WASHINGTON – This is a drama about baby mamas on an international stage.
Former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang was fired from his job as Beijing’s top diplomat after an internal Chinese Communist Party investigation revealed that he had fathered a love child in the United States during his time as ambassador in Washington, reported Tuesday. the Wall Street Journal.
Qin’s affair with the boy’s mother, believed to have been extramarital on his part, reportedly lasted his entire 18-month tenure in D.C., where he was the go-to diplomat for relations with the United States, China’s main adversary. .
The identities of Qin’s mistress and son are not publicly known, but speculation has circulated online for months about her closeness to Cambridge-educated Phoenix TV host Fu Xiaotian, who disappeared from public view around the same time. time Qin was last seen in his official capacity.
Qin, once a trusted aide to Xi, returned to Beijing from Washington last January when he was named foreign minister, the Chinese government’s equivalent of the US secretary of state.
Qin Gang with his alleged lover Fu Xiaotian.YouTube / Talk with world leaders
Qin was considered a confidant of Chinese President Xi Jinping. AP Photo/Andy Wong
Although Qin’s tenure lasted only a few months, he oversaw US-China relations during an intense period marked by a postponed visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken following Washington’s discovery that Beijing had launched a spy balloon into space. American air.
After President Biden ordered the military to shoot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina last February, Qin led China’s messaging campaign denying that the craft was intentionally sent through the US, attempting without success convincing Washington that it was a “civilian airship” that had veered off course.
In one of his last official acts last June, Qin met with Blinken during the secretary’s rescheduled trip to Beijing, aiming to cool simmering tensions between the United States and China that have worried much of the world.
Qin’s meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing on June 18, 2023. Photo by LEAH MILLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
China’s Foreign Ministry initially cited health concerns as the reason for Qin’s absence, but the rumors grew stronger when Xi stripped Qin of his title in July without explanation.
Social media sleuths noted that Fu posted a photo of his son Er-Kin on X, formerly known as Twitter, on April 10, along with a screenshot of his interview with Gang the previous month on his show “Talk with World Leaders.”
Others noted that the interview seemed flirtatious in nature, and the couple made more eye contact than usual. All discussions on Chinese social media platform Weibo about the couple’s relaxed behavior were quickly censored.
Fu is also believed to have maintained a private Instagram account, where he posted photos celebrating his son’s 100th day of life on March 4. The photographs appeared to have been placed in a rented residence in Los Angeles.
The citizenship of Qin’s alleged love son is unknown.Thomas Peter/Pool Photo via AP, File
“Oh, and just so you know, my son’s father is not American. In fact, we are planning to return to our home country soon and we are very excited about it! she wrote on social media.
CCP officials were informed in August about the reason for Qin’s firing, the Journal reported, and investigators confirmed that the baby was born in the United States.
While the Constitution holds that anyone born in the United States is guaranteed citizenship, babies born to foreign diplomats are typically exempt.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning did not address the explosive report during her daily news conference Tuesday, nor did reporters in Beijing ask about the matter, according to a transcript.
China’s foreign and defense ministries did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment on Tuesday.
The affair and resulting outcome could have created blackmail and other national security concerns for China as Xi seeks to crack down on any perceived vulnerabilities among his senior leaders and Beijing’s relationship with the United States becomes more strained.
Two weeks ago, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu was brought in for questioning and is believed to be under investigation by the CCP, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Like Qin, Li disappeared from the public eye in August and has not been seen publicly since. Like Qin, Li is also expected to lose his title at the conclusion of the reported investigation.
China’s foreign and defense ministries did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment on Tuesday.
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu is believed to be under investigation by the CCP. Photo by Roslan RAHMAN/AFP) (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images
The apparent turmoil among China’s top foreign affairs and military officials comes as Washington and Beijing weigh possible ways to ease the strained relationship.
While Xi turned down a trip to New York for the U.N. General Assembly this week, U.S. officials are hopeful the Chinese president will come to San Francisco in November for a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.
Both American and Chinese officials have expressed interest in softening relations in statements, potentially through a separate summit between Biden and Xi in the United States.
New Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Malta on Sept. 16, 2023. Lian Yi/Xinhua via AP
Meanwhile, Qin has been replaced as foreign minister by Wang Yi, who met over the weekend with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Malta.
The two discussed “key issues in the bilateral relationship between the United States and China, global and regional security issues, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and relations between the two countries.”[Taiwan] Strait Issues,” according to the State Department.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn