Next China: Disappearing Act

Hello, this is Zibang Xiao in Singapore. Thirty days after China’s foreign minister disappeared from public view, we finally got one answer about Qin Gang: He’s no longer one of the country's chief diplomats.

Qin was stripped of the title this week at a snap meeting of China’s top legislative body, which offered no explanation for the abrupt move. He’ll be replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi.

The shakeup sparked a slew of questions — none of which it’s clear we’ll ever get answers to.

Why was Qin removed from the post? Will he keep his title as state councilor, a more senior position? Is Wang’s return permanent?

And perhaps most pressingly: Why did it take so long for Beijing to say anything?

Details certainly didn’t come from China’s foreign ministry, where my colleagues and other media asked about Qin or his departure some 20 times at a press conference Wednesday.

Each time, spokeswoman Mao Ning refused to tell us why her former boss was sacked, where he was, or even if he was still dealing with a “physical condition” — as her colleague Wang Wenbin claimed earlier this month. Wang’s comment was the only other public statement that provided any information about Qin’s absence.

Every question and answer related to Qin was missing from the record of the briefing released by the foreign ministry.

This was far from the first time a high-profile figure has just vanished from view in Xi Jinping's China. Acting within a black box is Beijing’s modus operandi after all — even if it means creating an information vacuum that allows rumors to swirl.

In 2018, former Interpol President Meng Hongwei went missing for more than a week before Beijing announced he was being probed for anti-corruption allegations.