Qin Gang Out: Where is China’s Foreign Policy Headed?

Last December, Qin Gang was appointed China's Foreign Minister, capping a meteoric rise up the ranks of Chinese politics. Just six months later, Qin suddenly and inexplicably disappeared. A month into his absence, Beijing abruptly removed him from this role and reappointed his predecessor, Wang Yi.

Qin’s disappearance has sparked a maelstrom of online speculation about what is potentially the most dramatic fall from grace of a high-level Chinese official in recent years. What does this episode and other potential reshuffles mean for China’s domestic politics, its foreign policy, and U.S.-China relations moving forward?

Join the Asia Society Policy Institute’s (ASPI) Center for China Analysis to hear our best analysis of what could have happened and why. This live-streamed virtual panel will feature insights from Rorry Daniels, ASPI Managing Director; Bates Gill, Executive Director of ASPI’s Center for China Analysis; Christopher K. Johnson, Senior Fellow on Chinese Politics at ASPI’s Center for China Analysis; and Neil Thomas, Fellow on Chinese Politics at ASPI’s Center for China Analysis. 

You can pre-submit questions to the panelists using this link.

SPEAKERS

Rorry Daniels is the Managing Director of Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), where she leads and oversees strategy and operations for ASPI's projects on security, climate change, and trade throughout Asia. She was previously with the National Committee on American Foreign Policy where she managed the organization's Track II and research portfolio on Asia security issues, with a particular focus on cross-Taiwan Strait relations, U.S.-China relations, and the North Korean nuclear program. Her most recent research project audited the U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue to evaluate its process and outcomes.

Bates Gill is Executive Director of Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis where he leads a team of research fellows, associated researchers, and administrative staff to deliver on the Center’s aim to be a global leader for policy-relevant, objective analysis of China’s politics, economy, and society and its impact on Asia and the world. Prior to joining the Asia Society, Bates held a number of research and academic leadership positions including: Professor and Chair of the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University in Sydney; Inaugural Scholar-in-Residence with the Asia Society Australia; Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI); Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Founding Director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution.

Christopher K. Johnson is Senior Fellow on Chinese Politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis. He is also the President and CEO of China Strategies Group, a political risk consulting firm. As one of the top China experts in the field, his insights frequently are sought out by the world’s leading corporate, financial, and other business interests to help develop strategies for clients pursuing opportunities in China and regionally.  Chris is based in New York, but spends nearly half his time in China and the rest of Asia. Chris also serves as a senior fellow in the office of the president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Neil Thomas is a Fellow for Chinese Politics at Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, where he studies elite politics, political economy, and foreign policy. Previously, he was a Senior Analyst for China and Northeast Asia at Eurasia Group, the world’s leading political risk advisory and consulting firm, a Senior Research Associate at MacroPolo, the in-house think tank of the Paulson Institute, and a lecturer at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy.