China replaces foreign minister after mysterious absence
Bloomberg News
China removed Qin Gang as foreign minister just seven months into the job, marking the shortest-ever tenure for the role after the diplomat mysteriously disappeared from public view in June.
The former envoy will be replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi, state media reported, without giving an explanation for the abrupt personnel change. The nation’s top legislative body made the announcement at a snap meeting Tuesday, state media reported.
While Qin’s removal ends speculation over his official status after he dropped from public view for a month, it does little to answer more fundamental questions about the reason for his absence or fate.
China’s foreign ministry has declined to comment about Qin in recent weeks, after initially saying the former Chinese ambassador to the U.S. was suffering from a “physical condition,” something it has never repeated. State media has avoided Qin’s name and references to him have been wiped from foreign ministry briefing readouts since his last public appearance on June 25.
“We have these occasional moments that remind us just how little we know about Chinese politics,” said Joseph Torigian, an assistant professor at the American University. “I didn’t see a single rumor that Wang Yi would take over.”
The meeting readout implied Qin had retained his state councilor title, saying officials had removed the former envoy from “the foreign ministry position he concurrently carries.”
The meeting also appointed Pan Gongsheng, 60, as governor of the People’s Bank of China, a widely anticipated move after he was named the central bank’s Communist Party chief earlier in July.
The surprise decision to bring back Wang, rather than elevate a vice minister, could suggest his role is an interim decision. “This could be a temporary arrangement while he recovers from a serious illness. We don’t know,” said Neil Thomas, a fellow in Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.
Either way, it is unlikely to impact diplomacy of the world’s second largest economy: Wang, as head the Communist Party’s foreign affairs panel, often meets with foreign dignitaries who Qin previously also received in Beijing. Wang had been standing in for Qin at international events in recent weeks.
“China wants to avoid embarrassment of continuously having Wang Yi appearing in foreign minister level meetings without having an appropriate title,” said Wen-ti Sung, non-resident fellow at Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.
President Xi Jinping broke retirement norms at a leadership congress last year to grant Wang, 69, a seat on the Communist Party’s 24-member Politburo decision making body. As part of that sweeping push to install loyalists, Xi shortly after elevated the 57-year-old over more seasoned ministry peers, marking Qin as one of the Chinese leader’s handpicked ministers.
Jeremy Chan, of the Eurasia Group, said the installation of Wang was likely not the final appointment. “This means Xi wants a steady pair of hands back in charge,” he added, “but he will likely name a younger successor over the medium term.”