China’s abrupt removal of Qin Gang as foreign minister did not stop the questions that had dogged Chinese officials in the month since he vanished from public view: Where is Mr. Qin?
Representatives of the Foreign Ministry have struggled to respond when pressed by reporters, repeatedly saying that they had no information to provide.
After China replaced him on Tuesday, nearly all references to Mr. Qin were scrubbed from the ministry’s website, an unusual erasure that has only deepened the intrigue.
Mr. Xi, China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, has concentrated power under himself and enforced secrecy in an already highly opaque system, no matter the cost to China’s international image.
Mr. Xi has diminished the sway of the Foreign Ministry, analysts say, as he’s pursued an increasingly assertive, and some say risky, foreign policy.
Persons:
Qin, Qin’s, Xi Jinping, Xi, Mao Zedong, he’s
Organizations:
Qin Gang, Foreign Ministry
Locations:
China