Not seen for three weeks
Where is China’s foreign minister?
7/18/2023 4:06 am
At the end of June, China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang made his last appearance – since then only refusals, excuses, apologies. Health reasons are mentioned. But all in all it remains unclear what is going on with the top diplomat.
An unusually long absence from public appearances has sparked speculation about Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. The 57-year-old, who only took office in March, last appeared in public at meetings on June 25, when he received Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko in Beijing. The Beijing Foreign Ministry released a photo of the meeting. Since then, Qin Gang has not been seen.
Just a few days before the minister’s meeting with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Beijing scheduled for July 10, China canceled the meeting. A reason was not given. Qin Gang also did not attend a summit meeting of the foreign ministers of the Southeast Asian community of states ASEAN last week. Instead, China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, who is above Qin Gang in the hierarchy of power, traveled.
When asked why Qin Gang is not attending the ASEAN meeting, a spokesman for Beijing’s foreign ministry said last Thursday that it was not possible due to health reasons. When asked about the long absence again on Monday, a spokeswoman for the ministry only said that she had “no information” on the subject.
Qin Gang was ambassador to Washington prior to his appointment as foreign minister. Previously, he was Vice Foreign Minister and from 2014 to 2017 Chief of Protocol to State and Party leader Xi Jinping. He is considered a nationalist hardliner, even if he was less confrontational as ambassador to the United States than he was in Beijing.