Bishop said the approach appeared to be a "fundamental tenet" of leader Xi Jinping's style of diplomacy and while Mr Zhao was "one of the cruder mouthpieces" there was no evidence so far of any broader shift.
Zhao Lijian, a senior Chinese diplomat associated with the country's foreign ministry, has been demoted to a department that manages the country's land and sea borders. Mr Zhao, 50, gained prominence as one of China's most vocal “Wolf Warrior” ...
Zhao Lijian, a senior Chinese diplomat associated with the country's foreign ministry, has been demoted to a department that manages the country's land and ...
The tweet prompted Australian prime minister Scott Morrison to demand an apology from Beijing. The nickname comes from the highly-popular nationalist film about a Chinese special forces soldier. In normal times, you would be PNGed (persona non grata) for this,” she wrote. It has been speculated that his wife’s maskless photographs at public events in Beijing at the height of a severe Covid wave could have been one of the reasons behind the demotion. The diplomat, with 1.9 million Twitter followers, suggested in a post in March 2020 that the US military might have brought Covid to the Chinese city of Wuhan. Zhao Lijian, a senior Chinese diplomat associated with the country’s foreign ministry, has been demoted to a department that manages the country’s land and sea borders.
Zhao Lijian, a senior Chinese diplomat associated with the country's foreign ministry, has been demoted to a department that manages the country's land and ...
China has transferred a senior diplomat closely associated with the Foreign Ministry's more confrontational shift in recent years to a new role, ...