1. Qin Gang was born on 19 March 1966 and is a Chinese former diplomat and politician who served as the 12th Minister of Foreign Affairs from December 2022 to July 2023 and as State Councillor from March to October 2023.
15 Facts About Qin Gang
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Qin Gang disappeared from public view in June 2023 and was removed from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs on 25 July 2023.
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Qin Gang was born in Tianjin, China on 19 March 1966.
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Qin Gang received a Bachelor of Law with a major in international politics from the University of International Relations in 1988.
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In September 2010, Qin Gang was appointed as the Envoy of the People's Republic of China to the United Kingdom.
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From 2014 to 2017, Qin Gang served as the Director General of the Foreign Ministry Protocol Department.
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Qin Gang became Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of China in 2017 and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China in September 2018.
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In July 2021, Qin Gang became the 11th Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United States, succeeding Cui Tiankai, pursuant to a National People's Congress Standing Committee decision.
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Qin Gang was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs of China on 30 December 2022, succeeding Wang Yi.
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Qin Gang vacated the post of Chinese ambassador to the United States on 5 January 2023.
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Qin Gang was appointed as a State Councilor during the first session of the 14th National People's Congress on the nomination of the newly appointed premier Li Qiang on 12 March 2023.
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Speculation around Qin Gang's disappearance centered on an alleged affair with Hong Kong reporter Fu Xiaotian, who seemed to disappear around the same time.
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On 25 July 2023, Qin Gang was removed from the office as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China by a decree signed by president Xi Jinping, after a list of appointments and removals was passed by the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress.
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On 27 February 2024, Chinese state media announced that Qin Gang had resigned as a lawmaker from the 14th NPC and his resignation was accepted by the Tianjin Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee.
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In September 2024, two former US officials who spoke to The Washington Post stated that Qin Gang has been nominally assigned to a low-level job at the World Affairs Press, a publishing house affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.