Article source: Free Asia | Night Talk Zhongnanhai on 2024-03-25 16:22:09 – The news is taken from major news media. The news content does not represent the position of this website!
Night talk in Zhongnanhai: The legendary experience of Zhang Kunsheng, the “top tiger” of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Xi Jinping’s “anti-corruption”
Almost three years after Li Zhaoxing (left in the picture) took up the post of First Secretary of the Embassy in the United States, Zhang Kunsheng (right in the picture) returned to China with Li Zhaoxing, who handed over the post of ambassador to the United States to Yang Jiechi.Reuters
It is said that on January 2, 2015, Zhang Kunsheng, then Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ranked No. 1) and Director of the Protocol Department of the Ministry, was confirmed by the spokesperson of the Ministry and the official authoritative media at the same time that he was “under investigation for suspected serious violations of disciplines.” ” The People’s Daily client made a special comment, highlighting that “Zhang Kunsheng is not only the highest-level official investigated and punished since the beginning of this year, but also the first senior diplomat to be dismissed since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.”
At the same time, major online media in China began to dig deep into Zhang Kunsheng’s past and family. The most interesting thing is of course that his wife Xiao Jie is more famous than him. Not only is she a former world badminton women’s singles champion, but she was already “China’s first badminton associate professor from the national women’s badminton team.”
On January 2, 2015, the sports column of NetEase published an article “Xiao Jie once taught Li Zhaoxing how to play and co-organized a badminton teaching video with CCTV.” The lead of the article was: “Former Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing gave an interview to “Global People” magazine In an interview, he once said that he has always liked playing badminton, “My level is very poor, but my coach’s level is very high. “Li Zhaoxing’s coach is Xiao Jie. He said that Xiao Jie taught him how to play badminton when he was working in the United States.”
The first paragraph of the text of the article is: “The wife of a foreign affairs official was once a badminton player and won multiple world championships! Who is this badminton player? Yes, she is Xiao Jie…”
“Global People” is a publication of the People’s Daily. The magazine once published “The Happy Life of Star Master” and quoted Li Zhaoxing’s self-bragging content: “We played mixed doubles together and fought repeatedly in the Pentagon Club of the U.S. Department of Defense. Win repeatedly and steal the show.”
Li Zhaoxing recalled the past when he was the ambassador of the Chinese Communist Party to the United States. At that time, Xiao Jie came to the United States with Zhang Kunsheng, who was the first secretary of the embassy in the United States. Later, with a bachelor’s degree in physical education that he had completed at the Capital Institute of Physical Education, Entered the University of Maryland in the United States to study for a master’s degree in education.
The specific time when Li Zhaoxing became the Chinese Ambassador to the United States was in March 1998. His previous position was the deputy minister in charge of the Department of United States and Oceania of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At that time, Zhang Kunsheng was the first secretary of the Department of United States and Oceania.
Almost three years after Li Zhaoxing took up the post of First Secretary of the Embassy in the United States, Zhang Kunsheng returned to China with Li Zhaoxing, who handed over the post of ambassador to the United States to Yang Jiechi. After returning to China, Li Zhaoxing, who served as the first deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the secretary of the party committee of the ministry, immediately promoted Zhang Kunsheng to the deputy director-level counselor of the Department of United States and Oceania.
On March 17, 2003, Li Zhaoxing was announced to take over the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Zhang Kunsheng was immediately appointed as Counselor of the General Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In fact, he continued to serve as Li Zhaoxing’s “First Secretary.”
In April 2007, 67-year-old Li Zhaoxing was removed from the post of Foreign Minister and transferred to the position of Director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress. One of the important personnel arrangements led by Li Zhaoxing before leaving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to promote Zhang Kunsheng to one level and serve as Director of the Protocol Department. The foundation has been laid for Zhang Kunsheng to become the minister’s successor.
As for why Zhang Kunsheng was so highly regarded by Li Zhaoxing at that time, we have to start with Zhang Kunsheng’s “legendary experience”.
