China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang ousted as love child rumors swirl

China’s foreign minister was ousted from his post after disappearing from the public eye for more than a month — prompting rumors on social media that he fathered a love child with a Cambridge-educated TV presenter.

Qin Gang, 57, was replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi, 69, Tuesday in a dramatic move inside the Chinese government. Gang has only been in his role since December, but he hasn’t been publicly seen since June 25 when he met with a Sri Lankan minister in Beijing.

His absence has caused speculation to swirl on Chinese social media, including that Gang, reportedly a married man, had fathered a love child with TV presenter Fu Xiaotian, 40.

Xiaotian also disappeared from public view around the same time, Taiwan and Hong Kong newspapers highlighted, according to The Times UK. And her son, Er-Kin, also hasn’t been seen. The only photo of the little one available of her US social media page appears on her Twitter from April, where the pair were seen on a private jet heading out of Los Angeles.

In the same post, she posted a screenshot from her interview with Gang, who was the last leader she talked to on her show “Talk with World Leaders.”

Spectators have also brought up their flirtatious nature in the March interview — where the screenshot was from. The pair’s body language had reportedly deviated from their usual professional behavior and they made more eye contact than usual. All discussions on Weibo about the pair’s more relaxed behavior were quickly censored.

Chinese Human Rights Activist, Lin Shengliang, claimed that Xiaotian had posted a photo of her and her son with the caption: “A victorious closing,” on the same day Gang was promoted to state councilor in March on her Weibo account.

It began to make people question whether the post was a quiet congratulations to Gang.

In addition, sleuths believed they found a private Instagram account for Xiaotian, under the username xfu.126, which featured a photo of a baby that looked very similar to her own, and a picture of her at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel LA wearing a white gown with a red overcoat. In a second snap, Gang was seen in a suit at what appeared to be a party.

Many in the comments speculated they had gotten married.

She also posted celebratory photos of her son’s 100th day of life on the account on March 4, appearing to have taken place at her Los Angeles residence.

Days later, on her Weibo account, she posted a set of photos from a mountaintop view, revealing to her followers that she and her lover had climbed the mountain on Valentine’s Day to celebrate their son’s 100th day milestone.

She also revealed her boo did not reign from the States.

“Oh, and just so you know, my son’s father is not American. We’re actually planning to return to our home country soon, and we’re extremely excited about it!” she wrote on her social media.

Xiaotian was born in China.

However, speculation posts about the couple have been rapidly taken down across WeChat, Weibo, and others, as the sites are heavily censored.

In addition, when the Ministry was asked about the romance rumor, spokesperson Mao Ning said she had “no understanding of the matter.”

Fang Zhouz, a Chinese science writer, said that if the romance claim wasn’t true, the Ministry would have just denied as a baseless, rather than saying they had no information regarding it. Zhouz said Ning’s hesitation suggested the rumors were true.

Gang, a career diplomat, had previously worked as an aide to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as well as working as a foreign minister for China in Washington, DC. He also worked as a foreign ministry spokesperson twice from 2006 to 2014 and was chief protocol officer from 2014 to 2018.

His ousting took place at the China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee meeting, which was hastily made the day before — veering from normal protocol. His firing comes as China is working hard to repair diplomatic relationships after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gang was supposed to play a large role in fixing strained relationships and had made large efforts with opening communications up between the US and China, according to CNN. He had met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken just days before his disappearance.

After Gang retreated from the public eye, the Chinese government cited “health reasons” as to why he missed a diplomatic gathering, as well as the annual foreign ministers’ meeting in Indonesia and a meeting in South Africa.

Since his ousting, any mention of him on the Foreign Ministry’s website has been taken down.

In the last week, searches of his name on Baidu — China’s biggest search engine — has skyrocketed more than 5,000%, rising above some of the hottest Chinese celebrities, according to the BBC.

This isn’t the first time a Chinese official has disappeared from public view, as it has become a common tactic in Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, according to CNN.

Oftentimes, it is revealed much later that these officials were undergoing investigations during their disappearance. It is unknown if Gang was being investigated.

Hours after news of Gang being ousted, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tweeted his congratulations to Wang, saying he was “an astute and seasoned diplomat.”

As for Gang’s political future, that remains unclear, say analysts, pointing out that there has not yet been any clarity over whether he will still hold his role as state councilor, a member of China’s cabinet.

“Qin’s removal without explanation has left intact the rumors and speculation about his disappearance,” Dali Yang, a political science professor at the University of Chicago.

“His fate is left hanging and is a glaring reminder of the opacity of the Chinese political system.”

With Post wires