First ambassador to ASEAN appointed

By Li Xiaokun (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-31 07:47

China Tuesday announced the appointment of a senior woman diplomat as the first ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), signaling the growing importance it attaches to the region.

The ambassador, Xue Hanqin, is a "senior diplomat and expert on international law" who served as ambassador to the Netherlands and permanent representative to the Organization on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a news briefing.

She has also worked as director-general of the ministry's department of treaty and law.

"Ambassador Xue's appointment is an important signal in promoting friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two sides in extensive fields," he said.

Xue bade farewell to the Netherlands in April, where she had worked as ambassador for more than four years.

The appointment came five months later. Beijing announced in July it would send an envoy to the ASEAN to improve the strategic partnership.

It is another move by China to strengthen ties with regional blocs and settle disputes by sending special envoys.

Last year, the government appointed former ambassador to South Africa Liu Guijin as special representative to Africa, with a particular focus on Darfur. Later, it created the position of special envoy for climate change negotiations. Former ambassador to Tanzania Yu Qingtai filled the post.

The ASEAN has become increasingly important to China, as bilateral trade totaled $199.1 billion in the first 10 months of this year, a 20 percent year-on-year increase, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

That is nearly a 10th of China's total trade volume during that period.

Experts said the appointment came after the world's two top economies - the US and Japan - had sent envoys to the bloc this year and showed China's willingness to strengthen ties with the rising ASEAN.

Liao Shaolian, deputy director of the center for Southeast Asian studies under Xiamen University, told ibdaily.com the ASEAN might replace Japan as China's third largest trading partner next year.

In 2010, with the establishment of the China-ASEAN free trade area, the 10-nation group might even surpass the US to become China's second largest trading partner, ranking only after the EU, he said.

Zhai Kun, a scholar on Southeast Asian studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the new ambassador would facilitate Beijing's exchanges with the ASEAN as a whole.

"It's a trend for the world to deepen ties with this region. The US and Japan have also sent ambassadors there this year," he said.

"In my opinion, the position is as important as that of the ambassador to the EU."