China’s ousted foreign minister had few fans in Washington

News Snapshot:

The consensus in Washington was that “Qin had been particularly difficult and that he had not been very effective as ambassador,” said Zack Cooper, former assistant to the deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism at the National Security Council. “It’s not like we’ve lost a critical piece of the U.S.-China puzzle — it might be that we’ve removed an impediment.” Qin had not appeared in public since June 25, and speculation about his whereabouts — complete with the Twitter hashtag #WhereisQinGang — has flown thick and fast in recent weeks. Beijing has not provided an explanation for his disappearance...