Tiff with Xi? The curious case of China's missing foreign minister Qin Gang

The mystery three-week absence of China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang, considered a rising star of Chinese politics, is fueling concerns over shrinking access to information in the world’s second-largest economy.

Qin’s absence comes on the heels of a rapid rise in elite Chinese politics that saw him serve for less than two years as U.S. ambassador, before being elevated to the post of foreign minister in December.

In that role, he’s kept a busy schedule. The 57-year-old’s longest previous absence was just eight days over the Lunar New Year Holiday, according to government records.

Now, the former envoy hasn’t been seen in public since June 25, when he met with visiting officials from Sri Lanka, Russia and Vietnam. Qin has since vanished from state media and comments about him have been excised from readouts of Foreign Ministry briefings. His 23-day absence has seen Qin skip major diplomatic engagements, such as an international gathering of foreign ministers in Indonesia last week.