China Reshuffles Foreign Ministry, Dismisses Vice Minister Sun Weidong

Last Updated:April 14, 2026, 16:08 IST

The decision was announced on Tuesday by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, which said the move was approved by the State Council

China has removed senior diplomat Sun Weidong from his position as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, marking the latest high-profile dismissal under Beijing’s sweeping governance and discipline drive.

The decision was announced on Tuesday by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, which said the move was approved by the State Council, China’s highest administrative authority. No reasons were provided for Sun’s removal, nor was a timeline specified.

Sun, a seasoned diplomat widely regarded as an “Asia hand," previously served as China’s ambassador to India from 2019 to 2022 and played a key role in managing Beijing’s regional diplomacy.

His last publicly recorded official engagements, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China website, were meetings on March 13 with the ambassadors of Brunei and Malaysia.

Just days earlier, Sun had also met Khalil Hashmi, Pakistan’s envoy to China, to discuss bilateral cooperation, an interaction confirmed through a social media post by the Pakistani diplomat.

Such abrupt dismissals of senior officials in China are often interpreted as signalling internal disciplinary action and are frequently followed by formal investigations, though no such announcement has yet been made in Sun’s case.

The notice also confirmed the removal of another official, An Lusheng, from his role as deputy director of the National Railway Administration, suggesting a broader personnel reshuffle.

Since assuming power in 2012, President Xi Jinping has overseen an extensive anti-corruption campaign targeting both senior leaders and grassroots officials, a drive commonly described as going after “tigers and flies."

According to official data, China investigated more than one million corruption cases last year and took disciplinary action against 938,000 individuals. Those penalised included 69 officials at the provincial or ministerial level, over 4,000 at bureau level, 35,000 at county level, and more than 125,000 township-level officials.

The campaign has also swept up senior figures in the military and other key institutions, underlining Beijing’s continued emphasis on political discipline and control at the highest levels of government.

News world China Reshuffles Foreign Ministry, Dismisses Vice Minister Sun Weidong

Read More