HONG KONG — Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang 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According to Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, he has been replaced by Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat and Qin’s predecessor.
No reason was given for the removal.
Regarded as a fast-rising protégé to President Xi Jinping, 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.”
Qin was last seen in public on June 25 in Beijing after meeting officials from Sri Lanka, Russia and Vietnam. He did not attend the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering of foreign ministers in Indonesia this month due to what the Chinese Foreign Ministry said was an unspecified health issue.
Before the Chinese envoy went missing, Qin actively participated in diplomatic events. Following his meeting in Beijing with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on June 18, he was absent during visits by other top U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry.
It was Wang who met with Blinken at the ASEAN event in Indonesia this month.
Zhenzhen Liu contributed.
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