China’s Communist Party removes ex-foreign, defence ministers from top body

China's former foreign minister Qin Gang has not been seen in public since he was removed in July 2023. - Reuters

BEIJING: China’s ruling Communist Party ousted former Foreign Minister Qin Gang from a top leadership body more than a year after his mysterious disappearance from public view.

The party’s elite Central Committee accepted Qin’s resignation from the body, according to a communique released by the official Xinhua News Agency at the end of a twice-a-decade conclave in Beijing. No reason was given in the statement, which continues to refer to Qin as "comrade.”