--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: This is the second episode of The Missing Minister. If you haven't already listened to episode one, we recommend doing that first.
--:-- [Discussion about Qin Gang's disappearance]
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: After Qin Gang disappeared last year, senior Chinese officials were briefed on what happened. They were told a story. And to understand that story, you have to scroll back to much earlier in Qin's career.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Long before Qin was China's foreign minister, or even an ambassador, he was a junior diplomat living in London. Qin Gang, you know, seemed to really enjoy his life in the U.K.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: According to people who know him, he moved there with his wife in the mid-90s. And according to a friend of hers, they enjoyed exploring the city together.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: He loved talking about soccer and supported Arsenal Soccer Club. Played back for our seven! Two, one! They've turned it round!
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: And we know that he loved tennis and went to Wimbledon. And he told an acquaintance that he had vacationed in Congo and he had really enjoyed driving around on those twisty and narrow roads.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Altogether, Chin spent around a decade in the U.K. And towards the end of his time there, around 2011, something happened that would play a central role in the story of his disappearance.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: He met someone, another Chinese professional living in the U.K., who'd also fallen in love with all things British. He met this very young, beautiful, ambitious Chinese TV journalist, Fu Xiaotian.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Back then, Fu was in her late 20s. She was an up-and-coming news reporter at a Chinese-language TV station, covering stories like Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton and the London Olympics.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: It was here in London, thousands of miles from home, that Fu and Qin's lives first intersected, and they began an affair.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: We don't know much about that first phase of their relationship. According to someone close to Fu, it didn't last long.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: But what started in London didn't end there. Years later, Chin and Fu would resume their affair. That affair would be used against them. And both Chin and Fu would disappear.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: From the Journal, I'm Kate Leinbaugh, and this is The Missing Minister, a three-part investigation into the mysterious disappearance of China's foreign minister. Episode 2, The Affair.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Qin Gang disappeared in June of last year. And in the months afterwards, we learned a few things about the events surrounding his disappearance.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: According to my sources, senior Chinese officials had been told that Qin had had an affair and that that affair might have compromised China's national security.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: That phrase can mean a lot of things in China, from serious security breaches to things the party just doesn't like.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: But what did it mean in this case? I didn't know. So I started looking into the woman Qin had the affair with, Fu Xiaotian.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Fu is missing. We asked China's foreign ministry about her whereabouts, and they had no comment.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: We spoke with several people who knew Fu or worked with her. A couple of her friends told us her phones had been disconnected.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: None of the people who knew Fu would do an on-the-record interview with us, so you won't hear them.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: And much about Fu remains hard to pin down, starting with her origins.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: We have heard conflicting accounts of her family background. She told some friends that she grew up in a very wealthy family in the city of Chongqing.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Based on those accounts, her father had a very successful business that involved trading raw materials and components for semiconductors.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Then there are other accounts other people who know her who have told us that she came from a very modest family background.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: So that's just another layer of mystery about this woman.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: We do know that Fu was academically ambitious. She scored highly enough on China's college entrance exam to attend top universities.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: And eventually, her studies took her to the U.K. When I first arrived in Cambridge, really was like, well, that was the first time I really arrived in Europe as an Asian girl, young girl.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: And it really was like a fairy tale world to me. And all the apple trees, the grass and everything. So beautiful.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: That's Fu in an interview with Cambridge University, where she received her master's degree in 2007.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Cambridge made a strong impression on Fu. Years later, she would make a sizable donation to her college there.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: And the college would unveil a garden in her name. It features white wisteria, stones flown in from China, and an apple tree planted by Fu herself.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: That garden dedication was in 2019. By this time, Fu was well-established in her media career.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: She'd left London and was back in China, still working for the same station, Phoenix TV.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: It's a news network with ties to China's Communist Party. Fu had risen within Phoenix to become the host of its flagship interview show, where she talked to global leaders in both Chinese and English.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: That was a big step forward for her. It was super competitive working for a TV network. And talk with war leaders is one of their prime one-on-one interview programs.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: The people on the show are often movers and shakers in the world of business and politics.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Fu interviewed big names and seemed to be doing it. She settled into a conversation with Ban Ki-moon when he was U.N. Secretary General by asking him about his accomplishments.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: What is the achievement that United Nations has made in the past, say, nine years that makes you feel the most proud of?
