{"id":183071,"date":"2021-04-19T12:00:37","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=183071"},"modified":"2021-04-16T08:20:26","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T07:20:26","slug":"the-man-they-call-tiger-the-diplomat-who-stood-up-to-americas-bullies-becomes-chinas-new-and-unlikely-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/04\/the-man-they-call-tiger-the-diplomat-who-stood-up-to-americas-bullies-becomes-chinas-new-and-unlikely-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"The Man They Call Tiger: The Diplomat Who Stood up to America\u2019s Bullies Becomes China\u2019s New and Unlikely Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE PHOTOS. \u00a9 Feng Li \/ Getty Images; \u00a9 Unsplash \/ Mike Marrah<\/p><\/div>\n

14 Apr 2021 – <\/em>Yang Jiechi\u2019s outburst against the US at a high-level meeting in Alaska last month has been widely praised and elevated the career bureaucrat to the status of national deity.<\/p>\n

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Until recently, Yang Jiechi, a 70-year-old Chinese career diplomat, had a reputation, at least among his foreign peers, of being a somewhat mild-mannered and colorless bureaucrat.<\/p>\n

Sixteen minutes at a meeting with his American counterparts in Alaska last month changed all that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Also: <\/span>Don\u2019t expect this week\u2019s talks in Alaska to break any ice between Beijing and Washington \u2013 here\u2019s why.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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That was the length of time Yang spent delivering a blunt and uncustomary lecture about America\u2019s racial problems and democratic failings, saying the US should address its own human rights record and stop interfering in China\u2019s internal affairs. He also warned Washington not to challenge Beijing over a mission it views as sacred \u2013 the eventual reunification with Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Yang hit back after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had opened the session by undiplomatically accusing China of threatening a \u201crules-based order that maintains global stability<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 with their actions regarding Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; of carrying out alleged cyberattacks on the US; and of exercising economic coercion on other nations.<\/p>\n

Yang responded angrily, chiding\u00a0 Blinken for trying to<\/p>\n

\u201cspeak to China in a condescending way from a position of strength<\/em>,\u201d telling him: \u201cSo was this carefully all planned and was it carefully orchestrated with all the preparations in place? Is that the way that you had hoped to conduct this dialogue? Well, I think we thought too highly of the United States. We thought that the US side would follow the necessary diplomatic protocols. So for China, it was necessary that we made our position clear. So let me say here that… the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His blunt, out-of-character remarks went viral in China, and were praised for their forthright denunciation<\/a> of America\u2019s hypocrisy. Some media comments drew comparisons to Mao Zedong\u2019s famous declaration<\/a> in 1949 that \u201cthe Chinese people have stood up<\/em>,\u201d viewing his words as laying down a marker in China\u2019s challenge of American dominance. Others said there had only been \u201cone winner<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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There is one big winner from the Alaska meeting, i.e, Politburo member Yang Jiechi, director of the office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs. His lecturing of Americans has been a resounding success with the Chinese press and public and will continue to resonate there https:\/\/t.co\/A81eN2a5dw<\/a><\/p>\n

— Dali L. Yang (@Dali_Yang) March 19, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n