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Regardless, China-Russia relations grew more strained than outsiders might imagine, with Russia finally taking a big gamble: It would drop an informational bomb on Beijing. The subject of that information was then Foreign Minister Qin, who had been tapped for the post by Xi. It's easy to see what might have motivated Russia. Being China's top diplomat, Qin would have been the person responsible for sending the Chinese delegation to Ukraine. Russia labeled Qin as pro-U.S. as he had served as ambassador to the U.S. for a short period before being tapped as foreign minister. So it "passed on internal...

Last Monday I pointed out that China’s foreign minister Qin Gang had suddenly vanished and hadn’t been seen in three weeks. Officially, he was said to be ill but unofficially there rumors that he’d done something potentially embarrassing to the party. Today, Qin was officially removed from his post and replaced, once again suggesting that whatever led to his disappearance was seen as a career-ending mistake.Mr. Qin was abruptly removed as foreign minister on Tuesday after having disappeared from public view for 30 days. The move ended the career of a diplomat who had leaped to the top as one...

The lengthy absence from public view of China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang has sparked furious online speculation, while once again highlighting China's secrecy. The 57-year-old has not been seen in public for 23 days - his last reported engagements were on 25 June. Appointed to his post last December, Mr Qin was seen as a trusted aide of Chinese President Xi Jinping. As one of the best known faces of the Chinese government, Mr Qin's prolonged absence has not only been scrutinised by diplomats and China watchers, but also ordinary Chinese people. When asked about his whereabouts on Monday, Foreign...

Archaeologists find thousands of 2,000-year-old files Chinese archaeologists have found thousands of official files from over 2,000 years ago. The 20,000 ancient bamboo slips have details about the political, economic and cultural life of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). The information on the bamboo slips includes details about army food consumption and relations between different ethnic groups. Xinhua says they were unearthed in southern China's Hunan province. Experts are comparing the find to that of the Qin Dynasty terracotta soldiers and horses unearthed in Shaanxi province in the 1970s. Researchers say only 2,000 bamboo slips were unearthed during the last...

Back to Story - Help German joins China's ancient warriors Mon Sep 18, 10:27 PM ET A German art student tried to join a Chinese dynasty's army — but he volunteered centuries too late. The 26-year-old man — identified only as "Pablo" or by his Chinese name "Ma Lin" — made a dusty brown suit of armor, a tunic and a helmet, and attempted to blend in with the ancient warriors of the terra cotta army in the western city of Xi'an, the Hong Kong newspapers Ming Pao Daily News and Wen Wei Po reported on Monday.The outfit matched...