A Costly Love Affair In US For China's Ousted Foreign Minister Qin Gang

As per a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday, China's former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who was stripped off his title in July, was due to an extramarital affair he allegedly had as an ambassador to the United States. Qin was reportedly cooperating with the investigation, which focused on the affair and had China's national security been compromised due to Qin's conduct.

While none of the sources have confirmed the woman who Qin Gang had an extramarrital affair with, as per the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Repulic of China website, Qin Gang was already married with a son at the time of his love affair in the U.S.

Apparently, an internal Communist Party investigation revealed that Qin was involved in the affair thorughout his tenure as China's ambassador to the US about which senior Chinese officials were informed. Not only this, two sources also told the newspaper about the birth of a child in U.S. as result of the alleged affair.

When asked at a press briefing on Tuesday, China foreign ministry spokeperson Mao Ning reportedly said, "on the appointment and removal of the Chinese foreign minister, the Chinese side has released information before and I am not aware of the other information you mentioned".

Qin was China's ambassador to the U.S. from July 2021 till January 2022. Veteran Diplomat and Qin's predecessor Wang Yi was reinstated after Qin's removal.

The entire incident also raised some questions on President Xi Jinping's leadership and his government's stability especially while reigning over world's No. 2 economy. This gains even more traction due to unexplained absence of Li Shangfu, Defence Minister amid reports of him being probed for corruption.