Chinese State Media Mentions — But Won’t Name — Missing Foreign Minister

A column on China’s diplomacy in Africa in the state-run newspaper Global Times on Sunday noted “China’s foreign minister” engaged in a tour of the continent in January – a notable observation given the column did not name Foreign Minister Qin Gang who has been missing for a month.

Qin made his last public appearance on June 25, meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart. The foreign minister has canceled multiple prestigious engagements with little to no explanation since then, most prominently missing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit last week. Chinese officials claimed there were “physical reasons” behind his absence at the ASEAN event, but did not elaborate on the claim and have yet to offer any clearer information on the situation.

Qin also failed to meet with American climate envoy John Kerry last week during his visit to Beijing, without explanation. In his absence, his predecessor – current top diplomat Wang Yi – has been assuming foreign minister duties. Wang is currently on a tour of Africa including stops in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry last addressed Qin’s disappearance a week ago; spokesperson Mao Ning answered, “I have no information to provide” when asked about Qin’s status during her regular briefing on July 17. The Foreign Ministry erased the question and answer from its transcript of the briefing.

In the absence of concrete information, rumors have flourished that Qin had a political falling out with genocidal dictator Xi Jinping, may be suffering from a severe Wuhan coronavirus infection, or is facing Communist Party “discipline” over his relationship with prominent journalist Fu Xiaotian, whose cryptic social media messages have fueled suspicions of an extramarital affair.

The Global Times‘s nameless reference to Qin is the most recent official Chinese government reference to Qin’s existence, offered in the context of Wang’s tour of Africa.

“On Saturday, Wang met Kenyan President William Ruto and Alfred Mutua, cabinet secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs of Kenya during his visit to Kenya,” the government publication detailed. “On Friday, Wang paid a visit to Ethiopia en route to the BRICS meeting which will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he met Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia Demeke Mekonnen Hassen.”

“In January, the Chinese foreign minister also visited five countries in Africa – Ethiopia, Gabon, Angola, Benin and Egypt – as well as the African Union Headquarters and the League of Arab States Headquarters,” the Global Times noted.

Qin Gang’s name does not appear in the article, yet the Global Times enthusiastically promoted his travels in January, accompanying an article on his stops in Africa with a large portrait of the foreign minister.

“Chinese observers are eagerly anticipating Qin’s visit, noting that he will continue the fine tradition between China and Africa and promote the long-lasting friendship,” the government outlet noted at the time.

Prior to Sunday’s reference to Qin, the Global Times only mentioned Qin in passing on July 19, in an article referencing European Union diplomat Josep Borrell canceling a meeting with Qin in the spring over a Wuhan coronavirus infection. Other references to Qin date back to his June 25 appearances, his last known diplomatic engagements.

Similarly, Qin has largely vanished from the pages of China’s three other major English-language government outlets: China Daily, the People’s Daily, and the Xinhua News Agency. Xinhua and the People’s Daily have, as of press time, not mentioned Qin since his June 25 meetings. China Daily quoted Qin attacking the United States in a July 18 report, the last reference to the foreign minister in its online pages.

The Foreign Ministry that Qin presumably leads has also not mentioned him in a week; no questions regarding his disappearance or any reference to Qin appear in the transcript of Monday’s regular press briefing.

While not explicitly referring to the vanished top diplomat, the Global Times hinted at potential “discipline” purges within the highest ranks of the Communist Party last week. A report on modifications to streamline “discipline inspection” nationally last week lamented that “discipline inspection and supervision system within the Party and state organs is relatively weak” and that Party leaders needed an “urgent” implementation of so-called “discipline.”

“It is urgent to stipulate clearly the relevant operation system, work responsibilities and mechanism of the discipline inspection commissions of the Central Party and State Institutions through institutional means,” the Global Times, citing a pro-government alleged “expert,” reported. Among the examples used of “urgent” discipline cases was “a sexting incident in a WeChat work group involving a local government department of Central China’s Hunan Province.”

The reference to sexual improprieties within the Communist Party followed growing speculation that Qin’s disappearance was tied to an alleged inappropriate relationship between the foreign minister and Fu Xiaotian, a new interviewer and host on China’s Phoenix TV. Fu and Qin know each other – she claimed on the Chinese regime-controlled social media site Weibo that the last interview she did for her program was with him in March 2022 – and Fu raised suspicions with the debut of her son, Er-Kin, whose father remains unknown. She posted a photo traveling with her son in April 2023 alongside an image from her interview with Qin.

Fu has also not appeared in public since Qin’s disappearance. She has not posted on Weibo or Twitter since April.

The Chinese government announced on Monday that its “National People’s Congress Standing Committee,” a year-round legislative body, would meet on Tuesday to “review appointments and dismissals of officials.” Tuesday will mark one month since Qin appeared in public.

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