In the margins, a hush hush recall to Beijing

The Indian Express, 19 September, 2014

A day before President Xi Jinping’s grand ceremonial entry into Ahmedabad, there was an unceremonious exit — in his Embassy in New Delhi.

In a highly unusual departure ahead of a state visit, Beijing quietly recalled its ambassador to New Delhi, Wei Wei, without saying where he was headed.

Wei Wei was replaced by Le Yucheng, China’s ambassador to Kazakhstan, barely 20 months after he took charge of the mission here.

Reached by The Indian Express for comment, Chinese embassy spokesperson Xie Liyan said: “I have no information.”

The sudden exit has left diplomatic circles guessing, some suggesting that Wei Wei was recalled to face “charges” in an “old” case, others saying it was another unexplained recall to Beijing. Sources said that plans to get  Wei Wei out were in place late last month and could be related to the current crackdown against some top officials in the party and government.

Ma Jisheng, China’s Ambassador to Iceland from 2012 until January this year, and his wife, Zhong Yue, left Reykjavik suddenly and are now said to be in Chinese custody. In this case, too, Beijing remained mum.

On September 16, a day before Xi Jinping set out for India, state-run news agency Xinhua quoted a press release from the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) to announce that Le Yucheng had replaced Wei Wei. Le Yucheng served as Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2013 before moving to Kazakhstan.

A career diplomat and a law post-graduate, Wei Wei served as ambassador to Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Brunei and Singapore before being sent to India in January 2013.

Wei’s predecessor Zhang Yan had served for four years in India and was appointed Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Foundation after his stint in New Delhi.