After the unexpected incident involving former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Foreign Minister Qin Gang, there have been frequent personnel changes within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The appointment and dismissal of ambassadors to India and Canada have raised suspicions of a covert purge within the diplomatic system, hinting at a secretive cleansing process underway by the authorities.
On May 7th, the newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, granted a joint interview with Chinese and Indian media before assuming his new role, offering insights on Sino-Indian relations. This marked Xu Feihong’s first public appearance in his new position.
Prior to this, there had been an 18-month vacancy for the post of the Ambassador to India after Sun Weidong stepped down in October 2022 to be promoted as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. This marked the longest vacancy in India since 1976.
The new Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, born in 1964 in Zhejiang’s Dongyang, has a background serving in various diplomatic roles such as the Counsellor and Deputy Director of the European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador to Afghanistan, Deputy Director of the Personnel Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador to Romania, and Director of the Foreign Service Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In February 2021, he was appointed as an Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Interestingly, on December 8, 2023, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the CCP released a statement on the appointment and dismissal of personnel from the State Council, removing Xu Feihong from his position as Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, this announcement was promptly deleted by the Ministry of Human Resources, only to reissue three separate announcements on the same day and the following day, omitting the removal of Xu Feihong as Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Such errors are rarely seen on official CCP websites that are usually strictly controlled.
Hong Kong’s “Sing Tao Daily” revealed on May 5th that Xu Feihong had been relieved of his duties as Assistant Foreign Minister of China by the State Council at the end of last year, preparing to be posted to India and promoted to Deputy Minister level. However, due to “various reasons,” he could not assume the role.
This Hong Kong media outlet, known for its close ties to the CCP’s external propaganda efforts, hinted at the intriguing nature of these “various reasons.”
It is believed that Xu Feihong’s dismissal at the end of last year is not as simple as a surface-level mistake, especially following the sudden disappearance and subsequent dismissal of former Foreign Minister Qin Gang last June. It is speculated that this could be linked to recent directives from the top CCP leadership to scrutinize diplomats for espionage and leakage issues. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be undergoing a sort of “everyone passes inspection” reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution. Xu Feihong’s formal assumption of duties indicates that he has passed the scrutiny.
Former CCP Foreign Minister Qin Gang disappeared suddenly in June last year and was removed from office in July. It was speculated that Qin Gang had an extramarital affair with Hong Kong Phoenix TV anchorwoman Fu Xiaotian, who allegedly gave birth to a child through a surrogate mother in the United States. Fu may have connections with British intelligence, and her spying activities may have posed a threat to Qin. Former US officials claimed that the Russian Federal Security Service had previously warned the CCP State Security Department about this matter.
The situation regarding CCP Ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, also appears to be peculiar.
Cong Peiwu faced calls for expulsion from Canada due to threatening remarks toward the country. After nearly five years in office at the Embassy in Canada, he returned to China in April this year, a move that was widely covered by international media.
The Canadian newspaper “The Globe and Mail” was the first to report that Cong Peiwu had returned to China, notifying Canada and other foreign diplomatic missions that his term had ended on April 9. However, Cong Peiwu’s abrupt departure surprised some staff at the diplomatic missions, as it is customary for ambassadors and senior diplomats to hold a series of farewell events before leaving the hosting country.
It has been reported that the CCP government has appointed Zhao Yong as the Acting Head of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in Canada. An Acting Head of Mission is a diplomatic officer who temporarily oversees the affairs of the mission when a diplomat (Ambassador, Minister, Acting Head) is on leave, resigns, or is unable to fulfill their duties due to reasons such as prolonged illness or death.
According to a message on the official website of the Chinese Embassy in Canada dated April 25, Acting Head of Mission Zhao Yong published a signed article on the TDS NEWS platform on the same day. This indicates that Zhao Yong has taken charge of the mission.
However, as of today (May 13), on the Chinese Embassy in Canada’s “Embassy Information” page, Cong Peiwu is still listed as the Ambassador to Canada. Zhao Yong is described as the Chief Secretary and Minister at the Chinese Embassy in Canada.
In other words, Zhao Yong has temporarily taken over the functionality of the mission, while the whereabouts of the 57-year-old Cong Peiwu remain unclear, indicating an unusual departure from his post.
If there is a systematic review within the diplomatic system at play, it is not hard to imagine that Cong Peiwu may be implicated in certain issues. During the internal review process, if cleared, he could be assigned a position as Xu Feihong currently has, otherwise, he may simply disappear like Qin Gang.
Since CCP leader Xi Jinping came to power, the regime has initiated spy-catching operations as a means to target political adversaries under the pretext of combatting espionage.
On a previous occasion, Suzuki Eiji, the former Chairman of the China-Japan Youth Exchange Association and long-time lecturer at Chinese universities, was arrested by the CCP State Security on July 15, 2016, at the Beijing airport on charges of espionage. On February 16, 2017, he was officially arrested on espionage charges and detained in a CCP prison for 2,279 days.
Upon his release and return to Japan, Suzuki publicly stated that he was targeted by the CCP due to being embroiled in internal power struggles. His connections mainly resided within the Communist Youth League faction, and Xi Jinping portrayed him as a spy, using ties to the Communist Youth League as a pretext to crackdown on the faction.
Suzuki revealed that the former Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Japan, Tang Benyuan, had met with him in Beijing for a meal, and they were both later arrested. During a car ride to the court, Suzuki unexpectedly encountered Tang Benyuan, who disclosed that the target of the CCP State Security was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both Suzuki and Tang were questioned about a senior CCP foreign affairs official, indicating that the authorities were purging the diplomatic system.
In an article published on April 29 by Chen Yixin, Minister of the CCP State Security, in the party’s media “Study Times,” he emphasized the “Five Anti-Struggles” which include “counter-subversion, counter-hegemony, counter-separatism, counter-terrorism, counter-espionage.” The focus on “counter-subversion” specifically highlights the importance of rooting out “internal traitors,” with typical “internal traitors” referring to those colluding with external forces, making the diplomatic system a significant target. Moreover, in the absence of the rule of law in China, the determination of who constitutes an “internal traitor” is left to the CCP’s discretion, inevitably leading to potential miscarriages of justice.
Previously, there were widespread rumors that the current head of the United Front Work Department, Liu Jianchao, would replace Wang Yi as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but this transition has yet to be confirmed. This delay may also be related to the current internal turmoil and unrest within the CCP’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
– Epoch Times Initial Report