China’s foreign minister Qin Gang has not been seen in public for weeks.

Qin, 57, who was appointed as foreign minister in December 2022, was last seen in public on Jun. 25 after meeting with officials from Russia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, according to Reuters.

He also did not attend the Asean-plus foreign ministers’ meetings held in Jakarta, where top China diplomat Wang Yi represented China instead.

Though China’s foreign ministry spokesperson cited “health reasons” for Qin’s absence, he had earlier denied hearing about a Politico report speculating that the latter had health issues, Bloomberg reported.

Qin was also scheduled to meet European Union’s (EU) high representative for foreign affairs Josep Borrell in Beijing in early July 2023.

However, China abruptly postponed Borrell’s trip without giving an explanation, while the EU knew of the postponement merely two days before his planned arrival, Reuters reported.

Rumours

Qin’s unusual absence from the public eye has since garnered interest among netizens, who went on to speculate what has happened to him.

FM Qin Gang is missing. The PLA Rocket Force generals' heads are rolling. There's something happening in the CCP. We are not seeing the complete picture.

The Foreign Ministry head doesn't just end up missing for 3 weeks due to health reasons.

— David Zhang (@DavidZhang360) July 13, 2023

An affair?

Some social media users have speculated that he could have been arrested due to an extramarital affair.

While there is no hard evidence, it is alleged that Qin was involved in an affair with a Cambridge-educated female reporter for Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, Fu Xiaotian.

The unverified rumours also extend to Fu's baby.

Rumors are circulating that Qin Gang’s disappearance is linked to his affair with Cambridge-educated Phoenix TV anchor Fu Xiaotian 傅晓田 and that they have a son…

1/n pic.twitter.com/kv1fQH057J

— Byron Wan (@Byron_Wan) July 13, 2023

号外：网传秦刚栽在了晓田！

情人和儿子都爆光了！ pic.twitter.com/9UFmZMvpuT

— 新闻调查 (@xinwendiaocha) July 13, 2023

Fu is the producer and presenter of Phoenix TV's programme "Talk with World Leaders", and has a garden named after her in Churchill College at the University of Cambridge.

Interactions

Fu, 40, conducted an interview with Qin on U.S.-China relations while in Washington in March 2022.

傅晓田对话秦刚。时间：2022年3月。傅晓田，40岁，知性高雅；秦刚，57岁，英俊儒雅。傅晓田出生重庆，北京大学获经济学学士，2008年获剑桥大学丘吉尔学院教育学硕士。2009年，#傅晓田 加入凤凰卫视，驻英国伦敦记者站，后任首席记者及站长。在本次采访中，驻美大使秦刚说，中俄合作没有禁区但有底线… pic.twitter.com/En7rxGJC72

— 亚洲金融 Asia Finance (@AsiaFinance) July 13, 2023

Some netizens analysed her activity on Chinese social media Weibo, which revealed that she has a baby son and has made several cryptic posts without naming her baby's father.

In March last year she posted on Weibo photos of her interview with Qin Gang. The last photo was used by Qin for his Twitter bio. pic.twitter.com/7Xmrmayruv

— 杨涵 Han Yang (@polijunkie_aus) July 14, 2023

On 12 March she posted a picture of her son with the phrase “meeting successfully concluded”. It was the day Qin Gang was elected State Councillor by the People’s Congress pic.twitter.com/Hf1MsLbcFT

— 杨涵 Han Yang (@polijunkie_aus) July 14, 2023

However, photos purportedly showing Fu's actual family later emerged on Weibo.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese news outlet Mirror Media reported that others viewed Qin's disappearance as more than just his alleged extramarital affair, but one with more "secrets" behind it.

Related:

Top image via Phoenix TV