China’s foreign minister has been dramatically “removed” from his prestigious post after mysteriously vanishing from public view a month ago.
Speculation was rife as Qin Gang, who was barely six months into the job, was abruptly replaced by his predecessor without explanation.
Veteran diplomat Wang Yi was named as the new foreign minister.
“China’s top legislature voted to appoint Wang Yi as foreign minister,” state news agency Xinhua said.
“Qin Gang was removed from the post of foreign minister.”
Mystery surrounds the fate of Mr Qin, 57, who was a former aide to President Xi Jinping and envoy to the US.
Mr Qin took over the ministry in December but has not been seen in public since June 25 when he met visiting diplomats in Beijing.
The ministry had said he was off work for health reasons. However, that explanation was removed from the official transcript of the briefing.
There was also speculation about a possible extramarital affair with a journalist.
Asked about this, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said she had “no information” on the matter.
Mr Qin’s ousting has sparked speculation and drawn attention to the secrecy often surrounding China’s Communist leadership and decision-making.
Questions about Mr Qin’s whereabouts were removed from minutes of daily press conferences published online, prompting criticism within China as well as international consternation.
Mr Qin’s successor Mr Wang, 69, previously held the post from 2013-2022 as ties frayed with rival superpower the US to a point officials in Beijing described as an all-time low.
He has filled in for Mr Qin during his absence and this week represented China at a national security advisers’ meeting of BRICS countries in South Africa.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong met Qin Gang on the sidelines of the G20 summit in March. Photo: AAP
State media did not report why Mr Qin had been removed from office and China’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
“The lack of an explanation opens more questions than provides answers,” said Ja Ian Chong, associate professor of political science at National University of Singapore.
“Developments surrounding Qin suggests that no one is indispensable.
“It also underscores the opacity and unpredictability, even arbitrariness in the current political system.”
Mr Qin was one of China’s youngest foreign ministers, enjoying a meteoric ascent that analysts partly attributed to his closeness to Xi.
He was twice foreign ministry spokesman – between 2006-2014 – and chief protocol officer from 2014-2018, overseeing many of Mr Xi’s contacts with foreign leaders.
He headed to Washington DC to take up the post of ambassador in July 2021 after a period of unusual public vitriol between US and Chinese officials.
Mr Wang, who was foreign minister before Mr Qin, was promoted to the politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, one of China’s top leadership bodies.
He takes the foreign ministry post as China and the US remain at odds over issues from Ukraine, Russia and Taiwan to trade and technology disputes.
“I think the main point here is China wants to avoid the embarrassment of continuously having Wang Yi appearing at these foreign minister level meetings without having the appropriate titles,” Australian National University political scientist Wen-Ti Sung said.
China’s senior leadership is taking a “black box approach,” said Wu Qiang, a former politics professor at Tsinghua University.
“Everybody is concerned about something but cannot say it in public,” Hu Xijin, a commentator and former Global Times editor known to take a more nationalist line, wrote in the Weibo social network after Mr Qin stopped being seen in public.
