U.S. envoy for Japan Rahm Emanuel takes the spotlight with snarky China tweets
investing.comBy Humeyra Pamuk, Trevor Hunnicutt and Tim Kelly
WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) — When a Reuters reporter asked a U.S. State Department spokesperson this week about a sarcastic social media post by the U.S. ambassador to Japan concerning China's missing defense minister, the reply was appropriately diplomatic.
The ambassador, Rahm Emanuel, has always spoken in «a colorful manner,» said Matthew Miller, restraining a smile, although he declined to say whether Emanuel's comments had been cleared by the State Department.
Emanuel, a legendary Washington political fighter who has served three Democratic presidents, had written on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that the recent disappearances of top Chinese officials resembled Agatha Christie's best-selling crime novel «And Then There Were None,» which follows the mysterious deaths of guests at a mansion in Britain.
«First, Foreign Minister Qin Gang goes missing, then the Rocket Force commanders go missing, and now Defense Minister Li Shangfu hasn't been seen in public for two weeks. Who's going to win this unemployment race? China's youth or Xi's cabinet?,» Emanuel wrote.
On Thursday, he speculated in another post that Li might have been detained. «Might be getting crowded in there,» he wrote.
Li has not been seen in public for more than two weeks. On Friday Reuters reported that the defense official, handpicked by Chinese President Xi Jinping, has been placed under investigation by Chinese authorities, according to 10 people familiar with the matter.
In July, Foreign Minister Qin Gang was replaced after not being seen in public for over a month. He had been appointed to the post only seven months previous.
POLICY OR OPINION?
Though common on social media,
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