Senior diplomat Le Yucheng likely to head agency overseeing Chinese state broadcasting, sources say

Foreign vice-minister Le Yucheng is likely to become the new head of China's National Radio and Television Administration, according to people familiar with the discussion.

The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media. If confirmed, the new job at the NRTA - which oversees and supervises state-owned television and radio in China - would give 58-year-old Le a ministerial ranking.

Le started his diplomatic career in the 1980s, in the foreign ministry department that oversaw ties with the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc. He worked at the Chinese embassy in Moscow twice and later served as the ambassador to Kazakhstan, and then to India.

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He became a foreign vice-minister in 2018, handling the day-to-day operations of the ministry as its third-highest-ranking official. Le is also an alternate member of the Central Committee, which is composed of hundreds of the ruling Communist Party's most powerful people.

If he is promoted to lead the NRTA, Le is likely to become a full member of the Central Committee during the party's twice-a-decade national congress, which is expected to take place in autumn.

It comes as Beijing is seeking to bolster its position in a narrative war with Washington and its allies, with President Xi Jinping last year calling for this narrative power to be "proportional" to the country's strength.

Xi has also previously taken aim at what he claims is Western media "resorting to every means" to vilify and demonise China. Reports on issues like alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region, Beijing's position on Russia's war in Ukraine and China's political system have prompted angry responses from Chinese diplomats and its state media propaganda machine.

Traditionally, the head of the NRTA is also the deputy director of the Central Propaganda Department, which oversees information, the media and film.

Those two roles are currently held by Nie Chenxi, who turns 65 in July - the retirement age for ministerial-level officials in China. In previous jobs, Nie has overseen copyright protection, the publishing industry and state broadcaster CCTV.

While Le has no experience in media and propaganda, in recent years he has more regularly made public statements on China's diplomatic stance.

After President Xi Jinping met Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Beijing on February 4, it was Le who briefed state media on the talks, telling reporters that ties between the two nations had "no upper limit".

President Xi Jinping has called for China's narrative power to be "proportional" to the country's strength. Photo: Isaac Wong/SOPA Images via ZUMA Wire alt=President Xi Jinping has called for China's narrative power to be "proportional" to the country's strength. Photo: Isaac Wong/SOPA Images via ZUMA Wire>

And in a virtual speech early this month, Le accused Washington of making a fortune out of the war in Ukraine. "They want to control Europe with the sacrifice of Ukraine, undermine Russia, and prolong their hegemony," he said.

Le also hit out at Washington in an interview with Chinese media outlet Guancha last July, over what he called a narrative that it seeks to deal with Beijing from "the position of strength".

He said Washington should accept that "American hegemony" was in decline, but insisted it would be difficult for China to overtake the United States even within a "relatively long period of time".

In the interview, Le also urged media to search out more "colourful" stories about China, giving the example of a herd of elephants wandering through Yunnan province last year.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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