Chinese Defence Minister Gen. Li Shangfu has been replaced after he was missing for almost two months with little explanation.
| Photo Credit: AP

China has replaced Defence Minister Gen. Li Shangfu, who has been out of public view for almost two months with little explanation, state media reported on October 24.

Mr. Li is the second senior Chinese official to disappear this year, following former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who was removed from office in July with no explanation offered.

Mr. Li, who became Defence Minister during a Cabinet reshuffle in March, hasn’t been seen since giving a speech on August 29. There is no indication that the disappearances of Mr. Qin and Mr. Li signal a change in China’s foreign or defence policies, although they have raised questions about the resilience of president and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s circle of power.

Mr. Xi has a reputation for valuing loyalty above all and has relentlessly attacked corruption in public and private, sometimes in what has been seen as a method of eliminating political rivals and shoring up his political position amid a deteriorating economy and rising tensions with US over trade, technology and Taiwan.

Mr. Li is under U.S. sanctions related to his overseeing weapon purchases from Russia that bar him from entering the country. China has since cut off contacts with the U.S. military, mainly in protest over U.S. arm sales to Taiwan, but also strongly implying that Washington must lift the measures against Mr. Li, which Beijing refuses to publicly recognise.

Beijing:

China removed its defence minister on Tuesday, the second ousting of a senior leader in three months, raising questions about the stability of the leadership team around Chinese President Xi Jinping.

General Li Shangfu, who has been absent from public view for two months, was dismissed as defence minister and state councillor, according to state media.

China also announced that Qin Gang, who was removed as foreign minister in July, was also stripped of his state councillor position.

China’s top legislators, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, approved the removal of both men, state broadcaster CCTV reported, without given any explanation.

No replacement for Li was named, leaving the country without a defence minister as it prepares to host foreign defence officials at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on Oct. 29-31.

Li, 65, disappeared from public view two months ago. Reuters reported last month that he was under investigation for suspected corruption related to equipment procurement and development.

Li was placed under U.S. sanctions in 2018 over Beijing’s purchase of combat aircraft and equipment from Russia.

He had only been in the job since March when Xi started his precedent-breaking third term as head of state. No other defence minister in China had served for a shorter time than Li.

Qin had also served less than a year before he disappeared from public view and was replaced by his predecessor, Wang Yi. No formal explanation has been given but the Wall Street Journal cited sources saying Qin had an extramarital affair while he was ambassador to the United States.

With the ousting of both men, the number of China’s state councillors, a more senior rank than minister, is down to three.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)