When a Reuters reporter asked a U.S. State Department spokesperson last week about a sarcastic social media post by the U.S. ambassador to Japan concerning China's missing defense minister, the reply was appropriately diplomatic.
The ambassador, Rahm Emanuel, has always spoken in "a colorful manner," said Matthew Miller, restraining a smile, although he declined to say whether Emanuel's comments had been cleared by the State Department.
Emanuel, a Washington political fighter who has served three Democratic presidents, had written on social media platform X, that the recent disappearances of top Chinese officials resembled Agatha Christie's best-selling crime novel "And Then There Were None," which follows the mysterious deaths of guests at a mansion in Britain.
"First, Foreign Minister Qin Gang goes missing, then the Rocket Force commanders go missing, and now Defense Minister Li Shangfu hasn't been seen in public for two weeks. Who's going to win this unemployment race? China's youth or Xi's cabinet?" Emanuel wrote.
Last Thursday, he speculated in another post that Li might have been detained. "Might be getting crowded in there," he wrote.
Li has not been seen in public for more than two weeks. On Friday Reuters reported that the defense official, handpicked by Chinese President Xi Jinping, has been placed under investigation by Chinese authorities, according to 10 people familiar with the matter.
In July, Foreign Minister Qin Gang was replaced after not being seen in public for over a month. He had been appointed to the post only seven months previous.
POLICY OR OPINION?
Though common on social media, pointed sarcasm is almost unheard of in the buttoned-down world of diplomacy, where ambassadors' comments are carefully vetted and scrutinized for nuance.
So naturally, Emanuel's posts have raised questions about whether they reflect the views of the administration of Joe Biden, who Emanuel has known for years, dating back to the Obama White House.
"I would guess that the Chinese government views Ambassador Emanuel's remarks as authoritative and deliberate signaling. I doubt that's the case," said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
A Chinese embassy spokesperson said Beijing noted Emanuel's remarks. "We hope the U.S. side can stop smearing China and do more things that are conducive to enhancing understanding, trust and cooperation between the two countries," she said.
A source familiar with Biden administration dynamics said Emanuel's comments were likely not part of an agreed approach.
"Rahm is not subject to the rules that other ambassadors and senior officials follow," the source said. "I suspect that some of his public commentary makes the White House pretty uncomfortable, but his relationship with the president makes him effectively untouchable.
"There may be some who view his tweets and commentary as a useful foil, but there is no deliberate strategy that I am aware of," the source said.
On Friday, the State Department did not have immediate comment on whether Emanuel's tweets on Li reflected the knowledge and understanding of the U.S. government or whether they were his personal opinion. The U.S. embassy in Japan declined to comment.
ANTI-CHINA U.S. AMBASSADOR
Emanuel, 63, previously served as an aide to former President Bill Clinton and as former President Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, when he was known as an effective enforcer, nicknamed "Rahmbo."
In 2010, he successfully ran for mayor of Chicago but decided not to seek re-election in 2019 following controversy over his decision not to release footage of the shooting of a Black teen, Laquan McDonald.
The combative Democrat is known for his use of colorful and sometimes profane language.
In Japan, his longstanding West Wing ties are seen as an advantage by the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, which is eager to tighten bonds with Washington, a senior Japanese official told Reuters.
Within China, Emanuel has a reputation as an anti-China ambassador, said Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center, adding that Beijing believes his position as ambassador to Japan should not afford him a role on relations between the U.S. and China, which have been tense in recent years.
Emanuel has kept close ties with Biden, hosting him privately at the ambassador's residence in Tokyo, and is closely connected with members of Biden's inner circle, a rare direct line for an ambassador.
All of that suggests that the administration is unlikely to rein in its Japan ambassador.
"He's developed an extremely close relationship with the Japanese to advance the alliance and U.S. interests and is expressing his point of view," said an administration official.
© Thomson Reuters 2023.
41 Comments
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Reginald Bok
Another utter fraud
3RENSHO
Former mayor of Chicago...
Redemption
No tweeting.
Reginald Bok
He was a crap mayor. An embarrassment
fxgai
Aren’t tweets called posts now?
Kumagaijin
Rahm is the Anthony Weiner of diplomats.
Peter14
Some light hearted banter about Chinese officials going missing with no explanations, seemingly regularly of late. Nothing wrong with that. China knows these things will gain attention and people will talk about it. some in jest and others seriously. It would all have been avoided with normal communications about changes.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Not really. Anthony Weiner went out because too much him got exposed, shall we say. Rahm went out because he covered up for the government like he was arguable supposed to as a politician.
TaiwanIsNotChina
*arguably
CuteUsagi
fxgaiToday 05:15 pm JST
Aren’t tweets called posts now?
Actually not. They are called X now formerly known as Tweets.
