What will become of it? Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has not been seen in public for nearly a month, sparking an avalanche of speculation and rumors about his whereabouts.
Here’s what we know so far:
Who is Qin Gang?
He is considered a confidante of President Xi Jinping and was appointed foreign minister at the end of December 2022.
The 57-year-old career diplomat, who speaks fluent English, notably spent several years at the Chinese Embassy in London and is a former spokesman for his ministry, of which he was notably chief of protocol.
Qin Gang has sometimes been labeled a “wolf fighter” by foreign media, a nickname given to some Chinese diplomats who vehemently oppose Western criticism of China.
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In 2020, he felt that China’s image in Western countries had deteriorated because Europeans and Americans, especially their media, had never accepted the Asian giant’s political system and economic growth.
As ambassador to the United States (2021–2022), Qin Gang had gained notoriety in that post, making numerous public appearances and statements to the press to explain his country’s position on international affairs.
After his appointment as minister in December 2022, he consistently had a very busy schedule of visits to Africa, Europe and Central Asia, and received many foreign officials in Beijing.
Qin Gang and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing on June 18. Photo LEAH MILLIS / POOL / AFP
What will become of it?
Qin Gang has not been seen in public since June 25, when he met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko in Beijing.
But it was only his absence from a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Indonesia two weeks later that raised the first questions.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry justified his absence with “health reasons”. But that wasn’t enough to stem an avalanche of rumors on Chinese social media.
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“There is one issue that everyone is closely watching but cannot be discussed publicly,” Hu Xijin, the influential former editor-in-chief of the state tabloid Global Times, modestly wrote on the social network Weibo, where he is widely followed.
“There has to be a balance between maintaining a good environment for current affairs and the public’s right to know what’s going on,” said Hu, usually known as a defender of the government line.
The State Department has so far evaded any questions about Qin Gang’s whereabouts.
Who will represent China instead?
His absence creates a vacuum at the top of the ministry.
A visit by the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, to Beijing was suddenly canceled in July.
And the Bloomberg news agency claimed on Friday that a visit by British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had been postponed due to Qin Gang’s absence.
It is Wang Yi, the real head of Chinese diplomacy due to his high rank within the Communist Party, who is performing part of the minister’s duties in his absence.
Wang Yi, accompanied by US climate chief John Kerry, in Beijing on July 18. Photo FLORENCE LO / POOL / AFP
Mr. Wang, who occupies a higher hierarchical position than Mr. Qin, is currently in South Africa to attend a BRICS group meeting.
For its part, the Chinese Foreign Ministry assures that China’s diplomatic activities are following their normal course.