A month away: Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang removed from office CDU does not want to cooperate with AfD – not even at the municipal level

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who has not appeared in public for a month, has been removed from office. As state broadcaster CCTV reported, the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress voted in favor at a meeting on Tuesday.

His predecessor Wang Yi will take over the position again. Initially, there was no justification for the move.

In recent weeks, there has been wild speculation about Qin Gang’s fate. The 57-year-old had his last public appointment on June 25 in Beijing. He hasn’t been seen since. China’s top diplomat Wang Yi, who is above Qin Gang in the hierarchy, had replaced the foreign minister on several occasions.

Initially, a foreign ministry spokesman said when asked that Qin Gang was unable to attend due to health reasons. However, there was also speculation about a possible extramarital affair. When asked about this, a State Department spokeswoman said she had “no information” about it.

Disappearances of senior officials, celebrities and businessmen are common in China. It often turns out afterwards that they were involved in investigations or other controversies.

One of the most famous cases of recent years is former Chinese Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, who disappeared in 2018 during a trip to China. Two years later, a Chinese court sentenced him to a long prison term for accepting bribes.

Qin Gang was only appointed foreign minister in March after a meteoric rise under state and party leader Xi Jinping. (sda/dpa)