China’s foreign minister will not attend 2-day summit of ASEAN due to illness, spokesperson says

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang is unwell and the country’s senior diplomat will take his place at a two-day summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this week in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin gave no details of what was ailing Qin, who has not been seen in public in more than two weeks.

“State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang is unable to attend this series of foreign ministers’ meetings due to health reasons,” Wang said at a daily briefing Tuesday.

Wang Yi, a former foreign minister and the current head of the ruling Communist Party’s Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, will represent China at the meetings Thursday and Friday, Wang Wenbin said.

Wang Yi drew controversy last week with comments saying Westerners are incapable of distinguishing among Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, and suggesting the three countries with vastly different societies and polities form an alliance based on racial and cultural similarities.

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Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah confirmed Wang Yi would be attending the ASEAN meeting in Qin’s stead. Wang will attend the China-ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting, the ASEAN-China-Japan-South Korea foreign ministers’ meeting, the East Asia Summit foreign ministers’ meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum foreign ministers’ meeting.

China has sought to engage the 10 members of ASEAN, mainly through trade, as part of a campaign to dilute U.S. influence in the region and challenge the American-led liberal world order.

However, China’s influence has been limited by its aggressive assertion of its claim to virtually all of the South China Sea. ASEAN members Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines exercise overlapping claims and have largely welcomed the United States military presence in the region. China denounces U.S. involvement as outside meddling.

The foreign ministers’ meeting is a “platform to enhance mutual trust and cooperation,” Wang Wenbin told reporters. “China hopes this meeting will help build more consensus, make political preparation for a fruitful ASEAN leaders’ summit in September, and promote regional peace, stability and prosperity.”

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Qin, 57, rose to prominence as an outspoken ministry spokesperson who popularized an aggressive in-your-face style that came to be known as “wolf warrior diplomacy,” after the name of a nationalistic Chinese movie franchise. He previously served as ambassador to the United States and head of protocol for the ministry.

In March, Qin warned Washington of “conflict and confrontation,” striking a combative tone amid conflicts over Taiwan, COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That followed an accusation by leader Xi Jinping that Western governments led by the U.S. wanted to encircle and suppress China.

According to the Foreign Ministry’s website, Qin’s last public appearance was at a meeting with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry in Beijing on June 25.

The “wolf warrior” approach has been adopted by many senior Chinese diplomats, but has also fallen out of favor at times. One of its most famous exponents, former ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, was transferred in January to a department overseeing land and sea borders in what was widely seen as a demotion.

Current Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Xie Feng has taken a generally upbeat tone since taking office in May, despite the relationship between the world’s two largest economies hitting a historic low.

China’s tightly-controlled, highly opaque political system and the lack of a free press frequently give way to speculation surrounding the disappearance of leading figures, as when former Chinese President Hu Jintao was guided off stage without explanation at the twice-a-decade congress of China’s ruling Communist Party. However, while personal rivalries and scandals over corruption are not uncommon, the party — at least outwardly — remains largely united behind Xi.