BEIJING - China is unlikely to get a new foreign minister this week, as the appointment of personnel was not on the agenda of the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) released on March 4.
Mr Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party, had been tipped to take over from Mr Wang Yi, who was reappointed as foreign minister after Mr Qin Gang was removed in July 2023 over rumours of an extramarital affair.
Mr Liu, a fluent English speaker who was ambassador to the Philippines and Indonesia, had set the rumour mills churning when he led a high-profile Chinese delegation to the United States in January 2024. Then, he met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
A potential new foreign minister was among the appointments expected to take place at the Two Sessions, China’s biggest political event of the year, which runs for more than a week in Beijing from March 4.
The NPC, China’s legislature, has the power to elect and appoint top state officials, including the president, state councillors, ministers, as well as the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC).
Mr Qin had served for only seven months as foreign minister before he was removed. Likewise, former defence minister Li Shangfu was in office for only seven months before he was sacked in October 2023. This was two months after he disappeared from public view, following allegations that he was being investigated for corruption.
General Li will not be taking part in this year’s NPC session, said NPC spokesman Lou Qinjian on March 4.
“He cannot take part because he is no longer a deputy,” Mr Lou told Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao when asked after a press conference at the Great Hall of the People.
But Gen Li’s supposed removal from the NPC has not yet been officially announced. As at March 4, he remains listed as a deputy on the NPC website, among 271 people from the People’s Liberation Army and People’s Armed Police.
The NPC agenda also indicates that Gen Li’s successor, Admiral Dong Jun, who was appointed in December 2023, will not yet be appointed to the CMC or the State Council – roles previously held concurrently by the defence minister.
