Former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who was abruptly dismissed last July, is rumored to have already died at a military hospital in Beijing, according to the U.S. political media outlet Politico on the 6th (local time).
The outlet cited multiple sources with connections to senior Chinese officials to report this.
The sources claimed that Qin Gang died at a military hospital treating high-ranking Chinese officials at the end of July, and that his death was likely due to suicide or torture.
The sources also alleged that the real reason behind Qin Gang's disappearance and dismissal was suspicion that he had collaborated with Western intelligence agencies.
Just before Qin Gang suddenly disappeared, on June 25 of this year, Andrey Rudenko, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, who visited Beijing, reportedly conveyed a message to Chinese President Xi Jinping that Qin Gang and many key figures in the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) had colluded with Western intelligence agencies to help leak nuclear development secrets.
At present, it is difficult to verify the authenticity of these reports.
Politico pointed out that at the time Qin Gang vanished, many generals in the leadership of the PLA Rocket Force also disappeared simultaneously, and by late August, when the purge of these figures was officially confirmed, then-Defense Minister Li Shangfu also disappeared from public view.
Qin Gang was dismissed in July, and Li Shangfu in October, but Chinese authorities did not disclose specific reasons.
Qin Gang, a figure symbolizing China's "Wolf Warrior (Zhanlang) diplomacy," was favored by President Xi and appointed as Foreign Minister at the end of last year at the age of 56, and was promoted to State Councilor in March this year, rising rapidly.
However, after disappearing from official appearances for a month, he was dismissed on July 25, becoming the "shortest-serving foreign minister" since the Chinese Communist Party came to power.
Amid rampant speculation including serious illness and espionage theories, some reports suggested that an extramarital affair with a famous Chinese broadcaster during his tenure as ambassador to the U.S. was the reason for his dismissal.
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