Politico: Former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang could have died of torture or committed suicide

Former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who was removed from office in July 2023, died in a military hospital in Beijing, where Chinese leaders are treated, as a result of torture or suicide.

Politico writes about this with reference to sources close to high-ranking officials in China.

Qin Gan was last seen in public on June 25, when he met with the delegations of Russia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. After that, only Wang Yi attended diplomatic meetings — he was the head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry from March 2013 to December 2022.

The disappearance and subsequent suspension of the minister could be connected with the visit of the Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Andriy Rudenko to Beijing. Sources of the publication claim that during this trip, the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry allegedly told the leader of the Peopleʼs Republic of China, Xi Jinping, that Qin Gang and the relatives of several high-ranking officers had handed over "nuclear secrets" of the Peopleʼs Republic of China to the intelligence services of Western countries.

China has not commented on the Politico publication.

• According to Chinese officials, the formal reason for Qin Ganʼs dismissal was "lifestyle problems." Such accusations are often used to discredit officials who are considered disloyal to the party leadership.
• An internal investigation by the Communist Party has revealed that former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang had a mistress in the United States while he was ambassador to Washington. As a result of the novel, a child was born, the media claim.