Qin's absence had sparked a storm of speculation that the 57-year-old, considered a confidant of President Xi Jinping, had fallen from grace or was subject to an official investigation.
China's foreign ministry had previously said "health reasons" were to blame but more recently had refused to give any updates despite repeated questioning.
State media outlet Xinhua said Tuesday evening that China's top legislature had voted to remove Qin from office and replace him with his boss Wang Yi.
Xinhua did not give a reason for Qin's removal but said Xi had signed a presidential order to enact the decision.
Asked repeatedly about Qin earlier Tuesday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told journalists she had "no information" to offer and insisted that "China's diplomatic activities are steadily moving forward".
- Rumour mill in overdrive -
China has remained tight-lipped for weeks about the fate of Qin, who has not been seen in public since June 25 when he met Russia's deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko in Beijing.
His absence from a high-level ASEAN summit in Indonesia two weeks later first raised eyebrows, with Qin's health given then as the reason.
That did little to stem an explosion of rumours online, some of which claimed Qin was under official investigation for an alleged affair with a prominent television anchor.
"The CCP system is so opaque that it nurtured the rumours," Moritz Rudolf from Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center told AFP.
The US State Department said Tuesday that "it is up to China" to decide who serves as its foreign minister, and noted America's top diplomat, Antony Blinken, met with Wang at the ASEAN summit and before that in Beijing.
"We will continue to engage with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other Chinese officials and continue to believe that keeping lines of communication are incredibly important," deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement.
"And it's an important avenue to manage this relationship responsibly, which is something that the international community expects of us," he added.
On Tuesday, some analysts urged caution about jumping to conclusions over Qin's removal.
"He keeps his more senior position as a state councillor," tweeted Neil Thomas from the Asia Society Policy Institute, a US think tank.
"So not 100 percent sure this is a purge."
Manoj Kewalramani, a China expert at the Takshashila Institution in Bengaluru, India, told AFP that Qin keeping the State Council role "could be a product of his proximity to Xi Jinping".
"It could be also a sign that this was not a product of displeasure with his work or any disciplinary violation but rather a health issue which prevents him from carrying out the intense (foreign minister) role," he said.
China's lack of explanation was described as "ominous" by Victor Shih, an expert on Chinese politics at UC San Diego, who added that choosing Wang as a replacement was "extraordinary in that there are many other viable candidates".
- 'Temporary arrangement'? -
Many of Qin's duties over the past month had been taken on by Wang, China's top diplomat who leads the ruling Communist Party's foreign policy and outranks Qin in the government hierarchy.
Qin had only taken over from Wang as foreign minister in December.
"Wang Yi is a veteran of China's diplomacy, and he is greatly trusted by the whole country," tweeted Hu Xijin, a prominent commentator with the Global Times state tabloid.
Both Qin's removal and Wang's appointment were trending on social media platform Weibo late Tuesday.
Qin's absence had left a vacuum at the top of China's foreign ministry.
A visit to Beijing by European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was abruptly called off this month.
And Bloomberg reported Friday that a visit by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was also postponed due to Qin's status.
"The whole situation makes the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Beijing's diplomatic efforts look weaker than Beijing would like it to," said Yale's Rudolf.
Originally from the northeastern city of Tianjin, Qin frequently rubbed shoulders with Xi in an earlier role as chief of the foreign ministry's protocol department.
His promotion over more experienced candidates, first to US ambassador and then China's number two diplomat, was attributed to the trust placed in him by Xi directly.
"The quick rise of Qin Gang might have created some resentment among other senior people" within the ministry, said Rudolf.
A fluent English speaker, Qin was a visible presence in Washington through public and media appearances in which he defended China's geopolitical position.
He also previously served as a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, where he gained a reputation for caustic responses to difficult questions from journalists.
China removes foreign minister Qin Gang: what we know so far
Beijing (AFP) July 26, 2023 -
Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang was abruptly removed from office this week, deepening a mystery over what precisely has happened to a one-time confidant of President Xi Jinping and one of Beijing's most well-known officials.
Here's what we know so far about the dramatic removal of one of China's most prominent diplomats.
- Who is Qin Gang? -
Qin, considered close to President Xi, was appointed foreign minister in December 2022.
The 57-year-old spent several years at the Chinese embassy in London and is a fluent English speaker.
Qin earned a reputation as a "Wolf Warrior", a nickname given to a new generation of Chinese diplomats who push back with often inflammatory rhetoric against Western criticism of Beijing.
He said in 2020 that the image of China in the West had deteriorated because Europeans and Americans -- in particular the media -- had never accepted the Chinese political system or its economic rise.
While serving as ambassador to the United States, Qin stepped up his visibility through public and media appearances in Washington in which he explained the Chinese position.
He kept up a busy schedule after his appointment as minister, visiting Africa, Europe and Central Asia as well as hosting foreign dignitaries in Beijing.
- What happened to him? -
On Tuesday, after not being seen in public for a month, China's top lawmaking body met and removed Qin from his position.
"Qin Gang was removed from the post of foreign minister," state news agency Xinhua reported, adding that President Xi "signed a presidential order to effectuate the decision."
No reason has been given for his removal.
But on Wednesday, the website of the Chinese foreign ministry was abruptly scrubbed of any mention of Qin.
The rumour mill has gone into overdrive since Qin's disappearance, with some online claiming the diplomat's alleged affair with a prominent television anchor had landed him in hot water.
And while China's foreign ministry said "health reasons" were to blame for Qin's absence, a spokeswoman later deflected further questions about the missing diplomat.
"On the basis of all available evidence, it seems very unlikely this matter is only -- or at all -- health-related," China law expert Neysun Mahboubi told AFP.
After weeks of "ceaseless speculation", he added, "it beggars the imagination that a primarily health-related cause would not have been clarified a lot more forcefully than we have seen."
- What do we know about his whereabouts? -
Qin has not been seen in public since June 25, when he met Russian deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko in Beijing.
But it was his absence from a high-level ASEAN summit in Indonesia two weeks later that first raised eyebrows.
Qin's absence left a vacuum at the top of China's foreign ministry.
A visit by the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to Beijing was abruptly called off this month.
And Bloomberg reported on Friday that a visit by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was postponed due to Qin's absence.
- Who is representing China in his stead? -
Top diplomatic official Wang Yi -- who outranked Qin in China's political hierarchy -- has taken up the job of foreign minister, a job he held before Qin's appointment.
Beijing insisted Monday that "China's diplomatic activities are moving forward steadily".
And US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that he expects to "work well" with Wang, promising to "work with whoever the relevant Chinese counterpart is."
Given Wang's experience, experts said they expect Chinese diplomacy to carry on as normal -- despite the political drama in Beijing.
"I do not expect China's foreign policy to shift significantly on account of Qin Gang's exit," Ryan Hass, a Brookings scholar on China and a former US National Security Council official, told AFP.
"Qin was more an implementor and articulator of China's foreign policy than an architect of it," he added.
"Wang Yi is one of the world's most experienced and recognizable diplomats. He will ably carry forward China's foreign policy."
Related Links
China News from SinoDaily.com
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
