• YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.worldOP
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    11 months ago

    Former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang died of torture or committed suicide in Beijing military hospital.

    The former minister had stopped appearing in public since June 25: His disappearance has sparked a lot of rumors both in #China and abroad.

    Politico’s sources told the publication that the last foreign official Qin Gang hosted was Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko. According to the publication, Rudenko may have informed the Chinese leadership that Qin Gang and several other officials were cooperating with Western intelligence services.

    There has been no official comment from the Chinese authorities on the fate of the former minister.

    The former Chinese foreign minister was at the center of a scandal because of an affair with a Chinese journalist who worked in the United States. The official’s son, who was granted American citizenship, was born there.

    After Qin Gang disappeared, the chief commander of the missile forces Li Yuchao, his deputy Liu Guangbing and ex-deputy Zhang Zhenzhong disappeared around the same time. In October 2023, Defense Minister Li Shanfu was sent into retirement. All of them were suspected of collaborating with Western intelligence agencies.

    • theodewere@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      suspected of collaborating with Western intelligence agencies

      the paranoia must be thick enough to grab with chopsticks