China’s ministry of foreign affairs has labelled speculation over the whereabouts of Qin Gang as “malicious hype” while continuing to refuse further details about the missing former foreign minister.
At a daily press conference in Beijing, the ministry’s spokesperson, Mao Ning, said China had released information about Qin “in a timely manner”. “We consistently oppose malicious hype of this matter,” she said.
On Wednesday Mao had faced a barrage of questions over Qin’s disappearance and dismissal and refused to answer any of them. None of the more than 20 questions about Qin were printed in the official record.
Qin, a former protege of the president, Xi Jinping, has not been seen in more than a month. His disappearance had led to speculation about his fate, which was not dampened by the sudden announcement on Tuesday that he had been removed from his role as foreign minister and that his predecessor, Wang Yi, had been installed as his replacement.
Shortly after the announcement some references to Qin as foreign minister, including biographies, transcripts and press releases, were scrubbed from some government websites. Adding to the confusion, it appeared that he was to remain on the state council.
The news was reported in a short statement by the official state media outlet, Xinhua. No reasons were given.
At the press conference on Wednesday, Mao was repeatedly asked why Qin had been removed, where he now was, whether he remained on the state council, if his sacking was the reason several visits by foreign dignitaries had been cancelled or postponed, whether Wang’s appointment was temporary and if Qin was subject to a corruption investigation or in ill health.
In reply, Mao referred journalists to the Xinhua report or said she had no information, according to translations online and Hong Kong media reports. Further attempts by reporters to reformulate questions received the same reply from Mao, who at one moment appeared to laugh.
A Reuters reporter asked: “Yesterday, a number of China experts said that the Qin Gang situation, his absence recently, the limited explanation … suggests the leadership is opaque as ever. What’s China’s comment?”
Mao replied: “I don’t understand the situation you mentioned, the relevant information has been introduced. Next question.”
The ministry’s daily press conferences are renowned for giving little concrete information, particularly in response to politically sensitive questions from the foreign press. Answers are usually formulaic, touching on Communist party talking points and criticism of adversaries.
They are not broadcast live and a record of questions is published later. Wednesday’s showed just seven questions, all from Chinese state media and none relating to Qin. The ministry has previously dismissed queries about missing questions by saying it has never claimed to provide complete transcripts.
Qin’s disappearance is shaping up to be one of the biggest Chinese political scandals in years. He has not been seen in public since a meeting on 25 June with the Sri Lankan and Vietnamese foreign ministers in Beijing.
In early July, a foreign ministry spokesperson cited unspecified health reasons for Qin’s non-attendance at an Asean summit, and since then there have been no further explanations. Mao did not answer questions about Qin’s health on Wednesday and rumours have swirled about possible reasons for a political purging. Discussion in China has been subject to some censorship.
