Yang Jiechi

Yang Jiechi began in the foreign ministry’s translation and interpretation department and developed a long American specialization. He held junior and counseling posts at the Washington embassy in the 1980s and returned as minister in the 1990s. After serving as assistant and vice foreign minister, he became ambassador in 2001. ¹

Within weeks of his arrival, the collision between an American reconnaissance aircraft and a Chinese fighter produced a crisis over the U.S. crew detained on Hainan. Secretary of State Colin Powell sent a letter to Vice Premier Qian Qichen through Yang. Yang left Washington in 2005 and served as foreign minister from 2007 to 2013. ^{1, 2}