text:  What happened to China's former foreign minister, Qin Gang, who disappeared and then was abruptly removed from his post last year? And the defense minister, Li Xiangfu, who suffered the same fate. Today, we heard that Mr. Qin, the ex-foreign minister, has resigned from the party's elite central committee, while Mr. Li, the ex-defense chief, was simply replaced. It's a seemingly subtle but very important difference.