China's master problem-solver retires
Monday, 22 October 2007
BEIJING, Oct 21 (AP): For the past decade, when Chinese leaders had a mission of national importance, they gave it to one woman.
Wu Yi oversaw negotiations in the 1990s on China's entry to the World Trade Organization, winning a reputation as tough but personable. She directed the fight against the SARS pneumonia outbreak in 2003 and has represented Beijing in a dialogue to ease trade friction with Washington. In August, the government put her in charge of whipping product-safety enforcement into shape and restoring China's battered international image.
But now Wu, who turns 69 next month, is retiring, leaving Beijing to find a new top problem-solver for challenges ranging from improving drug safety to stabilizing unruly financial markets.
On Sunday, Wu, a vice premier and the only woman in the senior leadership, left the Communist Party's Central Committee along with many other retiring leaders as the party installed a new lineup to guide the country for the next five years. With that, Wu will have to relinquish her vice premiership, at the latest when a new government is announced in March.
US officials say Wu is due to take part in one more round of economic talks with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in December. But they say after that, China has given no sign who will take over her duties.
Wu Yi oversaw negotiations in the 1990s on China's entry to the World Trade Organization, winning a reputation as tough but personable. She directed the fight against the SARS pneumonia outbreak in 2003 and has represented Beijing in a dialogue to ease trade friction with Washington. In August, the government put her in charge of whipping product-safety enforcement into shape and restoring China's battered international image.
But now Wu, who turns 69 next month, is retiring, leaving Beijing to find a new top problem-solver for challenges ranging from improving drug safety to stabilizing unruly financial markets.
On Sunday, Wu, a vice premier and the only woman in the senior leadership, left the Communist Party's Central Committee along with many other retiring leaders as the party installed a new lineup to guide the country for the next five years. With that, Wu will have to relinquish her vice premiership, at the latest when a new government is announced in March.
US officials say Wu is due to take part in one more round of economic talks with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in December. But they say after that, China has given no sign who will take over her duties.