CHINESE DIPLOMACY CHANGES #256

GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON

Deng Hsiaoping did say “Hide Your Strength, Bide Your Time” but, significantly, he added more – “Achieve Something”. And China’s new Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, is citing Deng Hsiaoping in setting the tone of China’s new diplomatic approach. China is on the Front Foot.

Lu, aged 56, is among a new generation of Chinese diplomats who are moving away from the traditional discretion of older diplomats. Lu became known when Ambassador in Canada for his upfront comments about Canada’s handling of the arrest of senior Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou. He became Ambassador to France in 2019 + in a recent interview with French journalists, Lu said “I told them our style has changed and you need to get used to our new style”.

Lu went further. Citing Mao Tsetung on “Protracted War”, he said that the new style will “last through the entire duration of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. He acknowledged that China needed long term planning and “an army of diplomats, media workers and academics” to implement the new approach.

The turning point was Anchorage earlier this year when Politburo Member, Yang Jiechi addressed US Secretary of State Blinken face to face + said that “the days of talking down to China were over”. In the years ahead, historians + academics will look back to Anchorage as the moment in time when the Balance of Power Changed. In a phrase – China is Here to Stay – and this new state of affairs has consequences to which the West will have to adjust. We are witnessing History in the Present.