China appoints propaganda minister, Tianjin chief

China promoted a conservative hardliner to the post of propaganda minister and appointed a senior female official as Communist Party boss for the northern municipality of Tianjin, Reuters reported, citing state-owned Xinhua News Agency. Liu Qibao, previously the party chief of Sichuan province, replaced Liu Yunshan as the new propaganda minister on Wednesday.  The reshuffle follows the promotion of Liu Yunshan to the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), the top government decision making body, during the National Party Congress held last week. Liu Qibao’s tough approach to recent Tibetan self-immolations suggests he will take a conservative approach to media control. Sun Chunlan, one of two women on the 25-member Politburo, will head up Tianjin, a city tapped by the government to develop as an international financial center. She previously ran Fujian province. Sun will fill Zhang Gaoli’s past role, as he was promoted to the PSC.