China’s newly-appointed ambassador to Ethiopia Zhao Zhiyuan will take up his new post in Addis Ababa soon where he will replace Tan Jian who left his post last month in what was described as a regular rotation.
But Zhao comes to the job with a very unusual background by Chinese diplomatic standards, especially for a posting as prominent as Ethiopia which is also home to the African Union. Rather than work his way up through the ranks of the foreign ministry, as is customary, Zhao is the former mayor of a relatively small Chinese city (2 million people is actually quite small by Chinese standards) in northeastern Shandong province.
In fact, Zhao resigned from the mayorship of Dongying city just last month.
It’s at all clear from the limited Chinese press coverage about Zhao’s appointment as to why someone with his background and experience would ever be considered for such a prominent diplomatic assignment. A review of his background shows only municipal experience with no foreign policy exposure.
SUGGESTED READING (CHINESE ONLY):
