Qin Gang had not been seen in public for a month when China removed him as foreign minister. State media reported on Tuesday, July 25, that the standing committee of the National People’s Congress approved his dismissal at a special session. No reason was given.
He had held the job for seven months. Wang Yi, the country’s top foreign policy adviser, takes his place, Xinhua said. Wang was Xi Jinping’s foreign minister from 2013 to 2022.
Qin was last seen in Beijing on June 25. Questions about him grew earlier this month when Wang, not Qin, represented China at an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Jakarta. Beijing’s Foreign Ministry had said ahead of the meeting that Qin could not attend because of health concerns, and it has dodged every question about him since.
The South China Morning Post reported that his absence was the only topic among China’s political classes, and called it one of the worst crises for Xi since he gave himself an unprecedented third term as president last year.
A short, fast climb
Qin was seen as a rising star in Xi’s inner circle. He spent 17 months as China’s ambassador to the United States before being promoted to foreign minister in December. In March he became a state councilor as well.
In Washington he built a good working relationship with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and the two worked through strains over Taiwan and limits on Chinese microchip imports. Before he was recalled to Beijing, Qin phoned Blinken to say goodbye. “I appreciate several candid, in-depth and constructive meetings with him during my tenure,” he wrote in a new year’s day Twitter post. Blinken confirmed a friendly call about “maintaining open lines of communication.”
Wang met former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and climate envoy John Kerry last week. He is now at a BRICS summit hosted by South Africa.
