Later last month — on June 25, to be exact — China’s then–Foreign Minister Qin Gang suddenly disappeared, and he has never been seen since. Before his disappearance, Qin had what Chinese Communist Party insiders call a “rocket-launch speed promotion”: He was appointed the ambassador to the U.S. in 2021, promoted to minister of foreign affairs in 2022, and promoted to state council member (equivalent to a vice state head) in 2023.
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The initial official explanation for his disappearance was that he was sick, but that explanation was quickly removed by the CCP. For the whole month, the whole CCP hierarchy was completely silent about his disappearance, and rumors ran wild: He had an extra-marital affair that produced a son; he was involved with an espionage case with his mistress.
Now the month-long vanishing of Qin seems to have come to an end, although not with his reappearance — he is still nowhere to be seen — but with his dismissal.
On July 25, the CCP announced that Qin was removed as foreign minister but not as his higher title of state councilor, which is why the announcement reads, “Qin has been removed from the post of foreign minister, which he also holds.” (RELATED: One Heart and One Mind: The Tyranny of Xi Jinping Thought)
So, Qin is not really gone because all the facts are still unknown. The CCP official news agency, Xinhua, was mute on this, the Foreign Ministry website erased Qin completely as if he never existed, and the officially published decision to remove him did not provide any explanation. So, frustrated foreign reporters flocked to the routine news conference of China’s Foreign Ministry. Below is the only official explanation of his disappearance, given by the ministry’s spokesperson, Mao Ning, about Qin in the conference:
- Reuters reporter: “Why was Qin Gang removed from the position of Chinese foreign minister?”
- Mao: “Xinhua News Agency has already released relevant information; you can refer to that.”
- AFP reporter: “Why has the Foreign Ministry’s website deleted all information related to Qin Gang?”
- Mao: “The Foreign Ministry’s website updates its content according to regulations.”
- New York Times reporter: “Is Qin Gang still a state councilor? If so, what are his duties and role as a state councilor?”
- Mao: “The relevant decisions of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress and the Presidential Order of the People’s Republic of China have stated this very clearly.”
- A Japanese reporter: “What is the reason for the National People’s Congress to dismiss Qin Gang from the position of foreign minister?”
- Mao: “I do not have any information to provide.”
- An unnamed journalist: “Where is Qin Gang currently located?”
- Mao: “We do not have any information to provide.”
- Another reporter: “As a spokesperson, how do you evaluate Qin Gang’s seven-month tenure as foreign minister?”
- Mao: “I may not be the appropriate person to answer that question.”
- Needless to say, her evasion skills are categorically superior to those of our White House spokesperson.
What are the takeaways from the Qin fiasco?
First, the CCP is run like a mafia organization. For the CCP, the internal, cutting-throat power struggle is most important for all officials, and the appearance of the party to outside world is secondary. For the entire period of Qin’s disappearance, the CCP showed little interest in damage control. While the people in the democratic world think the vanishing of a country’s foreign minister is serious and humiliating, the CCP itself does not really care about how we think about it. (READ MORE: China’s Advances in Space Warfare Are Terrifying)
Second, all the investigations about Qin revealed that he was rapidly promoted by Xi because, when he served as the head of the Protocol Department of the Foreign Ministry, he worked on Xi’s foreign visits and was excessively eager to please Xi. In preparing for Xi’s visit to Belarus, he called his counterpart in the host country at 2:30 a.m. to insist that they revisit the museum now in the middle of the night on which Xi was to visit. Qin later told his Belarus counterpart that “hundreds of competitors want my job, if I did not go the extra mile, someone else would.” A dictatorial system like the CCP revolves around the top leader, and successful officials must be sycophants.
Third, the erasing of Qin from the list of foreign ministers from the CCP’s records, such as the website of China’s Foreign Ministry, tells the world again that the CCP shamelessly forges history. This is standard practice: If an official falls out of favor, he or she will be completely erased. As George Orwell says, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”
Fourth, what will happen to Qin? Will we eventually learn the truth? No one knows, and that is the scare part of mafia organizations. The fact that Xi lets Qin keep his state councilor position could be Xi’s intention to keep his options open. Qin may appear as a CCP official if Xi wants him to, permanently disappear without an explanation, or be denounced and sentenced to jail. It is up to Xi, and he can use the CCP’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection to do the dirty work of locking Qin up. This commission is above the law and answerable only to Xi. Many CCP officials and People’s Liberation Army generals have been locked up for life, and some were executed based on the inspection of the all-feared commission.
Last but not least, will Qin’s dismissal affect China’s foreign policy? Not at all. His successor, Wang Yi, ironically, was Qin’s former boss and predecessor. Wang played an instrumental role in establishing Xi’s wolf-warrior diplomacy. He has passed the retirement age for the minister-level position of the CCP and is transitory.
In sum, as Qin put himself, hundreds of other officials try to outgun him to flatter and ingratiate themselves with Xi. So, we should expect Xi’s wolf-warrior diplomacy and weaponization of trade to continue, regardless of who the foreign minister is or will be.
Shaomin Li is Professor of International Business at Old Dominion University.
