Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang was removed from his post on Tuesday after not appearing in public for a month, according to Chinese media.
China’s top legislature votes to appoint Wang Yi as foreign minister […] meeting on Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. “Qin Gang was removed from his post as foreign minister.
The report did not state the reason for Qin Gang’s removal, but said Chinese President Xi Jinping had signed an executive order appointing his successor.
Qin was considered Xi’s confidant, and many analysts have linked his recent meteoric rise on the diplomatic ladder to their relationship.
For weeks, China has been silent about the whereabouts of Qin Gang, who has not been seen in public since meeting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko in Beijing on June 25.
Wang Yi, the Communist Party’s foreign policy chief, recently served as foreign minister. In the governmental hierarchy, he ranks above Qin.
For health?
Qin Gang, 57, took office in December, becoming one of China’s youngest foreign ministers. Prior to that, he was Ambassador to the United States.
Since June 25, he has not appeared in public, which has led to many versions of what happened to him on the Chinese segment of the Internet. Observers, among others, draw attention to the fact that this time many messages about the foreign minister who disappeared from the country for some reason were not always censored.
The British newspaper The Guardian notes that the diplomat disappeared exactly when Beijing is trying to improve its relations with the United States.
The Foreign Office later announced he was out of work for health reasons, but the lack of details caused a whirlwind of further speculation.
One of the most widespread rumors was that Qin Gang was investigated after finding out that he had some sort of romantic relationship on the side, that is, we are talking about adultery.
However, Chinese Foreign Ministry representative Mao Ning declined to answer the question on this, saying, “I don’t know.
Source: delfi
