Chinese foreign minister removed from office a month after vanishing amid rumours of ‘affair’ with TV presenter
25 July 2023, 18:31 | Updated: 25 July 2023, 22:47
China has officially removed foreign minister Qin Gang from office a month after he vanished amid rumours he was having an affair with a well-known TV presenter.
Qin's removal was announced after the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC) called a special meeting with just a day’s notice on Tuesday.
No reason was given for Qin’s removal from office, but he has been replaced which his predecessor Wang Yi.
It comes almost a month after Qin, 57, suddenly vanished from the public eye with no explanation from authorities as to his whereabouts.
He was last seen during a video meeting with Sri Lanka’s foreign minister in Beijing on June 25.
The former foreign minister was a protege of Xi Jinping, and his disappearance was first put down to health reasons, which records of have since been removed from official news conference transcripts, but Qin still remains to be seen.
Reports suggest Qin may have been removed for an alleged affair between him and Chinese TV presenter Fu Xiaotian, 40, while others suggest it is because he was caught in a power struggle with his replacement, Wang Yi.
TV anchor Fu has also allegedly been absent from the public eye after a clip of the pair ‘flirting’ during an interview in Washington DC from March 2022 resurfaced.
After the interview went viral on social media, it led to speculation within press in Taiwan and Hong Kong that the two may have had an affair.
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Qin's replacement, Wang Yi, is a more senior party member than Qin, and is China’s most senior diplomat.
On Tuesday China removed all references to Qin’s work as foreign minister across government websites.
Giving no reason for Qin’s removal is the Communist Party’s standard approach to personnel matters – fuelled by the country's restrictions on free speech and press.
The former minister made a name for himself as he rose fast through the ranks in the Chinese Communist party, known as the “wolf warrior” or diplomats, which resulted in him being selected as foreign minister instead of more senior members last December.
Qin gained the title “wolf warrior”, named after a Chinese movie franchise, due to his critical comments towards the West and rejection of any allegations made against China.
His removal means he will have served the shortest time in office as foreign minister at just seven months.
However Qin is to remain on the State Council, China’s top administrative body.
Patricia Thornton, a professor of Chinese politics at the University of Oxford, said his place still on the council suggests there is an investigation underway “but sufficient concern to remove him as foreign minister”.
