China's New U.S. Ambassador Pioneered The Foreign Ministry's Brash Tone

BEIJING — As a spokesperson, he delivered excoriating one-liners and helped pioneer a brash, more sharply confident communication style from the Chinese foreign ministry's pulpit.

Now, as the next Chinese ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, 55, will need to straddle two sometimes-contradictory priorities: satisfying an increasingly nationalistic audience back home while being placatory and diplomatic toward an American political landscape that has become increasingly hostile to China. Qin is scheduled to arrive in the U.S. to take up his new post this week, according to three Chinese officials with knowledge of the matter, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

"One [priority] is the need to project strength and confidence, and the other is the need to manage sensitivities with a bilateral partner,, on Chinese diplomacy. "It's really important that whoever holds that position is kind of able to walk a middle path between those two extremes."