Missing China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang has been sacked. China‘s foreign minister, Qin Gang, was removed from office on Tuesday, according to state media, after not being seen in public for a month.
“China’s top legislature voted to appoint Wang Yi as foreign minister… as it convened a session on Tuesday,” state media outlet Xinhua said.
“Qin Gang was removed from the post of foreign minister.”
The report did not specify why Qin was fired but stated that President Xi Jinping signed a presidential order to carry out the decision.
Mr. Qin was regarded as a confidant of President Xi, and many commentators attributed his rapid climb through the diplomatic levels to their friendship.
For weeks, China has been tight-lipped about Mr Qin’s whereabouts. He hasn’t been seen in public since June 25, when he visited Russia’s deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko in Beijing.
As missing China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang has been sacked, his disappearance aroused widespread speculation that he had been under investigation.
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Qin Gang’s responsibilities had lately been taken by China’s top diplomat Wang, who heads the ruling Communist Party’s foreign policy and is higher in the government hierarchy than Mr Qin.
Qin Gang took over as foreign minister in December of last year, succeeding Wang.
Qin Gang is a Chinese diplomat and politician who served as minister of foreign affairs of China from December 2022 to July 2023 and as state councilor since March 2023.
As foreign minister, he was China’s second-highest diplomat after Wang Yi, director of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission Office.