Zhang Kunsheng, born in August 1958, is a 1985 graduate of Sichuan International Studies University (now known as Sichuan International Studies University), which has always been located in Chongqing. Speaking of which, it was only in 1981 that he became a first-year undergraduate at the age of 23. Why is this happening?
But it turned out that as early as 1977, when the college entrance examination was resumed, this person took the college entrance examination as an “educated youth who jumped in line” from Shalang Village, Fumin County, Yunnan Province, and was admitted to the Agricultural College, “but due to illness he was unable to enter the college hall as he wished. I have no choice but to continue grazing cattle in Shalang Village.”
After he later became “a courtier without Wang Hu in the Republic”, he fondly recalled to a reporter from a newspaper in his hometown of Kunming, Yunnan Province: “Herding cattle is lonely and boring, but this kind of environment is what I deliberately pursue. My mother once He gave me a simple Camellia radio to accompany me throughout my cattle-herding life. I used the cow’s back as a desk and listened to the English teaching programs of the Central People’s Broadcasting Station every day…”
In 1979, Zhang Kunsheng’s hometown Kunming City in Yunnan Province held a recruitment examination among the educated youth of the province. Zhang Kunsheng ranked first in the city and obtained a pass to enter the First Division (Political Security Division) of the Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau…
Zhang Kunsheng also recalled: “The English I learned by myself in the countryside came in handy – I went to the reception desk of the Provincial Tourism Bureau to receive foreign guests. But when I came into contact with reality, I found that the English I learned by myself was too poor, especially in speaking. In addition to I had no other choice to go to school for further studies. In 1981, I applied for a foreign language exam and ranked 63rd among the candidates who took the exam. Based on my grades, I could be admitted to Beijing Second Foreign Language School, so I chose Sichuan Foreign Language School because I could save some money for my family. cost.”
What is the relationship between the Kunming Public Security Bureau No. 1 mentioned here by Zhang Kunsheng and the reception office of the Provincial Tourism Bureau? There will be analysis and introduction in the next article. Here continues Zhang Kunsheng’s own memories:
“Life outside Sichuan is very challenging. Many students in the affiliated middle schools (should refer to the affiliated middle schools in “Sichuan Outside”) have good foreign language foundation. At first, I ranked last in the class, but later I tried my best to catch up with others. I was ranked first in the first and second grades. I was a good student and became the top student in the whole grade in the fourth grade. At this time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs went to recruit a staff member outside Sichuan. My academic performance faced the most severe test. As a result, I passed the oral examination, written examination and interview smoothly, so I A major change occurred in my life. On August 13, 1985, I left Kunming and walked to the unfamiliar Beijing. At that time, I couldn’t afford to sit on a sleeper, so I finally chose to get under a hard seat and lie down for 56 hours to get to Beijing’s most economical “sleeper”. “. That was the beginning of my professional diplomatic career.”
Please note that what Zhang Kunsheng wants to emphasize here is that at that time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs only recruited one person from the “outside Sichuan” where he graduated. Awesome, right? Wait a minute, there is something even more powerful.
On January 2, 2015, as the Chinese Communist Party publicly announced the news that Zhang Kunsheng had been “under investigation,” major media outlets including Xinhuanet quoted or reprinted the full text of an old article “Zhang Kunsheng” that was first published 13 years ago. “: A Kunming Man’s Diplomatic Career”, the article boasts at the beginning: Zhang Kunsheng’s growth path meanders from Shalang Village, Fumin County, a suburb of Kunming, to Sichuan University, Peking University, Harvard, Oxford and even the Chinese Consulate General in the United States. Since 1995, in the exchanges, competitions, confrontations and cooperation between the two giants of China and the United States, there has always been this Yunnan kid who has been silently contributing to important diplomatic activities between the two major countries that affect the international situation. Wisdom and loyalty. His outstanding work performance once won him the title of National Model Worker of the Central State Agencies… Listening to his report, you will be impressed by the diplomat who is full of knowledge, elegant and suave, but it turns out that his literary and military skills are not inferior to those of political masters and military experts. This is reminiscent of those diplomats who laughed and talked during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The courtiers, strategists and generals of the country that are respected by the wind and clouds. The applause, listening and enthusiastic questions showed the contemporary youth’s worship of success. It is precisely because of the many loyal, courageous and intelligent diplomatic “courtiers” like Zhang Kunsheng that the Republic has today’s ever-increasing international reputation. They are the country’s meritorious officials.
