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WASHINGTON — This is baby mama drama on an international stage.
Former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang was booted from his job as Beijing’s top diplomat after an internal investigation by the Chinese Communist Party revealed he had fathered a love child in the United States during his time as ambassador to Washington, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Qin’s affair with the child’s mother, believed to be extramarital on his part, reportedly lasted for his entire 18-month tenure in DC, where he was the go-to diplomat for relations with the US — China’s top adversary.
The identities of Qin’s mistress and child are not publicly known, but speculation has swirled online for months about his closeness with Cambridge-educated Phoenix TV presenter Fu Xiaotian, who disappeared from public view around the same time Qin was last seen in his official capacity.
Once a trusted aide to Xi, Qin moved back to Beijing from Washington this past January when he was named foreign minister, the Chinese government’s equivalent of the US secretary of state.
Though Qin’s tenure lasted only a few months, he oversaw US-China relations during an intense period marked by a postponed visit from Secretary of State Antony Blinken following Washington’s discovery that Beijing had launched a spy balloon into American airspace.
After President Biden directed the military to shoot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina this past February, Qin led China’s messaging campaign denying the craft was intentionally sent across the US, unsuccessfully attempting to convince Washington that it was a “civilian airship” that had gone off course.
In one of his final official acts this past June, Qin met with Blinken during the secretary’s rescheduled trip to Beijing, aiming to cool the boiling US-China tensions that have concerned much of the world.
China’s foreign ministry initially cited health concerns as the reason for Qin’s absence, but whispers grew louder when Xi stripped Qin of his title in July without explanation.
Social media sleuths pointed out that Fu posted a picture of her baby son Er-Kin on X, formerly known as Twitter, on April 10, alongside a screenshot from her interview with Gang the previous month on her show “Talk with World Leaders.”
Others noted the interview appeared flirtatious in nature, with the pair making more eye contact than usual. All discussions on Chinese social media platform Weibo about the pair’s relaxed behavior were quickly censored.
Fu is also believed to have maintained a private Instagram account, on which she posted celebratory photos of her son’s 100th day of life March 4. The pictures appeared to have been place at a rented Los Angeles residence.
“Oh, and just so you know, my son’s father is not American. We’re actually planning to return to our home country soon, and we’re extremely excited about it!” she wrote on social media.
CCP officials were briefed in August on the reason for Qin’s dismissal, the Journal reported, with investigators confirming the baby was born in the US.
While the Constitution holds that anyone born in America is guaranteed citizenship, babies born to foreign diplomats are typically exempt.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning did not address the bombshell report during her daily press briefing Tuesday, nor did reporters in Beijing ask about the matter, according to a transcript.
China’s foreign and defense ministries did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment on Tuesday.
The affair and resulting offspring could have created blackmail and other national security concerns for China as Xi attempts to crack down on any perceived vulnerabilities among his senior leadership and Beijing’s relationship with the US becomes more strained.
Two weeks ago, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu was taken in for an interrogation and is believed to be under investigation by the CCP, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Similar to Qin, Li disappeared from the public eye in August and has not been seen publicly since. Like Qin, Li is predicted to also lose his title at the conclusion of the reported investigation.
China’s foreign and defense ministries did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment on Tuesday.
The apparent turmoil among China’s top foreign and military affairs officials comes as Washington and Beijing weigh potential ways to ease the tense relationship.
While Xi snubbed a trip to New York for the UN General Assembly this week, US officials are hopeful that the Chinese president will come to San Francisco in November for a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.
Both US and Chinese officials in statements have expressed interest in smoothing over relations, potentially through a separate summit between Biden and Xi in the US.
Meanwhile, Qin has been replaced as foreign minister by Wang Yi, who met over the weekend with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Malta.
The pair discussed “key issues in the US-China bilateral relationship, global and regional security issues, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and cross-[Taiwan] Strait issues,” according to the State Department.
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