Editing Qian Qichen (section)

==Life and career==
Qian Qichen hailed from a prominent scholarly family from Waigang ({{lang|zh|外冈}}), [[Jiading District|Jiading]], [[Jiangsu]] province (now in [[Shanghai]]). He was a descendant of the celebrated [[Qing dynasty]] historian [[Qian Daxin]].<ref name=thepaper>{{cite news |url=http://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1682475 |title=上海嘉定走出的外交家钱其琛 |work=The Paper |date=10 May 2017 |language=zh}}</ref> He was born in [[Tianjin]] on 5 January 1928.<ref name=nikkei/><ref name=people>{{Cite web|url=http://cpc.people.com.cn/daohang/n/2013/0226/c357263-20607337.html |title=钱其琛 |work=People's Daily |language=zh |access-date=2017-05-10}}</ref>

From 1942 to 1945, Qian attended the [[Utopia University High School]] in Shanghai. He secretly joined the [[Chinese Communist Party]] in 1942 at the age of 14. From 1945 to 1949 he worked at the ''[[Ta Kung Pao]]'' newspaper. After the [[establishment of the People's Republic of China]] in 1949, he was member of the Party Committee and Secretary of the [[Communist Youth League of China|Communist Youth League]] Committees of the [[Xuhui District|Xuhui]], [[Changning District|Changning]], and [[Yangpu District|Yangpu]] districts of Shanghai.<ref name=people/>

Qian left for the [[Soviet Union]] and studied at the [[Komsomol]] Central School in [[Moscow]] from 1954 to 1955. From 1955 to 1963, he worked as a diplomat in Moscow.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Buckley|first1=Chris|title=Qian Qichen, Pragmatic Chinese Envoy, Dies at 89|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/world/asia/qian-qichen-dead-china-foreign-minister.html|access-date=15 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=12 May 2017|page=B14}}</ref> He  successively served as Second Secretary in the Chinese Embassy, Director of Department of Overseas Chinese Students and Deputy Director General of the Foreign Department of the Ministry of Higher Education, and Counsellor in the Chinese Embassy.<ref name=people/><ref name="fmprc">{{Cite web|url=http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/ziliao_665539/wjrw_665549/3606_665551/t44162.shtml|title=Qian Qichen|publisher=Foreign Ministry of China |access-date=10 May 2017}}</ref>

During the [[Cultural Revolution]], Qian was persecuted and sent to perform hard labour at a [[May Seventh Cadre School]] from 1966 to 1972. After his political rehabilitation, he served as Ambassador to [[Guinea]] (1974–76) and concurrently Ambassador to [[Guinea-Bissau]] (1974–75). He went to work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1977 and was vice-minister of foreign affairs from 1982 to 1988 and minister from 1988 to 1998. He was [[Vice Premier of China|Vice Premier]] of the [[State Council of the People's Republic of China|State Council]], under Premiers [[Li Peng]] and [[Zhu Rongji]], from 1993 until his retirement in 2003.<ref name="people" /><ref name="fmprc"/><ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of China, Vol. 17 (2nd edition, 中国大百科全书（第二版）第17册)|publisher=Encyclopedia of China Publishing House|year=2009|isbn=978-7-500-07958-3|pages=588|language=zh}}</ref>

While serving as Director of the Information Department of the Foreign Ministry from 1977 to 1982, he proposed establishing a spokesperson system and became the first spokesperson of the Ministry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://en.people.cn/data/people/qianqichen.shtml|title=Qian Qichen|website=People's Daily}}</ref>
[[File:Donald Rumsfeld welcomes Vice Premier Qian Qichen as he arrives at the Pentagon on March 22, 2001.jpg|left|thumb|Donald Rumsfeld welcomes Vice Premier Qian Qichen as he arrives at the Pentagon on March 22, 2001]]
Qian became Foreign Minister in April 1988.<ref name=":05" /> As Foreign Minister, Qian played a critical role in shaping China's foreign policy during CCP general secretary [[Jiang Zemin]]'s administration,<ref name="nikkei">{{cite news |url=http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Former-Chinese-Vice-Premier-Qian-Qichen-dies-at-89-Xinhua |title=Former Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen dies at 89: Xinhua |date=11 May 2017 |work=Nikkei |access-date=May 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511060058/http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Former-Chinese-Vice-Premier-Qian-Qichen-dies-at-89-Xinhua |archive-date=May 11, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and was a key player handling the return to Chinese sovereignty of [[Hong Kong]] and [[Macau]].<ref name="scmp">{{cite news |url=http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2093817/chinas-outstanding-former-top-diplomat-qian-qichen-dies |title=China's 'outstanding' former top diplomat Qian Qichen dies, aged 89 |date=10 May 2017 |work=South China Morning Post}}</ref> He was in charge of border negotiations with the Soviet Union in the 1980s, which resulted in a successful settlement of the border dispute and the thawing of the bilateral relations between China and Russia.<ref name="nikkei" /> 

He was also instrumental in handling China's normalization of relations with the West in the difficult period after the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]];<ref name="scmp" /> his meeting with then British Foreign Secretary [[John Major]] in July 1989 was the first such contact.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Major|title=John Major: The Autobiography|url=https://archive.org/details/johnmajor00john|url-access=registration|publisher=Harper Collins|year=1999|pages=[https://archive.org/details/johnmajor00john/page/118 118]–20|isbn=9780002570046}}</ref> In October 1989, Qian engaged in low-profile outreach when he attended the annual UN General Assembly in New York, seeking to reassure his listeners that China would proceed with reform.<ref name=":05">{{Cite book |last=Lampton |first=David M. |title=Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War |date=2024 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1-5381-8725-8 |location=Lanham, MD |pages=184 |author-link=David M. Lampton}}</ref>

He was the first Chinese diplomat to attend an [[ASEAN]] event, going to the 1991 ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in [[Malaysia]]. This marked the first time China formally acknowledged ASEAN as an institution and laid the groundwork for future ASEAN-China cooperation, like the [[ASEAN+3]] mechanism and the [[ASEAN-China Free Trade Area]] (ACFTA).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20111119194547/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-11/15/c_131248640.htm Full Text: China-ASEAN Cooperation: 1991–2011]</ref>

In 1992, he was tasked with traveling to [[Pyongyang]], [[North Korea]] to inform [[Kim Il Sung]] that China would be [[China–South Korea relations|establishing formal diplomatic relations]] with [[South Korea]].<ref name="SCMP" />

Qian was a member of the 12th to 15th [[Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP Central Committee]]. He was a member of the 14th and 15th [[Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP Politburo]].<ref name=people/>

In November 2005, Qian was awarded the [[Order of the Polar Star (Mongolia)|Order of the Polar Star]], the highest civilian award of [[Mongolia]], for his contributions to [[China–Mongolia relations]].<ref name=people/>