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: She struck up a rapport with U.S. Secretary of State at the time, John Kerry, quizzing him on trade in the Pacific.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: And thank you very much for bringing up the TPP topic, because we understand these are very important.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: I'm bringing up all your topics. Yes.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Fu also spoke with business and cultural leaders like NBA commissioner Adam Silver and fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: How was Fu as a TV host? She was known to be, in the Chinese context, a fantastic journalist.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: And the diplomatic corps referred to her as Amanpour because they reminded her with her position and her style of, you know, the CNN anchor Christian Amanpour.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: That's our colleague Joe Parkinson. He's been helping us look into Fu's background.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Her shows were followed by a lot of people abroad. And often when Western leaders came into the country, it was Fu that they wanted to be interviewed by.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Partly because she was very professional. Partly because she was more subtle and nuanced than some of the other anchors at state TV.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: And partly because, you know, they believed that they were going to get a fair shake.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: And Foo wasn't just hobnobbing with powerful people on screen. She would be at a lot of the parties.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: She would be a kind of charismatic figure who floated among the diplomats and the journalists and the politicians in Beijing.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: An online video captured one of these events, a launch party for a book Fu had written, based on her interviews with world leaders.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: At the event, ambassadors and diplomats mingled, taking turns showering Fu with compliments.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: We are celebrating today a person who is diligent, serious, thoughtful, talented, and graceful.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: The video wraps up with Fu raising a glass alongside her guests as they each come up with a different way to toast her.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Many congratulations and I look forward to reading your book. Congratulations and I look forward to seeing you in Maldives. Congratulations and for many more successes.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Fu had connections to high-powered people, and she knew how to use them.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: At Phoenix, our reporting shows that Fu's connection to a Chinese politician played a pivotal role in her rise at the station.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: And a person who knew Fu in Beijing told us that her connections brought other benefits.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Fu loved luxury. She loved private planes. She loved the fine food and the fine wine.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: In the Chinese context, there is a culture where wealthy people tend to surround people like that and can become benefactors.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: And she certainly had a kind of constellation of benefactors around her. Very wealthy individuals who would pay for her places on these private jets or pay for her to stay in the finest hotels in Italy or elsewhere around Europe.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: This wasn't just one-way traffic. You know, part of the reason these people were interested in her was because her network, a Rolodex, was so impressive.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: And a lot of people kind of moved around her, orbited around her. And she really liked it that way.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: She really liked to be at the center of things and a person of influence.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: But in 2020, the COVID pandemic brought everything, including Fu's glittering social life, to an abrupt halt.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: It was also around this time that Fu separated from her longtime boyfriend, an Italian man she dated for years.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: And one person close to Fu said that this is when she reconnected with Qin Gang.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: The person said that they reconnected during COVID basically quote out of boredom.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: During the pandemic when Qin became China ambassador to the U he moved to Washington.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: According to my reporting, Chinese officials were told that Qin and Fu had an affair throughout his U.S. ambassadorship.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: People we spoke with who knew Qin in D.C. said they never saw him with Fu.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: But the two did make at least one public appearance together. And it was on camera.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: In March of 2022, Fu flew in from Beijing to interview Qin for her show.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: The taping took place at Phoenix's D.C. office.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: The interview itself was fairly standard. Fu asks Qin about foreign affairs.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Qin gamely responds with a party line.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: But looking back at the footage, it's not the content of the conversation that stands out.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: I mean, we all benefit from hindsight, right?
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Now that we know they had an affair, so when you watch this video again, then you would kind of see the sparks that were flying between Fu Xiaotian and Chen Gong.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: You can kind of tell there's a certain kind of closeness between them.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: They like to make very knowing kind of eye contact.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Especially during the final minutes of the interview.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: The footage shows Fu and Chen leaving the studio and heading out onto the roof.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: They stroll side by side as romantic music swells around them.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Then Fu gives the ambassador a gift, a copy of her book, with a handwritten note inside the cover.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: They smile shyly as he reads it.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Fu looks happy, but things were about to change for her.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Fu's interview with Chin would turn out to be one of her last for Talk With World Leaders.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Soon after the taping, Fu stopped hosting the show.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: We asked Phoenix about this, but the network didn't respond to our questions.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Fu had suddenly vanished from the show that had given her everything.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Status, fame, connections. For a time, she'd leave China, too.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: She was about to start a new chapter of her life, one that would end in her disappearance.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: That's next.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: American Express card, you can make your expenses work just as hard as you.
--:-- [Discussion about American Express card]
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Mint is still $15 a month for premium wireless.
--:-- [Discussion about Mint]
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: And if you haven't made the switch yet, here are 15 reasons why you should.
--:-- [Discussion about Mint]
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: We don't know a lot about Fu's life after she stopped hosting her show in 2022.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: The little we do know is based on her social media posts.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: In early 2023, Fu started posting photos that showed her living a rather lavish, if private, life.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Pictures of her taking scenic walks and sipping wine against a deep orange sunset.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: These pictures weren't taken in China, though.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: They were taken in the U.S., in Southern California.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: So Ling Ling and our producer Alan Rodriguez Espinosa flew out there.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Okay. Ready? Yep. To see what they could learn about Fu's time in California after she went off the air.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: All right. So where are we right now?
