Beijing: The Foreign Ministry of China has removed all activities and traces of Qin Gang as foreign minister including the information on the meeting that took place between him and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing five weeks ago, CNN reported.

Anyone looking for a reference to any of the Qin's important events on the website of China’s Foreign Ministry will be disappointed as all of Qin’s activities as a foreign minister have been erased from the record following a shake-up on Tuesday that saw Qin abruptly replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi.

The shocking ouster, approved by a top body within China’s rubber-stamp legislature, had followed weeks of questions and speculation about Qin’s fate after he disappeared from public view in late June, without a clear explanation, CNN reported.

The latest twist in the saga – the complete erasure of Qin’s swift, six-month tenure as foreign minister and his replacement by Wang, who held that post for roughly a decade before a promotion late last year, only serves to deepen the mystery.

Qin’s whereabouts, the reason for his removal, and his ultimate fate as a member of China’s Communist Party all remain unknown, CNN reported.

Unanswered questions about official decision-making are standard in China, where the political system is notoriously opaque and has only become more so under Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Senior Chinese officials have disappeared from public view in the past only to turn up months later in announcements they’ve been under secret disciplinary investigation.

But the circumstances that have played out in recent weeks surrounding Qin have brought those features of China’s political system into the global spotlight, CNN reported.

Meanwhile, the timing of the episode, as China has been campaigning to present its leadership as an appealing alternative to that of the West, only ups the potentially damaging optics.

Qin’s appointment to the post of foreign minister last year over more experienced candidates was seen as a sign of deep trust bestowed on him by Xi, who stacked China’s leadership with his close allies as he consolidated power last year while entering a norm-breaking third term as leader.

As the news of the leadership changes flashed by Chinese state media Tuesday evening, China’s vast apparatus for controlling public discussion around political and social events moved into gear. Social media hashtags relating to Qin’s removal were censored on the popular Chinese social media app Weibo, including at least one that aimed to evade censors by discussing the decision under a hashtag about a television show set around the time of China’s ancient Qin dynasty.

Meanwhile, hashtags about Wang’s appointment remained live on the platform Wednesday morning but were only showing posts from verified accounts, largely state media or government agencies, without any user-generated comments visible.

It remains unclear when, or if, further information will be released about the reasons for Qin’s removal, and that void in information has been filled with rampant rumour and speculation, CNN reported.

When asked earlier this month about why Qin had missed a diplomatic gathering, a ministry spokesperson cited “health reasons.”

During a regular ministry briefing Wednesday, a spokesperson refused to provide information on why Qin was replaced and said the ministry website was “updated in accordance with the relevant regulations,” when asked why records of Qin’s time as foreign minister were removed.

Qin for now appears to have retained his domestic-facing, high-level administrative post as State Councilor, CNN reported.

Observers of elite Chinese politics say that the silence around why he has been replaced and his erasure from the ministry website point to political reasons, which could become clear in the coming months if there is an official announcement of an investigation against him.

While Qin’s mysterious disappearance and ousting make for awkward international optics, it also places China’s foreign policy back in the hands of a seasoned veteran who filled the role from 2013 to 2022.

When asked about Qin and Wang in a press briefing Tuesday, American diplomat Blinken said the US would engage with “whoever the relevant Chinese counterparts” are in order to manage the US-China relationship, CNN reported.

“I’ve also known Wang Yi for more than a decade. I’ve met with him repeatedly in my current capacity as Secretary of State and including just recently in Jakarta and I anticipate being able to work well with him as we have in the past,” Blinken said, noting that he “wished (Qin) well.”