Beijing. China fired Foreign Minister Qin Kang on Tuesday and reinstated senior leader Wang Yi. The appointment marked the end of a rare development involving a close confidant of President Xi Jinping in the hard-line communist country. Chin has not been seen in public for nearly a month. China’s titular parliament approved the decision to remove him amid much speculation about Chin.

Chin, 57, became Foreign minister last December, bypassing several senior leaders and seen as a rising star in the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC). He was one of the youngest persons to be appointed to this position in China’s history.

Xi named Chin as China’s ambassador to the United States in an effort to stabilize Beijing’s tense relations with Washington before appointing Chin as foreign minister. No reason has been given for Chhin’s sudden removal. Chin has not been seen in public since meeting officials from Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Russia on June 25.

China’s parliament has reappointed Chin’s predecessor, Wang, who was promoted to director of the CPC’s Foreign Affairs Committee in January.

China’s parliament voted to appoint Wang, 69, as foreign minister and fired Qin, state news agency Xinhua reported. The news said that President Xi, who is also the general secretary of the CPC, has signed the order.

Wang served as foreign minister from 2013 to 2022. In China’s political hierarchy, the foreign minister ranks well below the director of the CPC’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Wang was also promoted to the rank of Councilor of State, the highest political office of the CPC.

Chhin’s disappearance from the public eye and his absence from meetings led to speculation that he was not well. Later, apart from being involved in corruption cases, rumors also spread about her alleged affair with a Chinese journalist who worked for ‘Phoenix TV’ in Hong Kong.

China’s foreign ministry continued to reject questions from journalists about Chin’s absence and whereabouts. Speculation abounded in Beijing on Monday after it was announced that the Standing Committee of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), would hold an emergency session on Tuesday to appoint and fire an official.

The announcement of the NPC session on Tuesday came after a high-level meeting chaired by President Xi. Qin’s ousting is seen as a major blow and embarrassment to Xi, who has emerged as the most powerful leader since CPC founder Mao Zedong.

During his short tenure as foreign minister, Chin met with foreign minister S. Jaishankar twice to ease the strained bilateral ties caused by the stalemate in eastern Ladakh.

Interestingly, Wang met National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval on Monday on the sidelines of the meeting of NSAs from BRICS countries in Johannesburg on Monday. At the meeting, Doval stressed the need to continue efforts to restore peace and tranquility in the border areas so that the “obstacles” to the normalization of bilateral relations are removed. (Language)

Edited by: Ravindra Gupta