WORLD
China’s foreign minister removed from post
Qin Gang, a protégé of President Xi Jinping and an early adopter of the combative rhetoric known as “wolf warrior diplomacy,” had previously been China’s ambassador to the U.S.
Former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Berlin in May.Thomas Trutschel / Photothek via Getty Images file
By Larissa Gao
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/chin ... -rcna96135
July 25, 2023
HONG KONG — Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/chin ... -rcna94812 has been removed from his post, state media reported Tuesday, deepening a mystery that began a month ago when the prominent diplomat disappeared from public view.
According to Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, he has been replaced by Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat and Qin’s predecessor.
The decision was made at a special session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, China’s top legislative body. No reason was given for the removal, which comes as China is ramping up diplomatic efforts around the world including with the United States.
Ties between the world’s two biggest economies are at their lowest point in decades amid disputes over trade, human rights, Russia’s war in Ukraine https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russ ... -rcna95785 and the status of Taiwan, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/taiw ... -rcna78458 a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its territory.
Regarded as a fast-rising protégé of President Xi Jinping, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/chin ... -rcna95251 Qin, 57, was China’s ambassador to the United States from July 2021 until he was promoted to foreign minister in December. Qin was an early adopter of the combative rhetoric later known as China’s “wolf warrior diplomacy.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/china/chin ... ic-n843686
Qin’s seven-month stint in the role is the shortest of any foreign minister since the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949.
Qin was last seen in public June 25 in Beijing after meeting with officials from Sri Lanka, Russia and Vietnam. Questions about his whereabouts began to intensify this month when he did not attend the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering of foreign ministers in Indonesia.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry had said Qin would miss the event because of an unspecified health issue. Since then, it has avoided answering repeated questions about his status, saying only that China’s diplomacy is proceeding as normal.
China’s political system is notoriously opaque and the government rarely comments on personal matters involving senior officials, but Qin’s absence and the lack of explanation was highly unusual.
While there was no official comment on Qin, rumors and speculation about the reason for his absence were allowed to circulate freely on China’s heavily censored social media, suggesting that he was likely to be removed.
Before he went missing, Qin actively participated in diplomatic events. Following his meeting in Beijing with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/blinke ... -rcna95574 June 18, he was absent during visits by other top U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-t ... -rcna93020 and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-c ... -rcna94800
It was Wang, 69, who met with Blinken at the ASEAN event in Indonesia this month. He also met with veteran U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/chin ... -rcna95251 when he made a surprise visit to Beijing last week.
Other diplomatic engagements that may have been disrupted include a trip to China by European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell scheduled for this month before being abruptly canceled the week before.
the Eurasia Group, a consulting firm based in New York, said in a note ahead of Qin’s removal.Qin’s disappearance has curtailed China’s diplomatic activity over the last month but will have little impact on the country’s foreign policy or present meaningful reputational risks for Xi,
______
Larissa Gao is a fellow on NBC’s Asia Desk, based in Hong Kong.
Zhenzhen Liu contributed.