According to Zhang Kunsheng’s self-introduction quoted in this article, his first job after entering the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was actually a “diplomatic courier.” He said, “I am in the courier team, and my experience in global communications cannot be compared with today’s More than ten years ago, the work of this agency was particularly important. It was a confidential department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. To understand the world situation, national leaders and relevant departments needed to refer to the research information of the courier team. Diplomatic couriers frequently traveled between various countries. , they need to be proficient in foreign languages, have rich diplomatic knowledge, keen insight, and strong ability to analyze international situations and issues. In order to do this, the country needs to make a large investment. The training cost for our three-person messenger team is as high as 530,000 US dollars. People who don’t know the truth must think how enviable and interesting this job is, and the joys and sorrows and dangers involved can only be experienced by those who have experienced it. Wandering around the world for many years, separated from relatives for many years and Needless to say, there are still certain dangers. Before I joined the Courier Corps, six team members had died in the line of duty. In my five years in the Courier Corps, I visited and investigated 121 countries and regions. This number is not an exaggeration.”
Then, after working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for five years, Zhang Kunsheng was admitted to Peking University to study for a master’s degree. It should be noted here that Zhang Kunsheng was a full-time graduate student at the time, which was essentially different from Xi Jinping’s “not leaving work”.
Zhang Kunsheng said that after three years of study and obtaining a master’s degree, his mentor Xue Mouhong from the Department of International Politics at Peking University personally sent him to Harvard to continue his studies. “Perhaps not many students are so favored by their mentors. Later, I studied at UC Berkeley, Princeton University, Stanford University, and Oxford University, and finally ended my study career by obtaining a doctorate in law.”
Zhang Kunsheng’s recollection seems to be a deliberate attempt to obscure which school he received his doctorate from. In fact, he himself should have obtained a doctorate degree from the Department of International Politics of Peking University, and his experience in several schools in the United States was short-term study tours.
However, during his study tour in several schools in the United States, Zhang Kunsheng received special attention from Li Zhaoxing, the then Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations. After Zhang Kunsheng finally completed his short-term visit to Oxford, England, Li Zhaoxing, who had been transferred back to China as the deputy minister in charge of the Department of United States and Oceania of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, immediately summoned Zhang Kunsheng to “return to the ministry” and was appointed as the second-level deputy director of the Department of United States and Oceania. Since then, he has been serving Li Zhaoxing for 12 years.
According to the resume of the then “Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director of the Protocol Department Zhang Kunsheng” that can still be found on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China, his position from 1998 to 2001 was “First Secretary of the Embassy in the United States of America.” But he himself described his position during this period to reporters as “Special Assistant to the Ambassador to the United States.” When a reporter asked him, “Which period of your 17-year diplomatic career is the most unforgettable for you?” he replied, “When you were the special assistant to the ambassador to the United States.”
He boasted to reporters: During his tenure as special assistant to the ambassador in the United States. 1997 was the most meaningful year in my diplomatic career. This year President Jiang visited the United States for the first time, and I participated in the drafting of 27 speeches. President Jiang’s visit to the United States was also carefully planned by us… In the three places where General Secretary Jiang visited, the United States fired a 21-gun salute for him and enjoyed the highest protocol standards. Such etiquette is rare…
Zhang Kunsheng also recalled: In June of the following year (1998), President Clinton visited China, and I also participated in the reception work for the entire trip… Under the reasonable and skillful mediation of Chinese diplomats in the United States, Clinton promised the world his “three no’s” (no support for Taiwan’s independence, no support for one China, one Taiwan, and no support for Taiwan’s participation in any sovereign state). Any international organization that is a member country) has achieved its expected goals. This can be said to be a major progress in Sino-US relations. As long as both sides abide by the one-China, three joint communiques and “three nos”, Sino-US relations will be healthy. develop.
