China names its envoy to US Qin Gang as new foreign minister

Pic Credit: File Photo

Beijing: China's ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, has been appointed as the country`s new foreign minister, Chinese state media said. This decision was made by the 13th National People`s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee on Friday, Global Times reported.

Qin, 56, is replacing Wang Yi, who is now a Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and State Councilor, the report added. On Thursday, the Chinese ambassador had warned Washington that it could face "military conflict" with Beijing over the future status of Taiwan.

"If the Taiwanese authorities, emboldened by the United States, keep going down the road for independence, it most likely will involve China and the United States, the two big countries, in a military conflict," Qin told US-based publication NPR in his first one-on-one interview since assuming his post in Washington, D.C., last July.

Qin, who arrived in Washington last year at a time of bipartisan discontent with China, told NPR that any ideas of "changing China" were always "an illusion."