By Prof. Srikanth Kondapalli
China’s leaders have never really thought much of their foreign ministry.
The ouster of China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang, after only six months in that post, and the recalling of his senior Wang Yi to it, has exposed the rot in China’s higher echelons and the vulnerabilities of the second largest economy in the world. The Qin episode indicates that in China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs counts for little.
The position of Foreign Minister is not decisive in China’s hierarchy. Previously, the Communist Party’s Politburo organ, the Central Small Leading Group on Foreign Policy – exercised control. Now, the Central Foreign Affairs Commission does so. But the Foreign Minister is nevertheless important at the bureaucratic level and in implementing Communist Party policy, especially in the current “new era”.
Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/the-ouster-of-qin-gang-anarchy-in-china-s-heaven-1242064.html
Originally published : Deccan Herald, July 30th, 2023
Posted on SIS Blog with the authorisation of the Author
Prof. Srikanth Kondapalli is Dean of School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India