Decoding China’s ‘Silver Fox’

Lt-Gen Bhopinder Singh (retd)

IN the official Chinese hierarchy, the State Councilor is the top-ranked diplomat, higher than the Foreign Minister. The executive agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, works under the designated State Councilor. Pursuant to the recently concluded 13th National People's Congress, the sitting Foreign Minister Wang Yi has been elevated as the new State Councilor, concurrently with his role as the Foreign Minister. This unprecedented dual charge follows the chain of promotions, including that of the previous State Councilor, Yang Jiechi, who joins as the new member of the Chinese Politburo, chaired by President Xi Jinping himself. From an Indian perspective, the State Councilor is a key position, because historically the incumbent also becomes the Special Chinese Representative for Indo-Chinese Border Talks. 

Against the backdrop of the 73-day long stare-down by Indian and Chinese troops in the Doklam sector, the festering wounds of unsettled borders and contentious counter-claims make the significance of Sino-Indian Border Talks, a key platform of bilateral engagement. The last round (20th) of talks held in December, under the previous State Councilor Yang Jiechi, and his Indian counterpart, the National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, was accompanied by a thawing tone. Such flowery expressions as "partners in rejuvenation" and "friends for generation" were at odds with the cold banalities that usually followed the talks. This round of strategic talks facilitated the much-needed conversations and clarities on the Indian sensitivities on any military build-up near the "chicken's neck" corridor and the Chinese insistence that they had conveyed their road construction plans in advance to the Indian soldiers on two earlier occasions.

The recent elevation of Yang Jiechi was read as China's shift and focus on international diplomacy at the highest levels. His expertise on and multiple tenures in the US made him conversant with the dynamics of dealing with the western powers. The prerequisites of realising the neologism, "Chinese Century", entails the presence and opinions of specialist diplomats within the influential circles of the all-powerful 25-member Chinese Politburo. Herein, the continuity of positions adopted during the 10 years of Yang Jiechi as the State Councilor is expected to be maintained in President Xi Jinping's new assertive tenure as President. Importantly, Yang Jiechi was also conferred the Hilal-e-Pakistan in 2012, the second highest civilian award (whereas Xi Jinping was given the highest Pakistani civilian award, Nishan-e-Pakistan, in 2015).

On the other hand, the new State Councilor, Wang Yi, is a specialist on China's contentious relations with Japan and Taiwan. Besides serving as China's Ambassador to Japan, he was the Director of Taiwan Affairs Office, before his appointment as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in March, 2013. Wang Yi's more hawkish, urbane and belligerent personality compared to Yang Jiechi is bound to define the texture of China's international affairs. Wang Yi had hit headlines when he had publicly berated a Canadian journalist in 2016. In the joint press conference, the journalist had posed a question to the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Dion, on Canada's stand given the Chinese track record on human rights — only to be interjected by Wang Yi who shot back, "I have to say that your question is full of prejudice against China and arrogance … I don't know where that comes from. This is totally unacceptable" and went on to add, "Other people don't know better than the Chinese people about the human rights condition in China and it is the Chinese people who are in the best situation, in the best position to have a say about China's human rights situation."

His personality trait came forth later as he demanded and received an unscheduled meeting with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, replete with the optics of an assertive negotiator. Similar violation of the principle of hierarchical ranks and commensurate meeting levels is unthinkable in the Chinese narrative. Whereas Canada could only record its meek "dissatisfaction" of Wang Yi's conduct, he was hailed a hero back home and soon appointed as the State Councilor. 

"Silver Fox", as Wang Yi is known for his looks by the Chinese media, has a loyal following for his brazen and nationalistic outpourings. Wang Yi had famously called the damaging verdict in the International Court of Justice against China in the South China Sea dispute "a political farce under the pretext of law....Now the farce is over, it is time for things to go back to normal." Even during the Doklam crisis, Wang Yi who had served in the Northeast Construction Army Corps, had said that the resolution to the crisis was very "simple": "Indian troops have to go out."

His hardline stance would have drawn him to Xi Jinping's expansionist agenda. Wang Yi had described the Chinese foreign policy in one word, ie "active", having three integral components of diplomacy as "confidence," "backbone," and "generosity". Wang Yi's alpha-male record and loyalty typifies the template of Xi Jinping's calculus of mixing the troika of the Chinese military might (PLA), economic juggernaut, along with domineering foreign policies that come through the likes of  Wang Yi. A new era and tenor dawns for China’s foreign policy.