Chinese Foreign Ministry on 'Chingang Question'... "No Information to Provide"

Former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang was dismissed after not appearing in official media for a month, and on the 26th, during the regular briefing of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, foreign media flooded with questions related to Qin Gang.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On that day, the briefing room at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Beijing was attended by dozens of journalists from both domestic Chinese media and foreign outlets. There were 28 questions, more than twice the usual number, of which 21 were about the reasons for the dismissal of the Foreign Minister, his current position, and the impact on China's foreign policy.

The Chinese authorities announced only two sentences through the state-run Xinhua News Agency at 7 p.m. local time the previous day: "Qin Gang is relieved of his concurrent duties as Foreign Minister. Wang Yi is appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs," a decision made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), with President Xi Jinping endorsing it by presidential decree.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not provide any further explanation during the regular briefing held the day after the appointment decision. Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded to questions such as "Why was Qin Gang dismissed?" and "What is Qin Gang's current role?" by saying, "The news was distributed by Xinhua News Agency, so you can read it," or "The NPC decision and the presidential decree clearly state the matter, so please refer to them."

When asked multiple times about the reason why all materials related to former Minister Qin Gang were deleted from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website immediately after the NPC announcement, he only replied, "We update the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website information according to relevant management regulations."

Regarding the situation where former Minister Qin Gang was dismissed as Foreign Minister but still retains his concurrent position as State Councilor, Mao said, "There is no information I can provide." He gave the same answer to inquiries such as "Does Qin Gang have health issues as announced by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs last month?" and "Where is Qin Gang now?"

Questions like "Does the change of Foreign Minister affect China’s foreign relations, including with the United States?" or "Recently, some foreign leaders such as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled visits to China; is this related to Qin Gang’s situation?" were dismissed with the response, "China’s diplomatic activities are being carried out steadily."

At the end of the briefing, a reporter asked, "What does the Chinese government want foreigners to know about the Qin Gang incident?" Mao Ning smiled lightly and said, "That depends on you," adding, "Can the Chinese government decide that? We have only released the news normally."

Mao Ning said, "You all are very interested in the appointment and dismissal of the Foreign Minister, and already today many colleagues have asked similar or even identical questions."

He concluded, "There are many journalists here today, and I want to repeat the answer to this issue once again: Regarding the appointment and dismissal of the Chinese Foreign Minister, Xinhua News Agency has already released the news, and the decision made by the NPC Standing Committee and the Chinese presidential decree clearly state it. I have no further information."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.