In a move that has already stoked speculations about the private lives and political rivalry of China's Communist Party elite, the country's Communist Party on Tuesday dismissed outspoken Foreign Minister Qin Gang from office and replaced him with his predecessor, Wang Yi.
Qin's departure was announced on the national evening news by state channel CCTV without any explanation. Nearly a month has passed since Qin vanished from view, and the Foreign Ministry has given no updates on his whereabouts.
That is consistent with the Communist Party's typical method for handling personnel issues in a very secretive political system where free speech and the media are heavily constrained. On Tuesday, the ministry remained silent at its regular briefing. The decision was made in the midst of international criticism of China's escalatingly assertive foreign policy, which Qin was a leading proponent.
The approval of Qin's dismissal came during a meeting of the Standing Committee of China's rubber-stamp legislature, the National People's Congress, which typically convenes at the end of the month, adding to the mystery surrounding it.
In his former role as the leader of the party's office of foreign affairs, Wang represented China as the country's top diplomat. It was unclear at first if he would keep that commission.
China's diplomatic reorganization comes after Washington sent U.S. top-ranking current and former officials to Beijing in an effort to mend a relationship that has been severely strained over trade, human rights, technology, Taiwan, and China's other territorial claims.