China's sacked foreign minister Qin Gang resigns from Parliament after long absence from public view

Beijing: In a surprise move, former Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang, who went missing after he was unceremoniously sacked last year, resigned from China's national legislature ahead of its key annual session next week.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), which concluded its session here on Tuesday, said in a statement that the Tianjin Municipal People's Congress accepted Qin's resignation as a delegate to the upcoming annual parliamentary session, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The NPC regarded as China's rubber-stamp parliament for its routine approvals of the ruling Communist Party’s agenda is due to begin its annual session on March 5 to legislate on a host of new laws and discuss steps to revive the country’s economy which is on a slowdown mode.

The NPC statement said Qin has not been dismissed or expelled from the NPC but resigned, according to a report by Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

Qin, 57, regarded as a close confidant of President Xi Jinping, was dismissed in July in a big political surprise just after seven months in office.

Later, the NPC passed a resolution sacking Qin and reappointing his predecessor Wang Yi who is also the Director of the ruling Communist Party’s Foreign Affairs Commission.

This is the first time Qin’s name figured in the form of his resignation from the NPC, regarded as a technical requirement.

He was rumoured to have been sacked for an extramarital affair.

The announcement of Qin’s resignation also coincides with the removal of the sacked former Defence Minister Gen. Li Shangfu from the Central Military Commission (CMC) - the overall high command of the Chinese military headed by Xi Jinping, the Post reported.

Li, who headed the country's Rocket (Missile) Force, had previously been dismissed as defence minister and as a state councillor in October without any official explanation.

His removal was followed by a major purge of the Chinese military in which nine senior generals of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), including senior officials of the country's Rocket Force, were dismissed from Parliament in December.

Like Qin, Gen Li, who was also regarded as close to Xi, went missing from public view. Their sudden sackings sent shockwaves through the top echelons of the CPC.

The announcements of his removal from the CMC will reportedly help tie up some loose ends before next month’s annual sessions of the NPC and the advisory body the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Questions have also been raised about the fate of Li’s predecessor Gen. Wei Fenghe after he did not appear on a list of senior officials who received Lunar New Year greetings from the leadership – a common courtesy. Wei has not been seen in public since then, the Post reported.

Gen Li succeeded Gen Dong Jun, a former head of the navy. He has not yet been given the rank of state councillor or a seat on the CMC, something all previous defence ministers have received.