China elevates Wang Yi to State Councillor

Beijing, March 19 

China’s tough-talking Foreign Minister Wang Yi was elevated today to the top diplomatic post of State Councillor, a move which could make him the new ‘Special Representative’ to handle the vexed boundary negotiations with India. 

Wang, 65, would also continue to head the Foreign Ministry, becoming the first Chinese official to hold the dual post in recent years. Wang’s name for the post of State Councillor and Foreign was endorsed by Parliament —- the National People’s Congress (NPC), state-run Xinhua news agency reported. 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed Wang’s name as part of a new set of officials to head various positions for the next five years in the government headed by President Xi Jinping. The new line-up approved by NPC includes four Vice Premiers, Han Zheng, Sun Chunlan, Hu Chunhua and Liu He. Another key appointment from India’s point of view was that of the appointment of missile expert Lt Gen Wei Fenghe as the new Defence Minister.

In Chinese power hierarchy, State Councillor is ranked higher than the Foreign Minister and considered as the top diplomat of the country and is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the policies of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC). 

Wang succeeds Yang Jiechi, 67, who last year has been elevated to become member of the CPC’s Politburo, a high-ranking body of the CPC headed by Xi. By virtue of being the State Councillor, Wang is also expected to succeed Yang as China’s Special Representative for India-China boundary talks, though officials say the Chinese government’s position will become clear only after an official notification. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is India’s Special Representative. 

Under this mechanism, the two countries have so far held 20 rounds of talks with limited success. The post of the Special Representative is regarded a key one as its plays a major role in providing a broader policy framework for the course of the India-China relations because the two officials have the political mandate to discuss the whole gamut of the relations during their meetings.  — Agencies

Beijing’s missile man is new defence minister 

• Lt General Wei Fenghe, 63, a close confidant of President Xi Jinping, was the last commander of missile unit, the Second Artillery Corps, before it was split into two
• Gen Wei had backed Xi’s unprecedented overhaul of the country’s 2.3-million strong military which has now been downsized to two million troops
• Gen Wei’s first guest of honour could be Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who would visit China next month,  after last year's 73-day long standoff at Dokalam.