BEIJING: China’s former foreign minister Qin Gang (pic), who was abruptly removed from office last year and has not been seen in public since, has resigned as a lawmaker, according to state media.
Qin’s resignation as a representative for the port city of Tianjin to China’s 14th National People’s Congress was accepted on Tuesday (Feb 27), state news agency Xinhua said.
The former foreign minister was removed after just 207 days in the job last July without explanation.
He was replaced by Wang Yi, a veteran diplomat who served as foreign minister before Qin and who outranked him in the Chinese government hierarchy.
Qin was then removed from China’s cabinet, the State Council, in October.
Seven months on, Beijing has still not offered any explanation for Qin’s dismissal, nor why he has not been seen in public since then.
China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress, is due to sit for its annual session next week. – AFP
