China's new ambassador to Australia: Who is Liu Jinsong?

China's new ambassador-designate to Australia, career diplomat Liu Jinsong, has quickly become a subject of considerable discussion and scrutiny, even before fully settling into his role. As Beijing's global influence expands, its diplomatic representatives inevitably face heightened curiosity, and Liu is no exception.

Some China watchers in Australia have already labeled Liu as a hardliner and a "wolf warrior." This perception is partly fueled by a widely circulated image that appears to depict him as embodying autocratic Chinese disdain. In the photograph, he stands with his hands in his pockets, looking down at a senior Japanese official who seems to be bowing. This image stems from a diplomatic encounter last year when Liu, then Director-General for Asian Affairs at China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, conveyed Beijing's strong displeasure to Japanese officials following comments made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi regarding Taiwan.

The incident involved Masaaki Kanai, a senior Japanese foreign affairs official, who visited Beijing to de-escalate tensions. While the exact nature of Kanai's posture in the video is debated, it could be leaning in to hear a translator, the image of Liu appearing nonchalant and supercilious quickly spread through Japanese media. Tokyo complained that China had allowed media to film the sensitive aftermath of the talks, while Chinese state media used the video to suggest Japan had been humiliated.

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To some degree, every ambassador (in the world) is a sock puppet, but particularly in the Chinese system.

However, analysts and officials consulted by ABC emphasize that such actions are often dictated by directives from Beijing. They suggest that any Chinese official in Liu's position would have likely conveyed the same message and followed similar protocols. "This tells us plenty about the way China wanted to present the meeting, and the message it wanted to send to Japan, but it tells us very little about Liu himself," one former senior official commented. Another expert, Sam Chetwin George from the Asia Society Center on US-China Relations, noted that China's Foreign Ministry primarily implements policy rather than shaping it, implying that ambassadors function largely as implementers of state directives.

Therefore, while the "wolf warrior" label and the image might reflect China's desired public messaging and its approach to diplomacy, they may offer limited insight into Liu Jinsong's personal style or how he will conduct himself as ambassador to Australia. The role of an ambassador, particularly within the Chinese system, often involves executing the government's agenda, making them, to some extent, representatives of their nation's broader foreign policy objectives.

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China's Foreign Ministry is not an apex policy-making part of the bureaucracy. It is largely a policy-taker, charged with implementing p