Speculations are spreading about the disappearance of China's Foreign Minister, Qin Gang after the official has been missing from the public eye for roughly three weeks.
The situation developed last week when Qin did not show up to an annual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that was held in Jakarta, Indonesia. He also canceled a meeting with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, at roughly the same time.
Chinese Foreign Minister Missing
A spokesperson for the EU said they were informed that the dates scheduled for the meeting were "no longer possible" and were given no additional details. The situation comes after Qin was last seen publicly during a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrew Rudenko on June 25.
At the time, China's Foreign Ministry said that the two officials exchanged views on China-Russia relations as well as international and regional issues of mutual interest and concern, as per The Daily Beast.
Qin's disappearance comes despite his close ties to Chinese President Xi Jinping and is during a hectic diplomatic period. It has fueled speculations that there could be something happening that is not seen in public or is an early sign of political uncertainty in Beijing.
There have been cases where Chinese officials who were reported missing were later revealed to have been detained. This list includes the chief of Interpol and a senior Chinese security official, Meng Hongwei, who went missing for several days in 2018.
The situation comes as Qin's meeting with Borrell would have come a few days after European countries approved a strategy involving the acquisition of critical materials from outside China. It follows pressure placed on Beijing to take a stronger stance against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Chinese government's secrecy regarding Qin's current condition threatens to distract from Beijing's efforts to power up its diplomacy to ease tensions with Western nations and court Asian neighbors, according to the New York Times.
Beijing's Secrecy About Qin Gang's Whereabouts
A former senior American diplomat, Daniel R. Russel, now at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said the situation is embarrassing and unsettling to Chinese diplomats. He noted that it raises even more questions about the bureaucratic responsibilities of China's foreign ministry.
The secrecy surrounding the lives and health of senior Chinese officials has long been ingrained within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In recent times, Xi suddenly disappeared from public view in 2012, two weeks after taking power. He missed a meeting with the then-Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
A former editor of a Communist Party newspaper, Deng Yuwen, who now lives in the United States, said that given China's status and influence globally, such a situation is very strange. During a Monday press briefing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman was asked about Qin's prolonged disappearance.
They noted that they had no information regarding the foreign minister's current situation, adding that China's diplomatic activities were still being carried out as normal, said CNN.
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