Sun Weidong, Former Chinese Ambassador to India, Removed as Vice Foreign Minister

New Delhi: China's vice-minister of foreign affairs, Sun Weidong, has been dismissed from his post.

Sun was Chinese Ambassador to India from 2019 to 2022, the period which saw an extraordinary deterioration in India-China ties, with the stand-off in Ladakh in which 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese soldiers died.

Sun was promoted to the post of vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in November 2022.

Sun was Ambassador to Pakistan from 2013 to 2017 as well, and had, just last month, met Pakistan’s ambassador to China, Khalil Hashmi, to discuss bilateral cooperation.

Sun is understood to have been a key figure in China's diplomacy with North Korea and was part of the government greeting party when Kim Jong-un visited last year. Sun had earlier visited Pyongyang as well.

Sun visited Delhi as recently as last year, to review the progress in resetting bilateral ties.

The Ministry of Human Resources in China reportedly announced the news in a brief post on its website today, citing a decision of the State Council, but adding no other reason.

It is also unclear exactly when Sun was dismissed.

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