Between 2015 and 2020, he was China’s envoy to Portugal and, between various stints in Beijing, spent several years as a minister counsellor at the country’s embassy in the United States.
He returns to Europe at a crunch time in the EU’s relationship with China, which has nosedived due to Beijing’s alleged support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China proclaims to be neutral in the war, but is broadly seen to have taken Moscow’s side, particularly in reportedly exporting dual-use products that have military applications.
Cai will also need to deal with an escalating series of trade disputes.
The European Commission imposed tariffs of up to 38.1 per cent on the import of Chinese-made electric vehicles last week, alleging pervasive state subsidies in its supply chain. EU member states are set to take a non-binding vote on the provisional duties on Monday.
Cai’s nomination will be approved by the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic service, multiple sources said.
The Chinese mission to the European Union did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Shandong native’s tenure in Israel included the outbreak of war in October, when the Hamas militant group launched an unprecedented assault that has since met with a devastating response from the Israeli Defence Forces.
Having previously maintained friendly ties with Israel, China has since positioned itself as a staunch supporter of Palestinians, leading to a deterioration in relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The Post has also learned that Russia – which retains diplomatic ties with Hamas, designated in the West as a terrorist organisation – has nominated Sergey Vershinin, its deputy minister of foreign affairs who has also overseen a Middle Eastern portfolio, as its new envoy to the EU.
In recent months, Cai found himself under pressure from the Israeli government over Beijing’s siding with the Palestinian side. In January, Israel’s foreign ministry summoned Cai after state-owned shipping giant Cosco stopped calling at the country’s ports.
Cai had previously been asked by Netanyahu to relay a message to Chinese President Xi Jinping, asking for help in securing the release of Noa Argamani, an Israeli-Chinese woman who had been kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas during the October 7 attack. Her mother, Liora, was suffering from brain cancer, from which she has since died. Argamani was rescued in June.
Cai’s predecessor as EU ambassador, Fu Cong, was seen as a gregarious figure in Brussels, who regularly granted interviews to international media.
He arrived late in 2022, with the war in Ukraine still in its first year, and his tenure was dominated by European efforts to persuade China to influence Russia to halt the invasion.
Fu successfully lobbied around the EU institutions and member state embassies for months against adding Chinese names to a blacklist of businesses accused of funnelling sanctioned EU-made goods to the Russian military.
But his efforts ran aground in February, when four entities – three mainland Chinese and one Hong Kong – were added to the register.
Since then, the floodgates have opened. A further 19 firms from either mainland China or Hong Kong were added to the 14th package of sanctions in June, as part of the EU’s attempts to hobble Russia’s military.
Cai will arrive in Brussels at a time of flux. While European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to win a second term in office next week after a vote in the European Parliament, other top roles will change.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is expected to become the bloc’s new diplomatic chief. Former Portugal president Antonio Costa – whose time in office coincided with Cai’s tenure in Lisbon – is the next president of the European Council.
The Post has also learned that two EU officials with China-related briefs have effectively swapped jobs.
Filip Grzegorzewski, the departing head of the EU’s Taiwan office, is set to become head of its strategic communications division, a body charged with debunking disinformation and exploring foreign manipulation – most often from Russia, but frequently from China too.
He is to take the place of Lutz Guellner, who is bound for Taipei to head up the EU’s representative office on the self-ruled island.