According to official media on Tuesday, Wang Yi has been appointed as China’s new foreign minister. The “missing” foreign minister Qin Gang was replaced by Wang Yi.
“China’s top legislature voted to appoint Wang Yi as foreign minister… as it convened a session on Tuesday,” Chinese news agency Xinhua said.
Notably, Wang Yi has taken over as foreign minister in place of Gang, but it is still unknown where he is. On June 25, he met with visiting officials from Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Russia. That was his final public appearance. He hasn’t been seen in public since that time.
Later, according to his ministry, he was off work due to unidentified health issues.
Qin Gang is seen as close to Chinese President Xi Jinping. The 57-year-old only recently went unnoticed for eight days over the Lunar New Year holiday.
He has been absent for almost a month, and China has said nothing about it. On the Chinese social media platform Weibo, there was reportedly censorship of the conversation surrounding his absence.
The platform’s “no results” notice appeared when someone searched for “where is Qin Gang” there, according to The Guardian.
