- Less than seven months after he was appointed, China has fired Qin Gang as its foreign minister.
- Wang Yi, the current head of the Communist Party’s foreign affairs department and former foreign minister, will fill the position.
- The 57-year-old’s last known public engagements were on 25 June. No reason was given for his removal. Mr. Qin was chosen for the position last December and was regarded as Xi Jinping’s trusted aide in China.
- Wang Yi has been chosen to serve as China’s foreign minister, according to state news agency Xinhua.
- “Qin Gang was terminated as foreign minister.” According to the report, President Xi signed the decree approving the action.
- In the Chinese Communist Party system, the foreign minister is given instructions on how to carry out foreign policy by a high-ranking official. The very brief official justification provided for Mr. Qin’s disappearance from his regular duties a month ago and subsequent failure to show up for a meeting in Indonesia was vague health issues.
- Yet because his ministry provided no information, rumors spread that he was being punished for his extramarital affair or for political reasons. This led to suspicion.
- It is fair to say that Mr. Qin’s ascent to the office of foreign minister was meteoric. One of the youngest people ever appointed to the position in China.
- He was appointed foreign minister in December of last year, less than two years after taking on the position of ambassador to the US.
- Prior to that, he served as the foreign ministry’s spokesperson and assisted in planning Mr. Xi’s international tours, giving him the chance to work directly with China’s president.