Danny Russell

He was very unpopular among the policy people and even quite a few of the business leaders.

He was very unpopular among the policy people and even quite a few of the business leaders.

I think they found him arrogant, even impolite, and at other times, highly formulaic. I don't know how he was dealing with his in-government counterparts, in part because they refused to meet with him for the better part of a year while he was in Washington. That's another story.

I think they found him arrogant, even impolite, and at other times, highly formulaic. I don't know how he was dealing with his in-government counterparts, in part because they refused to meet with him for the better part of a year while he was in Washington. That's another story.

I may be putting it a little bit strongly, but, you know, he arrived during a very chilly moment in U.S.-China relations.

I may be putting it a little bit strongly, but, you know, he arrived during a very chilly moment in U.S.-China relations.

ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, was getting beastly treatment by the Chinese who just shut him out mercilessly. I think in some circles there was certainly a view that said, you know what, let's give them a taste of their own medicine.

ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, was getting beastly treatment by the Chinese who just shut him out mercilessly. I think in some circles there was certainly a view that said, you know what, let's give them a taste of their own medicine.

Right. Try a little quid pro quo. Here's some reciprocity for you, buddy.

Right. Try a little quid pro quo. Here's some reciprocity for you, buddy.

That appointment was truly mind-boggling to me. I was kind of stunned, and I think many of my friends and counterparts in the Chinese foreign ministry were similarly surprised. This was a case where Xi Jinping

That appointment was truly mind-boggling to me. I was kind of stunned, and I think many of my friends and counterparts in the Chinese foreign ministry were similarly surprised. This was a case where Xi Jinping

just reached into the system and plucked a loyal aide, some might say a toady, not out of obscurity, but certainly disrupted the sort of natural order, the protocol order in terms of age and service, seniority.

just reached into the system and plucked a loyal aide, some might say a toady, not out of obscurity, but certainly disrupted the sort of natural order, the protocol order in terms of age and service, seniority.

And that was really extraordinary.

And that was really extraordinary.

What it told me is that China has now entered an imperial era. in which the leader, call him general secretary, call him president, call him emperor, it doesn't really matter, the singular leader now makes all of these personnel decisions, makes all decisions. So I think I took it much less as a story about Qin Gang and much more as a revelation about Xi Jinping.

What it told me is that China has now entered an imperial era. in which the leader, call him general secretary, call him president, call him emperor, it doesn't really matter, the singular leader now makes all of these personnel decisions, makes all decisions. So I think I took it much less as a story about Qin Gang and much more as a revelation about Xi Jinping.

Is he the subject of a corruption probe?

Is he the subject of a corruption probe?

Protocol should be confused with sort of which fork to use at dinner and whether the fish knife goes on the left or the right of the butter knife. It's organizing the movements of the leaders and the moving parts of a visit.

Protocol should be confused with sort of which fork to use at dinner and whether the fish knife goes on the left or the right of the butter knife. It's organizing the movements of the leaders and the moving parts of a visit.

I do have a recollection of Qinggang and the Chinese team being really passionate and angst-ridden over the possibility that there could be a protest that would impinge on the eyeballs of Xi Jinping, of the leader. I think there was almost a sense of terror that if something as embarrassing and politically shameful as that were to occur, that they were going down with the ship.

I do have a recollection of Qinggang and the Chinese team being really passionate and angst-ridden over the possibility that there could be a protest that would impinge on the eyeballs of Xi Jinping, of the leader. I think there was almost a sense of terror that if something as embarrassing and politically shameful as that were to occur, that they were going down with the ship.

He was very unpopular among the policy people and even quite a few of the business leaders.

I think they found him arrogant, even impolite, and at other times, highly formulaic. I don't know how he was dealing with his in-government counterparts, in part because they refused to meet with him for the better part of a year while he was in Washington. That's another story.

I may be putting it a little bit strongly, but, you know, he arrived during a very chilly moment in U.S.-China relations.

ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, was getting beastly treatment by the Chinese who just shut him out mercilessly. I think in some circles there was certainly a view that said, you know what, let's give them a taste of their own medicine.

Right. Try a little quid pro quo. Here's some reciprocity for you, buddy.

That appointment was truly mind-boggling to me. I was kind of stunned, and I think many of my friends and counterparts in the Chinese foreign ministry were similarly surprised. This was a case where Xi Jinping

just reached into the system and plucked a loyal aide, some might say a toady, not out of obscurity, but certainly disrupted the sort of natural order, the protocol order in terms of age and service, seniority.

And that was really extraordinary.

What it told me is that China has now entered an imperial era. in which the leader, call him general secretary, call him president, call him emperor, it doesn't really matter, the singular leader now makes all of these personnel decisions, makes all decisions. So I think I took it much less as a story about Qin Gang and much more as a revelation about Xi Jinping.

Is he the subject of a corruption probe?

Protocol should be confused with sort of which fork to use at dinner and whether the fish knife goes on the left or the right of the butter knife. It's organizing the movements of the leaders and the moving parts of a visit.

I do have a recollection of Qinggang and the Chinese team being really passionate and angst-ridden over the possibility that there could be a protest that would impinge on the eyeballs of Xi Jinping, of the leader. I think there was almost a sense of terror that if something as embarrassing and politically shameful as that were to occur, that they were going down with the ship.