China’s ex-foreign minister Qin Gang ousted after alleged 'affair': Report

China’s former foreign minister Qin Gang was ousted after he allegedly had an extramarital affair while he was ambassador to the United States, The Wallstreet Journal claimed in a reporton Tuesday (September 19), citing people familiar with the matter. It even claimed that he had fathered a child while in the US, and that the Chinese authorities are examining whether his conduct compromised national security.

In July, Beijing abruptly sacked Qin just months after he was appointed to officeand following his weeks-long disappearance from the public eye which had led to a lot of speculations surrounding his ouster.

An alleged extramarital affair and child

According to the American media report, senior Chinese officials after an internal Communist Party investigation were told that Qin had engaged in an extramarital affair which lasted throughout his tenure when he was serving as Beijing’s top envoy to Washington.

China has previously refused to disclose why exactly Qin was sacked as the foreign minister after only 207 days. Not to mention that prior to the now-former FM’s ouster, his prolonged absence from the public had people speculating that Qin, who was also a confidant of President Xi Jinping, had fallen out of favour.

Chinese officials at one point did say that the 57-year-old Qin was not seen in public due to health reasons, in days leading up to his ouster.

However, the WSJ report citing sources said that senior Chinese officials – including ministers and provincial leaders – were briefed after the party’s investigation into Qin who was in Washington from July 2021 until January this year.

They weretold that the formal reason that led to his dismissal was “lifestyle issues.”

The “lifestyle issues,” according to the report, is a ‘common party euphemism for sexual misconduct.

The senior Chinese officials were also told that the probe found Qin had engaged in an extramarital affair which also led to the birth of a child in the US, two of the people told WSJ.

However, the names of the woman or the child were not disclosed to the party officials and the Journal could also not confirm their identities.

What about Qin?

According to the report, Qin was cooperating with the investigation which is now focused on determining whether the affair or his conduct had compromised China’s national security.

When asked about the article on Tuesday (Sep 19), China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, during a regular press briefing said “on the appointment and removal of the Chinese foreign minister, the Chinese side has released information before and I am not aware of the other information you mentioned.”

Qin was replaced by veteran diplomat Wang Yi in July as the foreign minister after his mysterious disappearance.

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