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Right now we are in a shopping plaza in a very affluent residential community in Newport Beach, Southern California.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: This plaza is very close to the very secluded residential compound Fu Shaotian Stadium.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Fu's photos show her staying in a yellow stucco mansion. Inside this gated community.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: The house is over-the-top fancy, with ornate columns and an outdoor pool.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Hello. Hi. Hi, good morning.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Morning. Hi, I'm sorry to bother you.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Ling Ling and Alan tried to make a visit.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: We are here trying to find out some information about a Chinese woman who used to live in this area.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: I don't know. We can't, we don't have any.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: They were turned away.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: They also reached out to the owners of the mansion, but the owners declined to comment.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: The house was a dead end.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: But there's something else that stands out from Fu's posts around this time.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Pictures of Fu with a baby.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: For example, there are two posts she put on her social media account that showed she was holding the baby and taking a walk in front of this huge house.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: There is another picture of her holding the baby standing in the balcony, looking out to the sea.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Fu first started posting photos with the baby early last year.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: He's a cute little guy with wispy black hair and dark eyes.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: People who knew Fu told us she talked openly about wanting a child.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: One person close to her said she wanted to use a surrogate, that she was worried about the impact a pregnancy could have on her career.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: And this person told us she ultimately did have a baby via surrogacy.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: But who was the father?
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Remember that according to my sources, when Chinese officials were briefed on the investigation into Chin, they were told he had an affair.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: But they were also told something else, something we haven't mentioned yet.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Chinese officials were told that Chin's affair had resulted in the birth of a child in the U.S.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: And in Fu's social media posts, she seemed to be dropping some hints about her baby's father.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Albeit cryptic ones.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: In one post, Fu implies that the father is Chinese.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: It includes a photo of the baby with a caption congratulating someone.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: That post was made at the time Qin was promoted to state counselor.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Another post reveals the name of the baby, Er-Kin.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Ling Ling says in Chinese, that could be a play on words to mean son of Qin.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: It's as if she was trying to tell the whole world, yes, I am having a relationship or I have had a relationship with Qin Gang.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: And also, she seemed to be indicating that, you know, Qin Gang was the father of the baby.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: We don't know whether that's true.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: But if Qin was the father, why would Fu want the world to know?
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: One person close to Fu says that when Qin was promoted to foreign minister and moved back to China, their relationship broke down.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: According to this person, Fu couldn't accept that Qin's priority was the party, not her or her son.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: In a social media post in March 2023, Fu seemed to express her frustration.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: She wrote in Chinese that truly loving someone doesn't mean hoping for their promotion, but wishing instead for them to be reunited with their family.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: In another post, Fu said she'd be heading back to China soon.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: The following month, in April of 2023, Fu posted a picture of herself and her baby aboard a private jet.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: She was smiling. Erkin was sucking on the sleeve of his sweater.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: It's the last public post on her social media feeds.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: And then... Fu Shaotian completely disappeared.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Vanished, right?
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Ever since her last social media posts early last year, before the summer.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Not a trace of her anywhere.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Like Chin, Fu was missing.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: They'd had an affair. Fu had a baby in the U.S.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: But why did the Chinese government care?
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Ling Ling wondered, what did any of this have to do with China's national security?
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: He at the time was China's foreign minister. His job involved handling the Americans and other foreigners.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: And then turns out he had a son who was born in the United States.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: And also he had this affair in the United States.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: You know, what if that affair had opened Qin up to some kind of manipulation, to even blackmail?
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Maybe that's what led to fears that this affair could have compromised China's national security.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: But Ling Ling's reporting was about to reveal that there was much more to the story of Qin's investigation.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: It turned out the main issue wasn't the baby or the affair itself.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: According to my sources, Chinese officials were told that behind Fu and Qin's sudden disappearance was an allegation.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: An allegation of espionage.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: At the end of the call, I just turned off my recorder.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: I said, listen, I'm working on a very sensitive story. I need to know what you know about this.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: And guess what he said?
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: That's next time on the final episode of The Missing Minister.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: That episode is already in your feed.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: The Missing Minister is part of The Journal, which is a co-production of Spotify and The Wall Street Journal.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: I'm your host, Kate Leinbaugh.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: This series was produced by Annie Minoff and Alan Rodriguez Espinosa.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: It was reported by Maria Byrne and Ling Ling Wei.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: It was edited by Maria Byrne.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Additional reporting in this episode from Max Colchester.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Mary Mathis is our fact checker.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Sound design and mixing by Griffin Tanner.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Music direction by Nathan Singapok.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Music in this episode by Nathan Singapok and Blue Dot Sessions.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Our theme music is by So Wiley and remixed by Nathan Singapok.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Special thanks to Catherine Brewer, Elena Cherney, Laura Morris, Philana Patterson, Sarah Platt, Heather Rogers, and Aruna Vishwanatha.
--:-- Ling Ling Wei: Thanks for listening.
--:-- Host, Kate Leinbaugh: Thanks for listening.
