The abrupt announcement of Qin’s removal came after weeks of speculation about his fate.
His absence has dominated domestic political discussions, and evolved into one of the biggest crises for Chinese President Xi Jinping since his unprecedented third term began last year.
Wang Yi, who outranks Qin and serves as Xi’s top foreign policy aide, is the new foreign minister.
Wang, the director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, has been standing in as foreign minister for the past few weeks.
He has been attending a series of diplomatic activities including the BRICS summit under way in South Africa and meetings with former US secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and John Kerry in China last week.
Wang was China’s foreign minister in Xi’s first and second term before Qin was promoted in December
Reportedly, the decision to remove Qin from his post was made at a special session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, which took place one day after the top decision-making body, the Politburo, convened on Monday.
According to rules updated in June last year, the NPC Standing Committee holds a session once every two months, but in practice, usually holds them near the end of even-numbered months. An interim session for special cases can be scheduled by the committee’s chairman.
Qin’s removal as foreign minister is in line with the Organic Law of the National People’s Congress, which came into effect in March 2021. The rule empowers the Standing Committee rather than a national congress to appoint or remove from office some members of the State Council.
Qin was last seen in public during a meeting of senior diplomats from Russia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka on June 25, according to China’s foreign ministry.
Despite rumours circulating on social media and among foreign diplomats, Beijing has remained vague about Qin’s status and whereabouts, attributing his prolonged absence to unspecified health reasons since early July.
“China’s diplomatic activities are under way as usual,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on July 17 when pressed about Qin’s disappearance, while stopping short of denying speculation about his fate.
But Beijing’s secretive handling of the drama has drawn widespread criticism, raising questions about the Chinese government’s credibility and its notoriously opaque decision-making. It has also fuelled uncertainty to China’s troubled relations with the outside world.
Once seen as a trusted aide to the president, Qin rose rapidly through the ranks – from ministry spokesman and deputy foreign minister in charge of protocol and European affairs to the country’s second-ranking diplomat.
Qin was appointed China’s ambassador to the United States in July 2021, and 17 months later was elevated to foreign minister, and then state councillor in March, a position that ranks above a cabinet minister.
