China's former foreign minister Qin Gang, who was ousted from his position in July, had an extramarital affair while he was ambassador to the US, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with a briefing.

The report said Qin was cooperating with the investigation, which was now focused on whether the affair or Qin's conduct had compromised China's national security.

Senior Chinese officials were told that an internal Communist Party investigation found Qin engaged in the affair throughout his tenure as China's ambassador to the US, the report said. Two sources told the newspaper the affair had resulted in the birth of a child in the US.

During a regular press briefing on Tuesday, China's foreign ministry spokeperson Mao Ning was asked about the article and said: "on the appointment and removal of the Chinese foreign minister, the Chinese side has released information before and I am not aware of the other information you mentioned".

Qin was replaced by veteran diplomat Wang Yi in July as the foreign minister after a mysterious one-month absence from duties barely half a year into the job.

He was China's top envoy in Washington from July 2021 until January this year.

Representatives of the foreign ministry have struggled to respond when pressed by reporters, repeatedly saying that they had no information to provide. After China replaced him, nearly all references to Qin were scrubbed from the ministry’s website, an unusual erasure that has only deepened the intrigue. On Thursday, asked by a reporter if China had been transparent about Qin’s ousting, a spokeswoman lashed out at what she called “malicious hype”.

Reuters and New York Times News Service