Fate of Top Chinese Official Remains Unknown

Love child with TV star may have derailed rise of foreign minister Qin Gang

He’s back—in digital form, anyway. Only a few days after official Beijing erased almost all traces of the erstwhile up-and-coming foreign minister Qin Gang, his photo, along with accounts of his diplomatic forays last month, have suddenly reappeared. 

Why?  “Maybe full erasure of a foreign minister was a bad look externally and domestically?” China expert Bill Bishop speculated on Twitter. 

Erstwhile Foreign Minister Qin Gang in better days (AFP)

But Beijing did not fully refresh Qin’s profile, much less his career. Today he’s listed only as a state councillor, a position technically above that of a government minister and below the level of a vice premier. His retention in this senior position on the State Council, even as he was officially removed as Foreign Minister on July 25, is a curious contradiction in Qin Gang’s downfall from his high perch as the fast-tracked protégé of President Xi Jinping. 

All this  may indicate that Xi Jinping has not quite decided what to do with Qin.

Qin’s current whereabouts and official status, meanwhile, remain a mystery.  He has not carried out any official functions since June 25, when he canceled a number of events, including a scheduled meeting with the European Union’s foreign policy chief. He’s not been seen in public since then, raising fears that he’s in custody—never a good situation in China’s opaque justice system. 

Qin’s replacement for now as foreign minister is Wang Yi, his predecessor and China’s top diplomat as head of the Chinese Communist Party’s Foreign Affairs Commission.

In the void, rumors about the reasons behind Qin’s downfall—salacious and otherwise—have gained traction. 

Let’s take a closer look.

1. Qin Gang had an extramarital affair and a love child with Phoenix Television’s star Fu Xiaotian:

Prior to her departure via private jet from L.A. for Beijing on April 10, the glamorous TV personality wrote three posts on her Instagram account, including one with pictures of her baby during a visit by what seemed to be Fu’s parents. The only man pictured in the posts, besides the child’s (apparent) grandfather, was Qin Gang, attending an event with Fu.