China removes former Foreign Minister Qin Gang from office after investigation concludes who had an affair and a child while serving as an ambassador of the United States, reported the Wall Street Journal.
In August, senior officials were informed that a Communist Party investigation into Qin discovered “lifestyle problems”, the newspaper reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the situation that it did not describe. That phrase usually means some type of sexual misconduct in official Chinese language.
Two of the people said that the adventure caused the birth of a child in the United States. The investigation, with the help of Qin, now focuses on whether or not the matter compromised national security. China is locked in an ideological battle with the United States, its main economic and geopolitical rival, which has seen Beijing step up a national security campaign to protect it from foreign threats.
The Foreign Ministry in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
China stripped Qin of his ministerial post in July, just after seven months after the position began, making his tenure the shortest in that position. No explanation was given for Qin’s dismissal, as his predecessor Wang Yi was reinstated.
The episode raised questions about President Xi Jinping’s decision-making and the stability of the government that runs the world’s second-largest economy. Those concerns are being revived by the current unexplained absence of Defense Minister Li Shangfu amid media reports that he is being investigated for corruption.
Top brass in the ruling Communist Party are now being scrutinized for their dealings with foreigners, insiders told the WSJadding that The top brass of the Chinese military was also under the spotlight.
Few Chinese officials have risen as quickly through the diplomatic ranks as Qin. His big opportunity came in 2015, when he He was assigned to supervise the protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During that six-year period he organized state visits of top leaders to China.
It was probably in that role that Qin gained access to Xi. He was photographed with the Chinese leader during a meeting with then-US President Donald Trump in Beijing in 2017.
In 2021, Qin was sent to Washington, when he was still he was relatively unknown outside diplomatic circles or the Beijing press. He showed a talent for public relations, embracing American culture by openly attending a baseball game and riding in a Tesla with Elon Musk.
He also made mild comments on hot-button issues, arguing that Beijing had tried to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine. If I had known their plans and minimized the risk of a war with Taiwan.
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