It should be noted here that the above content is from an old article “Zhang Kunsheng: A Kunming native’s diplomatic career” that was first published in 2002. The “17-year diplomatic career” mentioned by the reporter in the article obviously meant that Zhang Kunsheng was “off the job” at school. The five years spent studying for a Ph.D. are also included in the “diplomatic career”.
In addition, Zhang Kunsheng followed Li Zhaoxing to the United States in 1998. When Jiang Zemin visited the United States in 1997, Zhang Kunsheng was not the “Special Assistant to the Ambassador to the United States.” Of course, as the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was definitely his job to participate in the drafting of Jiang Zemin’s speeches for his visit to the U.S. or to design the itinerary. Therefore, he should have mixed together his memories of the service work he participated in during his tenure as First Secretary of the Department of Ocean Affairs and First Secretary of the Embassy in the United States for major Chinese leaders’ visits to the United States.
His memories of his stay in the United States include: – In early to mid-April 1999, Premier Zhu visited the United States. I served as the liaison officer. During those eight days and eight nights, Premier Zhu’s every move attracted the world’s attention. I still can’t forget it when I think about it.
—-In 1999, our embassy in South Africa was brutally bombed by NATO led by the United States. The Chinese embassy in the United States made countless arduous negotiations with the United States to resolve the bombing incident. We launched a diplomatic struggle with the United States from many aspects. It forced the United States to apologize to China five times, lower its flag at half-mast when the remains of the martyred Chinese martyrs were transported back to China, and compensate the casualties and the embassy in South Africa.
—-On November 15, 1999, China and the United States signed an agreement on China’s accession to the WTO in Beijing, but the US Congress still needed to pass China’s PNTR (Permanent Normal Trade Relations Status) for the agreement to take effect, so we These diplomats stationed in the United States have intensively carried out bilateral activities, pushing this issue step by step in a direction that is beneficial to China…
Judging from the above-mentioned recollections to reporters, this Zhang Kunsheng is really not modest. A First Secretary of the Department of American and Ocean Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a First Secretary of the Embassy in the United States posted on his own the arrangements, handling processes and “results” of every major and super major event in Sino-US relations during his tenure in these two positions. On his face, not only did he fail to mention the then Foreign Minister Qian Qichen who actually presided over the arrangement and design of Jiang Zemin’s visit to the United States, and Tang Jiaxuan, who took over as Foreign Minister in March 1998, but also how he acted under his immediate boss during this period. Work under the leadership of Li Zhaoxing was also ignored. How could such a high-profile use of the media to brag about oneself not lead to criticism from colleagues within the diplomatic system?
After Zhang Kunsheng was announced to be “under investigation,” some analysts believed that Zhang Kunsheng was the first high-level diplomat to be dismissed during Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign. In the past, the foreign affairs department, which was generally recognized as the last pure land in Chinese politics, has also fallen into the whirlpool of corruption.
Su Hao, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, said in an exclusive interview with VOA News that in the past, the outside world always believed that the diplomatic system was relatively clean and a “legless” department because there were no downstream units in the country, so the transmission of interests and the relationship between Compared with other departments, it is relatively simple and has fewer corruption problems. The Zhang Kunsheng incident is really surprising.
As for Zhang Kunsheng’s dismissal, in addition to the publicly announced corruption crimes such as “power and sex trafficking”, was there also a “political reason” that was inferred and suspected by the outside world at the time? Leave it to our next article in this column to recall and analyze.
(This program is hosted and delivered by Gaoxin)
(The article only represents the personal position and views of the special commentator)
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2024-03-26 19:37:11
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