How much trouble is Xi really in? Outgunned Taiwan may be about to find out | Simon Tisdall

Cracks are appearing in China's monolithic regime - and its leader might decide a military adventure will strengthen his grip on power

Smart, combative, handsome, Qin Gang was fast-tracked to stardom. As a protege of Xi Jinping, China's dictator-president, the precocious wolf warrior" diplomat rose to the giddy heights of foreign minister at age 56. Then, last summer, he vanished. It was as if he had been deleted, physically and digitally, as if he had never existed. He has yet to re-materialise.

Qin's mysterious disappearance sparked wild, often prurient media speculation. Beijing has still not offered an official explanation. But Chinese online reports, which significantly went uncensored, implied he was disgraced after secretly fathering a child in an affair with a well-known TV reporter. This seemed like plausible grounds for defenestration.