Chinese minister replaced amid claim of affair with TV host

Foreign minister Qin Gang’s hasty replacement follows weeks of speculation about his disappearance from public view.

Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang, left, and President Xi Jinping.

China’s foreign minister has been abruptly replaced following weeks of speculation about his disappearance from public view and speculation that he has been sacked for an affair with a newsreader.

A hastily summoned gathering of the National People’s Congress standing committee announced on Tuesday that Qin Gang had been removed from his post. He has been replaced by his predecessor, Wang Yi, after a month in which he made no public appearances.

Qin, 57, is a career diplomat who was formerly the ambassador to Washington. His abrupt dismissal marks the end of an unusually short tenure for an aggressive Chinese diplomat who was appointed to the role of foreign minister last December and was regarded as one of President Xi’s most trusted aides.

He was last seen in public on June 25, when he met his Sri Lankan counterpart. The Chinese government has refused to offer detailed explanations about his disappearance, simply attributing it to “health reasons”.

Since his absence, Wang, China’s top diplomat, has stepped in and attended several significant talks with foreign officials.

China's foreign minister Qin Gang was removed from office after not being seen in the public eye for a month. Picture: AFP

Qin’s mysterious disappearance has triggered a wave of speculation online. Media in Taiwan and Hong Kong claimed that his disappearance was associated with a rumour of his “extramarital affair” with the prominent Hong Kong television presenter and interviewer Fu Xiaotian. Around the same time as Qin vanished from public view, the Cambridge-educated Fu and her son also disappeared.

Some online comments pointed to Fu’s interview with Qin, which was broadcast by Phoenix Television in March last year when he was the ambassador to the US, as evidence of their “unusual relationship”.

In the interview, Qin gave his views about American history, but Chinese netizens argued that the two were “flirting” throughout the entire clip. The interview was Fu’s last television appearance.

These rumours have raised more questions about the reason behind Qin’s disappearance, and the Chinese foreign ministry has struggled to offer a reasonable explanation.

Experts say Qin’s disappearance reflects the opaque nature of the inner politics of the Chinese Communist Party.

Alfred Wu, an expert on Chinese politics at the National University of Singapore, told The Times that if Qin had truly been removed from his role because of serious health reasons, as the government has insisted, then it was unlikely he would return to the foreign policy system.

“It seems that China still has some problems within their system, but the priority is to remove Qin, as they need someone to help steer China’s foreign policy as it faces multiple international challenges,” he said.

Wang, who is in charge of foreign policy for the Communist Party, has further consolidated his power. He will now also be at the helm of China’s foreign policy system on the government side.

Wu said the unexpected removal of Qin would deepen foreign countries’ scepticism about China, because the general lack of transparency in Beijing’s decision-making process would reduce foreign governments’ confidence in engaging with China.

“The incident will reinforce foreign countries’ negative perception of China,” Wu said.

The abrupt personnel reshuffling reflects Xi’s tendency to make appointments based on personal preference, rather than following the traditional practice of stringently reviewing each candidate’s background and qualifications.

As well as serving in Washington, Qin was Xi’s head of protocol. He joined the central committee of the Chinese Communist Party and was promoted in December to foreign minister.

The Times