just a month after vanish suddenly of the public scene, starring in the last mysterious disappearance in a government not used to giving explanations when these episodes happen, Qin Gang (57 years old), foreign minister of China, has been destitute.
after many speculations (from a political purge to health problems, going through bedroom problems), it was the state channel CCTV that released the abrupt announcement on Tuesday: the chancellery of the second world power will return to the hands of Wang Yi (69 years old), Qin’s predecessor, who currently heads the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, the figure that really pulls the strings of Beijing’s foreign policy, above the minister.
In the capital of the Asian giant, silence continues about the reasons who are behind Qin’s removal just eight months after he was appointed foreign minister by President Xi Jinping himself.
Nothing is known about his whereabouts either.. He was last seen in public when he met senior diplomats from Russia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka on June 25. After that date, did not appear again in the photo despite the diplomatic marathon that Chinese officials have had during the month of July.
The decision to remove Qin from his post was made this Tuesday in a special session by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (APN), a powerful body that enacts y edit laws, which met a day after the Politburo, the highest command body, did. China’s cabinet posts, like ministers, are nominated by the prime minister and then approved by the NPC, the equivalent of Parliament. But the APN, made up of about 3,000 deputiesit only meets once a year, usually in March, and it is the Standing Committee that is tasked with making decisions in the meantime.