China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang’s absence from the official diplomatic arena for more than three weeks has prompted a flurry of questions at the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s regular briefing. Foreign reporters, including the Financial Times, asked on Sunday why Qin had been absent for more than three weeks, whether a report by the UK’s The Times about phoenix TV personality Geng Yizha recently giving birth was true, and even asked if Qin was still China’s foreign minister.
In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma Ning said she had no information to provide or was not familiar with the circumstances surrounding the questions, which are not listed on the ministry’s website, which features a daily briefing.
Previously, the Chinese Foreign Ministry had responded that Qin Gang was on leave due to health issues.
Qin Gang has not appeared in public since meeting with his Sri Lankan and Vietnamese counterparts in Beijing on March 25. At the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting on March 13-14, Wang Yi, a member of the Communist Party’s Central Political Bureau who is Qin Gang’s senior, attended instead.
Qin is known as a “wolf warrior” diplomat who rides roughshod over his opponents; in April, he said in a public appearance that “those who play with fire on the Taiwan issue will burn.
The sudden absence of Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who is known to be a trusted confidant of President Xi Jinping, 먹튀검증토토사이트 from public appearances for more than three weeks has sparked speculation, according to CNN and other foreign media.
