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China's diplomatic makeover
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN Senior China Analyst
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- China's newly appointed team of top foreign policy-makers are likely to take a tougher stance in such major arenas as Sino-U.S. relations, the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula, diplomatic sources say. Following the confirmation of Hu Jintao as president last weekend he has taken the helm of the Communist party's Leading Group on Foreign Affairs (LGFA) -- the country's top policy-setting organ on foreign and security matters. The five cadres who belong to the new group all have solid backgrounds in diplomacy, military affairs, and foreign trade. Newly elected Vice-President Zeng Qinghong will become Hu's deputy on the leading group. Other members of the LFGA include Vice-Premier Wu Yi, State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, and new Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. As a veteran Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Hu has had ample exposure to military and national security issues since the late 1990s. For example, the 60-year-old leader played a big role in handling the crises over the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999 and the "spy plane" incident of April 2001. Zeng has been instrumental in helping his patron, former president and LFGA head Jiang Zemin, formulate policies on the U.S., Japan and Taiwan. Wu, a Politburo member and veteran foreign trade official, will concentrate on the economic aspects of foreign policy. Tang, who was foreign minister for five years until his promotion as state councilor at this NPC, and Foreign Minister Li will be the main executors of the LGFA's decisions. Diplomatic sources in Beijing say Tang may concentrate more on Asia and the Middle East, while Li, a former ambassador to the U.S., may spend more time on American policy. Since Jiang will likely remain Chairman of the Central Military Commission for at least two to three years, he will remain a key adviser to the LGFA. Newly retired vice-premier Qian Qichen, a patron of both Tang and Li's, is also expected to be consulted frequently particularly in matters relating to the U.S. and Taiwan.
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