Not being mean or offensive so hope this is an ok response.
deanzaZZR
Cringe. Asians; Japanese, Chinese, Korean show respect and follow protocol. And then there's this guy.
bass4funk
I couldn't agree more.
wallace
bass4funk
When and if your team has the presidency they can select the ambassadors.
Laguna
Still, prominent Chinese officials do have a tendency to disappear. If Russian (or wherever Russian arms can reach), they'd be found dead in bed with some sort of nasty chemical. In China, they simply vanish.
V Campbell
If China is upset, they should quite disappearing people.
u_s__reamer
Rahm's snark with an unkosher twist passes for diplomatic in Chicago, not in Asia.
MilesTeg
Aside from the sarcasm, which is nothing new in politics, he's on point.
Where are Foreign Minister Qin Gang, the Rocket Force commanders, and now Defense Minister Li Shangfu?
Typical partisan politics when the more pertinent question is what happened to all these high level Chinese politicians and military leaders.
bass4funk
What does that have to do with me agreeing with what Reginald said? I have to like the guy, or his abysmal record as former Chief of staff or former mayor of Chicago?? Sorry, no, I don’t and yes, I stand by my comment 100%.
Mark
It's all speculations, we have NO IDEA where these people are or even what goes on in China, anything other than that is just BS.
stickman1760
Anytime you can poke China in the eye, why not? I’m all for it regardless who does it.
Onlooker
Meaning it would lead to a war? Rahm may have given PRC an opportunity to rebuke US, as usual, for meddling its internal affair and to claim superiority of governance under the Chinese communist party alone. But so what? Since most Japanese are seriously concerned about PRC's behavior in many respects, Rahm did an excellent job as the ambassador to Japan to be critical of PRC and to share his sentiments with Japanese public.
3RENSHO
"I have to like the guy, or his abysmal record as former Chief of staff or former mayor of Chicago??"
Why do you have to 'like the guy'?
bass4funk
I don’t.
garypen
Well, that counts me out.
kibousha
Hey CCP, learn from your fellow thugs the Russians, people fall out of the window all the time, no one bat an eye.
Fighto!
Emmanuel seems very sceptical about Communist China - and all totalitarian regimes. He is not shy to speak out against them.
Fans of totalitarian, fascist regimes like Russia and China seem to hate Emmanuel.
Ignore these morons.
Peter Neil
I cringe every time I read an official Chinese statement.
Fighto!
Any politician or diplomat from a democratic nation who antagonizes and upsets Communist China is doing a great job.
Keep it up, Emmanuel. Supporters of democracy are on your side.
englisc aspyrgend
They may not reflect the official diplomatic line but they undoubtedly voice the questions in the minds of the reading public across the globe.
If the CCP don’t like people commenting on their actions, stop carrying out actions worthy of criticism. But the CCP Mafia don’t actually care what anybody thinks and their fake umbrage is precisely that, fake, pretend, manufactured and should be treated with the polite distain it deserves.
Bob Fosse
Anyone in a position to draw widespread attention to China’s abuses should be applauded.
Politicians, actors, athletes and musicians get a lot of flak for being outspoken but it’s better than the alternatives of saying nothing or cozying up to them for self profit.
M
This ambassador must be relieved of his function in Japan. He is supposed to be neutral and assist japans to limit confrontational diplomacy with Beijin. Clearly a mad man.
Ricky Kaminski13
Politics and affiliations aside. Like the guy already! Booyaka! One thing our foes cannot abide is comedy! Blood will boil!
Dark humor, like food, not everyone gets it!
Joseph Stalin
Harry_Gatto
It's rather sad that conversations such as this are taking place.
deanzaZZR
Because ambassadors are (or at least should be) part of the diplomatic corp whose job it is to maintain peace. Blinken needs to get in a room with this guy and tell him to stay in his lane.
TaiwanIsNotChina
By giving non-answers and refusing to meet with other countries? Yeah, no thanks.
Emanuel gave some hilarious tweaks to a thug regime. There is no starting a war about it for sane countries.
Jeremiah
Do not forget corruption. Another reason he was chased out of the state.
CS
spot on!
Desert Tortoise
They are both political appointees of the same President. It would be up to the US President to counsel Mr. Emanuel if he chooses to do so. It would probably not be a good thing for one Presidential appointee to try to pull rank over another. It would not lead to a productive result, using my best diplomatic language (:
Desert Tortoise
Risible nonsense. A US Ambassador represents the interests of the US to the host nation. Do you think the US Ambassador to China is there to assist the Chinese? Do you think the US Ambassador to Russia is there to assist the Russians? That is very much not the case. Ambassadors are often called upon by the government they represent to criticize the government of the nation they are posted to and perhaps the host nation's allies as well depending on the situation. An Ambassador represents the views of the nation they come from. Period. Full stop.
Noone1
No more X-ing without an appropriate X-ing approval by an X-ing reviewer.