Ousted Chinese FM Qin Gang fathered a child with TV presenter via surrogate: Report

The Chinese presenter who allegedly had an affair with now-ousted Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang had a baby last year with the help of a surrogate mother, reported Financial Times.

Six people cited by the Times disclosed that 40-year-old Fu Xiaotian was in a close relationship with Gang. They had a child via surrogate last year in the US, which is illegal in China.

However, it was not clear what role this particular development had to play in Gang’s sudden disappearance in June and his subsequent removal from the top post in foreign ministry.

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How did the affair start?

Persons cited by FT said Qin met Fu around 2010 in London after she joined Phoenix TV, a Chinese media group. Qin was posted in UK as China’s chargé d’affaires. According to reports, the duo came into a close relationship nearly a decade later in Beijing.

In 2021, Qin was posted as the Chinese ambassador to the US, a post he left this year after being appointed as foreign minister. After this appointment, Qin limited his engagements with Fu.

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It was then that Fu started dropping hints about her relationship with Gang on social media.

For instance, around Gang’s birthday, she wished the unnamed father a happy birthday, saying that truly loving a person was not about “hoping for their promotion and riches”.

Rumours inside the Chinese Communist Party

Following an internal communist party investigation, senior Chinese officials 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 the 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.

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They were told 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.

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