![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png)
Qian Qichen, center, the Chinese foreign minister, with President Jiang Zemin of China and Fidel Castro at a ceremony in Beijing in 1995.
Robyn Beck/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images
Qian Qichen
Died on May 9, 2017 at age 89
Mr. Qian was an imperturbable Chinese diplomat who as foreign minister and vice premier steered his country on a pragmatic course through the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and bitter quarrels with the United States.
Notable Deaths 2017
Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lewis, David Rockefeller, Trisha Brown, Glen Campbell, Dick Gregory, Edith Windsor, Sam Shepard, Tom Petty and many others who died this year.