Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang removed from post

By Paul Jouvenet, legal expert and essayist. Eurasia Business News, July 25, 2023

Photo: Qin Gang, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China from January to July 2023, replaced by Wang Yi, State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to December 2022.

Wang Yi, head of the office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has been appointed China’s foreign minister, previously held by Qin Gang. This new appointment has been reported to the Chinese parliament, the Chinese newspaper Global Times has announced.

This appointment follows Qin Gang’s long absence. There has been no public statement by the foreign minister since June 27, when he participated in the VIII International Conference “Russia and China: Cooperation in a New Era,” organized by the Russian Council on International Affairs (RIAC) and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). At all official meetings held over the past month, China was represented by the influential and experienced Wang Yi. In particular, on July 19, he received former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Beijing, before his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On July 22, Bloomberg, citing sources, reported that British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had postponed his visit to Beijing due to the fact that his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang had not appeared in the public space for several weeks. According to one of the interlocutors, the “disappearance” of the Chinese foreign minister was “one of many” factors.

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Officially, China’s Foreign Ministry has not commented on Qin Gang’s disappearance. According to the official representative of the ministry, Mao Ning, she has no information she could provide on the whereabouts and state of health of the minister. In early July, China’s Foreign Ministry explained that Qin Gang would not go to the ASEAN foreign ministers’ summit in Indonesia due to health concerns.

Wang Yi once headed the Chinese Foreign Ministry, serving in that position from 2013 to October 2022, when he was appointed to the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, and at the end of the year he ceased to serve as foreign minister of the People’s Republic of China. His place was then taken by Qin Gang, who had served as the republic’s ambassador to the United States.

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Qin Gang previously served as the Chinese Ambassador to the United States from 2021 to 2023, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China from 2018 to 2021, Director of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2015 to 2018, and Director of Information at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2015. He was born in Tianjin, Hebei province in March 1966.

The Chinese government has not provided an official reason for Qin Gang’s removal from his post as foreign minister. However, there has been speculation that his removal may be related to personal affairs or political rivalries.

Qin Gang’s stance on China’s foreign policy can be inferred from his public statements and actions as the Foreign Minister of China. In a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June 2023, Qin emphasized that China’s policy towards the U.S. remains consistent and stable, and is fundamentally guided by the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. He also advocated for maintaining high-level interactions between the two countries and continuing consultations on the guiding principles of China-U.S. relations.

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© Copyright 2023 – Paul Jouvenet, jurist and essayist.