The 20th Third Plenary Session of the Communist Party of China (CPC) closed at the Jingxi Guesthouse in Beijing on July 18. According to the meeting communique, in the recent senior personnel reshuffle, while Li Shangfu and two others were removed from their positions as Central Committee members and expelled from the party, the handling of former Foreign Minister Qin Gang was described as simply accepting his “resignation,” removing him from the Central Committee but still referring to him as a “comrade.” Experts pointed out that Qin Gang was Xi’s confidant and had previously encountered issues due to infighting at the Foreign Ministry. There were previous reports indicating Qin Gang had been reassigned to a secondary diplomatic position.
The 20th Third Plenary Session of the CPC, which concluded on July 18, announced in its communique regarding anti-corruption and personnel matters that Qin Gang’s “resignation from the Central Committee” was accepted, but he was still referred to as a “comrade” without being expelled from the party.
The meeting also approved the review report on Li Shangfu, Li Yuchao, and Sun Jinming by the Central Military Commission of the CPC, confirming the previous decision of the Central Political Bureau to expel Li Shangfu, Li Yuchao, and Sun Jinming from the party. Ding Xiangqun, Yu Lijun, and Yu Jihong were appointed as members of the Central Committee to replace them.
Gong Xiangsheng, Deputy Researcher of the Institute of CPC Politics, Military, and Operational Concept Studies at the Taiwan Institute for National Defense Studies, told Epoch Times that the outcome of the central committee personnel changes resulted in Li Shangfu, Li Yuchao, and Sun Jinming being expelled from the party and replaced by three new members of the Central Committee. This was in line with the expected succession order.
Li Shangfu was removed from his position as Minister of National Defense in August last year and was expelled from the CPC and the military in June 2024, also stripped of his rank as Lieutenant General. Li Yuchao was relieved of his duties as Commander of the Rocket Force last year, and his position as a national representative was revoked in the same year. Sun Jinming, the Chief of Staff of the Rocket Force, fell from grace for the first time this time.
Gong Xiangsheng believes that Qin Gang’s resignation was accepted, and his treatment was clearly different from that of Li Shangfu and the others, indicating that his issues were not as serious as previously portrayed, such as extramarital affairs or leaking secrets being sidelined. “So personally, I speculate that his downfall is more likely due to losing in a power struggle with Wang Yi.”
Feng Chongyi, Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, told Epoch Times that Qin Gang’s situation can be considered a “soft landing.” This is because he was Xi’s confidant, and Xi did not want to handle the situation too heavily to avoid further embarrassment.
“He (Qin Gang) must have done something to anger Xi Jinping. I suspect he revealed to the Americans (about) that (spy) balloon incident, and Xi Jinping, not being fully in control of the military, decided to bring Qin Gang down.”
Feng Chongyi believes that, on the other hand, the origins of this case are also related to the internal power struggle between Qin Gang and Wang Yi. The scandal between Qin Gang and Fu Xiaotian was leaked by personnel at the Foreign Ministry.
Qin Gang was one of the high-ranking officials promoted by CPC leader Xi Jinping personally. At the end of December 2022, he was promoted from the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving as Foreign Minister for less than three months before being promoted to State Councilor, becoming a vice-national level official and one of the youngest “party and state leaders” in the CPC at that time.
Qin Gang suddenly fell from grace in July last year and was relieved of his duties as State Councilor in October. In February this year, the Standing Committee of the NPC issued an announcement, stating that Qin Gang “resigned” as a national representative, rather than being “dismissed.”
Official CPC sources have not disclosed the specific wrongdoings of Qin Gang, but The Wall Street Journal reported last September, citing insiders, that Qin Gang was dismissed due to extramarital affairs during his tenure as the U.S. Ambassador. The focus of the investigation was whether his actions endangered CPC “national security.”
There were also speculations that Qin Gang’s fall from grace was related to internal power struggles at the Foreign Ministry. The Washington Post revealed in February this year that through U.S. officials, they learned that Qin Gang and the current highest-ranking CPC diplomat, Wang Yi, had a deep-seated grudge.
Earlier, Epoch Times received domestic reports suggesting that Qin Gang had quietly shifted to secondary diplomatic roles, becoming the president of “World Knowledge Publishing House,” his acceptance of party disciplinary punishment unconfirmed. There were also reports that he was appointed as vice president, being demoted from vice-national level to vice-bureau level. Epoch Times attempted to further verify these reports with domestic sources, but at present, this information is difficult to confirm.
According to the official website of the World Knowledge Publishing House (referred to as “World Knowledge Society”), the company is a “professional publishing media institution specializing in diplomatic and international affairs under the CPC Foreign Ministry.” The current Chairman, General Manager, and Party Committee Secretary is Cui Chun.
Yuan Jie, former Chairman of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, rumored to be implicated in the missile force corruption case and removed from office, has not had his position as a Central Committee alternate member revoked.
The five more recent Central Committee members who have fallen out of grace include Tang Renjian, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, who was reported in May; and Li Shisong, a member and Deputy Governor of Yunnan Province, who was deposed on June 25. According to the CPC’s “tiger-hunting” process, these individuals are unlikely to have their party membership issues addressed quickly.