Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid speculations about the reasons behind the mysterious disappearance and then sacking of a neophyte Qin Gang, old war horse Wang Yi has returned as China’s Foreign Minister, the media reported on Wednesday.
Qin Gang, 57, earned the dubious distinction of serving as China’s Foreign Minister only for 207 days. His dismissal made him the shortest-serving FM in the history of the People’s Republic of China. His track record as an FM also remained lackluster as China’s relations with Europe, except France, took a nosedive, and deteriorated further with the US in the past few months.
Intriguingly, Gang, then the Chinese Ambassador to the US, replaced Yi, 67, only seven months ago. He was viewed as a blue-eyed boy of President-for-Life Xi Jinping, and a future leader of China. His sudden downfall has, therefore, triggered a lot of curiosity across not just China but also overseas.
Did he become a threat to the Xi regime? Or, a “Chinese American?”
Gang’s meteoric rise as a diplomat earned him enemies as well. His alleged extra-marital relationship with Phoenix Television journalist Fu Xiaotian might have been the immediate reason for his unceremonious sacking, the media reported.
He was removed by an order of President Xi Jinping after a special meeting of the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress held on Tuesday. His profile on the foreign ministry website was deleted forthwith, and the news about his dismissal was censored on the Chinese social media platform Weibo – suggesting that he was politically purged for reasons still unclear.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry merely cited “health reasons” for his long absence since June-end.
Qin Gang was not only a member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) but also a State Councillor since March 2023—which can explain the secrecy shrouding his dismissal from office. Was a involved in a possible “coup?”
Qin was last seen in public on June 25 when he held talks with his counterparts from Russia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. But, then, he did not meet visiting dignitaries, including US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. His “non-availability” was among the reasons for the cancellation of the visit of Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, this month.
On July 11, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced that Qin would not attend the ASEAN FMs’ meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 13 and 14 because of “health reasons.” Instead, he was represented by his predecessor Wang Yi, who was then serving as the Director of the Office of the CCP’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission—the top diplomatic post in China at such meetings.
But Qin’s title as the State Councillor, for now, remains intact, meaning either the possible investigation against him was concluded with dismissal being the disciplinary action, or the inquiry is still underway.
In 2015, Qin took over the role of Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director of the Protocol Department from Zhang Kunsheng, who was dismissed and later sacked for corruption, but no formal charges were ever brought against him. At the time, Zhang was the senior-most official to be dismissed under Xi’s anti-corruption campaign.
The censoring of all news and details about Qin suggested that China did not want its citizens to discuss Qin’s dismissal, possibly because the matter is far more complex than just a health issue.
Wang Yi’s reappointment signals a sense of continuity as the process of selecting the next foreign minister will start during the National People’s Congress (NPC) session in October.