Rumors swirl over the absence of China’s foreign minister as Kerry and Kissinger visit Beijing

Here’s what else you need to know about China today:

Where is China’s foreign minister, Qín Gāng 秦刚? Qin has been notably absent from the public stage for more than three weeks, stirring up speculation as to why. China’s top diplomat, Wáng Yì 王毅, had attended the ASEAN meeting in Jakarta last week in Qin’s place due to “health reasons,” according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

But the brief official statement hasn’t stopped a swell of rumors (many of which are coming from Hong Kong and Taiwan), particularly the popular theory that Qin has been benched for allegedly having an affair with state-backed Phoenix News TV journalist Fù Xiǎotián 傅晓田.

When asked about the rumor, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Máo Níng 毛宁 said, with clear discomfort, “I am not familiar with the situation you’re talking about” (video here). Her comment was omitted from the official daily press briefing that was later published to the Foreign Ministry’s website.

China has enough electricity to power through peak demand over the summer even as temperatures hit record highs across the country, Jīn Xiándōng 金贤东, a spokesman for China’s top planning agency the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said at a press briefing today.

The amount of coal reserves at power plants reached a “record high of 199 million tons” at the end of June, Jin said. China recorded its highest-ever temperature of 52ºC (126ºF) in northwestern Xinjiang’s Turpan Depression yesterday.

Climate cooperation can help reset U.S.-China ties and lead efforts to counter global warming, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told a roomful of high-ranking Chinese officials today. Kerry is currently on a trip to China from July 16 to 19 aimed at restarting climate talks between the world’s two biggest carbon polluters after a yearlong hiatus.

“Our hope is that this can be the beginning of a new definition of cooperation and capacity to resolve differences between us,” Kerry told Wang Yi in the meeting (readout from Washington, Beijing) at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. “We are very hopeful that this can be the beginning not just of a conversation between you and me and us on the climate track but that we can begin to change the broader relationship.”

Meanwhile, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger met with China’s defense minister, Lǐ Shàngfú 李尚福, today in Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The surprise trip is Kissinger’s first public visit to the Chinese capital in four years.

“I am here as a friend of China…The United States and China should eliminate misunderstandings, coexist peacefully, and avoid confrontation. History and practice have continuously proved that neither the United States nor China can afford to treat the other as an adversary,” Kissinger was quoted as saying (our translation).

China’s eastern Zhejiang Province will lift all household registration restrictions except for in the capital city of Hangzhou to combat income inequality, according to new plans issued by the provincial government. The plan will go into effect on July 22 and will last for five years.

China’s household registration system, known as hùkǒu (户口), restricts people from accessing government services outside their registered area of residence, and is often criticized for limiting workers’ mobility. The plan aims to “facilitate the relocation and integration of rural migrants into urban areas,” Chinese state-backed tabloid Global Times said.

Chinese state media: Xinhua News Agency’s top story is a one-line note (in Chinese, English) about Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 meeting Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Beijing today.

The People’s Daily’s print edition covers:

• Xi’s meeting yesterday with former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte;
• Two stories that put a positive spin on yesterday’s release of GDP and other economic stats;
• A piece on China’s No. 3 Politburo Standing Committee member Zhào Lèjì 赵乐 meeting visiting cadres from the Russian Communist Party;
• A classic state media story headlined “Another bumper harvest of summer grain across the country.”