Shafaq News/ China has appointed its U.S. Ambassador Qin Gang as its new foreign minister.

Qin, 56, replaces Wang Yi, who has been China's top diplomat for the past decade.

He served as Beijing's Ambassador for less than two years.

Qin was one of the earliest Chinese diplomats to make sharp comments in defense of China's increasingly assertive foreign policy positions.

Those remarks earned him the reputation as a "wolf warrior," a nickname given to Chinese diplomats who respond vehemently to Western nations they perceive as hostile.

Relations between Washington and Beijing deteriorated under the Trump administration.

China has also faced fierce criticism from the West for its clampdown on the "pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong," the semi-autonomous city that returned to China from Britain in 1997.

Meanwhile, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan, the highest-ranking U.S. dignitary to visit the island in 25 years, sparked angry rhetoric from China's leaders.

China claims Taiwan as its territory. Its recent actions, including military drills in the East and South China Sea, have been viewed as a rehearsal of a possible blockade or invasion.