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Back in June China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, suddenly disappeared. By mid-July he hadn’t been seen in weeks and rumors began circulating that he must have done something to displease or embarrass the communist party. Some suggested the married foreign minister was having an affair with a Chinese TV presenter who had also suddenly disappeared. Qin Gang was removed from his position about a week later. To this day, no one knows the precise nature of his career-ending mistake.
Now it seems to be happening all over again, this time with China’s Defense Minister, General Li Shangfu. No one has seen him in about two weeks.
As is the norm in China’s opaque system of government, little is known about why Li Shangfu, 65, has not been seen in public since Aug. 29. But a rush of reports in the Western media, as well as public comments by a top U.S. diplomat, have fueled growing speculation.
His future is of great interest in the West, which will be eager to see if Li might be the latest target of a crackdown by the increasingly powerful President Xi Jinping.
So what did happen to General Li? The is reporting that he is under investigation for corruption.
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu is under investigation for corruption and likely will be removed, two U.S. officials said this week, in what would be the latest in a series of top-tier purges of Beijing’s security ranks…
One Chinese official said that Li’s dismissal was imminent, but said it was for “health issues,” not corruption. Two people involved in the Chinese defense industry, however, said there is broad consensus that Li’s absence is related to corruption charges relating to his previous position as head of military procurement…
[In 2017] he was named as the top military procurement official, heading up the PLA Equipment Development Department, a powerful unit responsible for buying weapons.
