Le was the most senior of four vice-ministers at the NRTA but had no media experience. He also lost his seat as an alternate member of the ruling Communist Party’s Central Committee during a reshuffle in October.
Helena Legarda, a lead analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin, said it was impossible to know what the rationale was behind Le’s departure from the foreign ministry.
But she said it had left the ministry without any senior officials with Russian expertise.
“Having a Russia expert like Le – who understands the language, is familiar with the country, may have personal connections – definitely helps China to conduct diplomatic exchanges with Russia,” Legarda said.
Foreign policy decisions in China, including on strategic relations with Russia, are made by top leaders including Xi Jinping, but ministers have the power to shape the tone, narrative and messaging in diplomatic conduct, she said.
During his time in the diplomatic corps Le worked at the Chinese embassy in Moscow, both before and after the Soviet Union collapsed. He has also served as the ambassador to Kazakhstan and to India.
Le became one of Beijing’s main voices on Russia and was a vocal critic of Western sanctions against the country after it invaded Ukraine. He also spoke publicly about issues of key concern to Beijing, including the United States, Nato and the South China Sea, often taking a stern tone.
He regularly had exchanges with Russian officials, including former ambassador to China Andrey Denisov, who has been sanctioned by the West over the war in Ukraine.
Dozens of cooperation agreements between China and Russia – on areas ranging from trade to international relations and culture – were also signed during Le’s time as foreign vice-minister.
It was also Le who first described the relationship between China and Russia as a “friendship without limits” when he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in 2019. Xi said the friendship had “no limits” when he met President Vladimir Putin in Beijing during the Winter Games last year.
“I think [this suggests] Le Yucheng represented Beijing’s relationship with Russia quite well,” Legarda said.
But she said the main factor bringing China and Russia closer was Beijing’s worsening relations with Washington and that the neighbouring countries had a shared desire to reform the current global order and saw the US as an adversary.
There had been speculation that Le may have been removed from the foreign ministry because Beijing was apparently caught by surprise when Russia attacked Ukraine. It is not known if Beijing knew about the invasion before it happened.
Legarda said it was unlikely this was the reason Le was moved, and that the most important personal relationship for China-Russia ties was that between Xi and Putin.
“More than reacting, Beijing didn’t react at first,” said Legarda, noting that Beijing was silent for the first two days of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
“It seemed like the Chinese leadership either didn’t know the invasion was going to happen or didn’t expect an invasion of this scope and scale.”
