A former Chinese foreign minister, who disappeared from public view under mysterious circumstances this summer, likely either killed himself or was tortured to death, an explosive new report claims.

The report, based on interviews by Politico Europe with unnamed sources who have access to top Chinese officials, spotlights what Politico says was a campaign to dislodge allegedly disloyal officials by Chinese President Xi Jinping — one with echoes of the sweeping purges carried out by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

Until his sudden disappearance over the summer, former Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang was widely viewed as a Xi loyalist.

A one-time spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, Gang was catapulted to the top ranks of the country's leadership with unusual rapidity: a stint as Beijing’s chief protocol officer was followed by a position as China's vice foreign minister, then ambassador to Washington, and less than two years later, as the man in charge of the entire foreign ministry.

His disappearance this summer was followed by claims of an affair with a Chinese reporter, and the alleged fathering by Gang of a son who was a U.S. citizen.

But the Politico report posits a more sinister theory: that Gang was removed following a warning to Xi from Moscow that his foreign minister, along with other senior officials in the Chinese military hierarchy, had been compromised by Western intelligence. Gang is later said to have died, either by suicide or torture, at a Beijing military hospital.

Other top officials are also reported to have been purged around the same time, including the head of the country’s military division which oversees China’s nuclear program, as well as other senior serving and former officials....