Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang ousted after long absence

The Chinese government on Tuesday fired Qin Gang, the foreign minister, without explanation, after he mysteriously disappeared from public view last month, state media reported.

Officials and analysts said the unusual dismissal demonstrated the unchecked power of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the ephemeral nature of promotions to senior officials in Beijing’s communist system.

Qin, the former ambassador to Washington, was removed for unknown reasons after an unusual meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s Communist Party-controlled legislature, just seven months after taking office, the official Xinhua news agency said.

He was replaced by Wang Yi, director of the Communist Party’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, who succeeded Mr Qin during his mysterious absence and was named foreign minister. Mr. Wang held this position from 2013 to December. Xinhua said the NPC’s decision to oust Mr Qin was based on a presidential decree signed by Xi Jinping.

Mr Qin’s removal is a stunning reversal for the Chinese official, who until recently had risen rapidly through the top ranks in Beijing and was reportedly close to Mr Xi in private.

On Capitol Hill, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said the foreign minister’s ouster was a sign of the unfettered power of Xi Jinping, who is serving an unprecedented third five-year term as president and leader of the ruling Communist Party.

Qin Gang’s disappearance and eventual replacement demonstrate the full extent of President Xi’s power, and the ruthlessness of the CCP. [Chinese] The Texas Republican told The Washington Times that anyone can go to the bureaucracy at any time for any reason.

McCall also said it was disturbing that the Biden administration advertised its good relationship with Mr Qin, who met with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken for six hours last month in what was widely seen as a mending trip

I warn the Biden administration not to get too hopeful about engagement [Chinese Communist Party] McCall said it showed they could make changes the next day. Mr Blinken’s trip to Beijing was followed by visits by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and White House senior climate adviser John Kerry.

surprised

A senior official in the Biden administration said Mr. Qin’s disappearance was a surprise because he was seen as close to Mr. Xi. Mr Qin, 57, is still young for a senior party official who earned a reputation as China’s “wolf warrior” diplomat during his two stints as foreign ministry spokesman, unafraid to defend Beijing’s nationalist policies and reject Western criticism of China.

Qin’s June 18 meeting with Blinken was supposed to be the first step in the administration’s diplomatic charm offensive to improve U.S.-China communications. A week after the meeting, Qin disappeared from public view and missed several diplomatic engagements, fueling speculation that he was purged because of a political error that clashed with senior leaders.

The senior official said the Foreign Office strongly disliked him. His status has soared because of his personal relationship with Xi Jinping.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy had no immediate comment.

The Chinese foreign ministry website said it was updating a page dedicated to the foreign minister. The statement announcing the personnel changes still referred to Qin as a cabinet-level state councilor, even though he lost his top diplomatic post.

Mr Wen Gui, a former State Council official, said Qin Souster highlighted the intricacies of power struggles within the ruling Communist Party.

Mr Yu, now director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, said no one is immune to the erratic whims of the top leaders and the paranoid spirit of deadly plots at the heart of the regime.

Mr Qin was removed along with another official, Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China, the official news agency said. It was not immediately clear whether the two firings were related.

A draft amendment to the Criminal Code was also considered during the meeting. The news agency said the amendment aims to better implement the CCP’s principles and policies of anti-corruption and protection of private enterprises in accordance with the law. The amendment deals with offenses related to bribery and corruption by businessmen.

The senior U.S. government official said Qin’s wife used to make mooncakes, a seasonal Chinese dessert, which the couple presented to Xi. The move is seen as the starting point of Qin’s meteoric rise.

Qin, 57, was subsequently promoted from Xi Jinping’s press assistant and personal assistant to China’s ambassador to the United States and succeeded Wang Yi as foreign minister in December.

Between 2014 and 2018, Qin adopted new red uniforms for the presidential guard and added trumpets at ceremonies involving the president, helping to boost Mr. Xi’s image.

[Qin] The senior official said he helped build and solidify Xi’s personal brand and leadership, and worked with others to design all the accoutrements of power.

Paranoid

David Stilwell, a former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs during the Trump administration, said the “Qinnoster” incident showed that Beijing’s paranoia had reached the highest level since the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s.

Stilwell said Qin was touted as a close associate of Xi Jinping when he first arrived in Washington, but even close friends seemed immune to suspicion.

Lin Biao, a close aide to Mao Zedong, and Wang Lijun, a senior CCP official in Chongqing, were both officials from power who fell out of favor and were purged, Stilwell said.

All of Xi’s efforts to present the socialist model with Chinese characteristics as a better form of governance are failing, he said.

China’s foreign ministry first explained the minister’s absence from public view as being infected with the COVID-19 virus. But that theory was later dismissed as the normal recovery period wore on.

It was later reported that the reason for his absence was the discovery of an affair with Fu Xiaotian, a female reporter for the state-controlled Phoenix TV. Ms Fu’s social media posts with Mr Qin’s photo were deleted by Chinese censors.

Ms. Fu hosts the Phoenix Satellite TV program “Dialogue with World Leaders”. A YouTube post showed her interviewing Mr. Qin, who is China’s ambassador, in Washington.

SpyTalk, an online newsletter, said Mr Chin may have had an illegitimate child with the reporter.

Mr. Qin, unlike most diplomats, did not graduate from the Diplomatic Academy, said John J. Tkacik, a former State Department official. Instead, his studies were conducted at the University of International Relations, which has ties to Chinese intelligence.

Qin, an outspoken critic of the United States, has sharply condemned the shooting down of a suspected surveillance balloon earlier this year by the United States, saying the military’s response was an overreaction to the wrong weather balloon.

White House national security adviser Jack Sullivan said last week that the US government had no information on Mr Qin’s whereabouts.

Dennis Wilder, a former CIA analyst and China expert, said the appointment of Wang Yi as foreign minister was the safest option for China’s communist system.