Gueorgueiv Quoted in Politico Article on China’s New Ambassador to the US

January 24, 2023

Politico

Dimitar Gueorguiev

Political Science Department

South Asia Center

China

Foreign Policy

Global Governance

International Affairs

Politico

Close-up portrait of an individual with short dark hair, smiling slightly, wearing a maroon shirt and a dark blazer, set against a blurred green background.

Dimitar Gueorguiev

Beijing has selected Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng as China's new ambassador to the U.S. Xie has a record of "wolf warrior-style diplomacy." In his previous role as the foreign ministry’s commissioner in Hong Kong, Xie decried foreign criticism of the territory’s often brutal police response to pro-democracy protesters in 2019 and blamed that unrest on shadowy "foreign forces."

That rhetoric "was probably more of a wolf-warrior performance for career purposes…[rather] than a genuine inclination," argues Dimitar Gueorguiev, associate professor of political science and expert on Chinese elite politics. With Xi now signaling a shift to less rancorous bilateral ties, "I expect [Xie] to be more kumbaya-ish," he says.

Read more in the Politico article, "Waiting for Xie Feng: Decoding China’s new ambassador."