China’s ex-Foreign Minister Qin re-appears to resign from legislature

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - After months-long disappearance, China’s former Foreign Minister Qin Gang re-appeared on Tuesday to step down from the country’s national legislature.

Qin was mysteriously missing from June last year, before being suddenly removed, following which President Xi Jinping brought back Wang Yi to lead China’s Foreign Ministry.

His resignation was announced by a Standing Committee meeting of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) which will hold its annual “Two Sessions” in early March.

However, the Standing Committee said Qin “has not been dismissed or expelled from the NPC,” South China Morning Post reported.

The resignation was accepted by the Tianjin People’s Congress, it said.

Last October, Qin was stripped of his post as a state councilor but still remains a member of the 205-strong Communist Party Central Committee.

National legislature deputies will convene in the capital Beijing on March 5.

The Standing Committee Tuesday concluded its eighth session in Beijing.

Meanwhile, former Defense Minister Li Shangfu was removed from the Communist Party’s Central Military Commission on Tuesday.

Li went missing in late August and was shifted out of the ministry last December before being removed from the commission, which is headed by Xi.

Beijing has offered no official explanation for why Qin and Li were removed.​​​​​​​