China has made two important diplomatic appointments, appointing Xu Feihong as the new ambassador to India and Deng Hongbo as the new ambassador to Germany.
Xu Feihong, a 60-year-old senior diplomat, has been appointed as China's new ambassador to India. He previously served as the assistant minister for financial and administrative affairs in the foreign ministry. Xu has extensive experience in diplomacy, having served as ambassador to Afghanistan from 2010 to 2013 and envoy to Romania from 2015 to 2018. He will succeed Sun Weidong, who completed his term in India in October 2022. This appointment comes at a critical time in India-China relations, with ongoing border tensions and India's push for the disengagement of Chinese forces from certain areas along the border [d3f37c40].
Meanwhile, China has appointed Deng Hongbo as its new ambassador to Germany. Deng Hongbo is a seasoned diplomat with decades of experience in US affairs and is currently the deputy director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party’s Central Committee. He will succeed Wu Ken as Beijing’s ambassador to Berlin. This appointment comes amidst strained ties between China and Germany, with recent spying accusations putting pressure on the bilateral relationship [56d7ab20].