Unlike nearly all of China’s ambassadors to Washington since the 1980s, Mr. Qin has never specialized in dealing with the United States, nor has he been posted there previously. “For the last 20 years you’ve had a string of America experts posted to Washington,” Mr. Thompson, who now teaches at the National University of Singapore, said in an interview. “This was particularly the case around President Xi’s state visit to the White House.”As ambassador, Mr. Qin will be navigating an increasingly thorny and politically charged relationship. Chinese diplomats have furiously denounced Washington’s sanctions over Mr. Xi’s hard-line policies in the far western region of Xinjiang and the city of Hong Kong. But they are also trying to find common ground on international threats like limiting global warming.

Source: International New York Times July 28, 2021 22:30 UTC