Explained | The curious case of China's Qin Gang - missing since June 25

The mystery around Qin Gang continues to deepen. Qin was sacked and became the shortest-serving foreign minister ever in the nation. Veteran diplomat and Qin's predecessor Wang Yi has returned to the post.

He replaced Qin, who has been absent from duties barely half a year into the job. But Beijing is still not revealing why Qin was fired. The case also reminded of industry minister Xiao Yaqing, who vanished from public view for nearly a month last year, but eventually, it was revealed he was being investigated for corruption.

The world is talking about Qin as China is notoriously famous for the sudden disappearances of notable figures, and its silence over the issues despite global calls to divulge details.

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Qin was removed from office by Beijing's highest legislative body on Tuesday (July 25) after only 207 days in the role. China's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment and Chinese state media did not say why he was removed. State news agency Xinhua reported that President Xi Jinping signed a presidential order to make the decision effective.

Spokeswoman Mao Ning spoke at a regular briefing about Qin's removal. She referred journalists to a state news agency article and declined to offer any further information.

Mao said, "Xinhua has already published information. You can refer to that." On being asked about how she evaluated Qin's brief stint as foreign minister, Mao said she was "probably not the right person to answer that question".

She said, "I don't think it's appropriate for me to pass judgment", insisting that China was "releasing normal information" concerning Qin's position.

Who is Qin Gang?

The 57-year-old was a former aide to President Xi Jinping. He was also an envoy to the United States. He took over the foreign ministry in December. There have been speculations that Qin might have fallen out of favour. Interestingly, any reference to Qin had been removed from the website of China's foreign ministry by July 26.

Qin, who is originally from the northern city of Tianjin, used to work with Xi as the head of the foreign ministry's etiquette department. Analysts think his promotion - first to the US ambassador and then to China's number two diplomat, was because Xi liked him and had faith in him.

The mysterious disappearance of Qin

He has not been seen in public since June 25 when he met Russia's deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko in Beijing, but China remained silent for weeks about the fate of Qin.

Beijing's since didn't stop the rumour mill and social media buzz over his name. Some speculations suggested that the diplomat was in trouble because of an alleged affair with a popular television anchor, who is also untraceable.

Ho-fung Hung, an expert in Chinese politics at Johns Hopkins University, told AFP: "People from the outside are totally in the dark and the episode illustrates that Chinese politics is becoming increasingly unpredictable and volatile, though under a calm surface."

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In a report by the news agency, it was mentioned that a search for his name produced no results, and prior articles about his diplomatic appearances displayed a message indicating that the page "does not exist or has been deleted."

However, his name did appear on other Chinese government websites, including those of the State Council, the Ministry of Commerce, and state media outlets, the report said.

On being asked about his disappearance from the foreign ministry website, Mao said: "Information on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is updated according to relevant management regulations."

China's reaction to Qin's absence?

Initially, the Chinese foreign ministry avoided questions on Qin for weeks, after previously saying "health reasons" were to blame for his absence.

On Tuesday, state media gave no reason for his dismissal but one expert said Qin's "digital erasure" suggested he had fallen from grace.

China analyst Bill Bishop wrote in his Sinocism newsletter, "If he were a comrade in good standing who had fallen ill I am not sure that would be happening."

Neil Thomas, who is a fellow on Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute, a US think tank, agreed. "Evidence is emerging suggesting this is indeed a political purge," Thomas said on Twitter, which is now rebranded as X.

One expert even said that what happened to Qin is an example that no official is immune in Chinese politics, despite their good relations with Xi or any other senior official.

China law expert Neysun Mahboubi told AFP: "I think the main implication would be for Chinese officialdom, with the message being that no one is safe, however high they may have risen or however strongly they have been supported by Xi Jinping."

Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, said, "The lack of an explanation opens more questions than provides answers. It also underscores the opacity and unpredictability, even arbitrariness in the current political system."

(With inputs from agencies)

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