Beijing CNN –
China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu was fired on Tuesday Two months after disappearing from public view, he became the second senior minister to recently lose his job without an official explanation.
Li was also removed from his state posts as a member of the Central Military Commission – a powerful body headed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping that ultimately commands the armed forces – and as one of China’s five State Councilors – a senior position in the Cabinet rather than a regular minister, reported state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday.
According to CCTV, the decision was approved by the standing committee of the country’s legislature, the National People’s Congress. The committee did not name a successor for Li.
Li, who was named defense minister in March, has not been seen in public since late August, sparking intense speculation about his fate.
The general’s disappearance follows a series of unexplained personnel changes that have rocked the country’s upper echelons, including the dramatic ouster of former foreign minister Qin Gang in July.
Qin was also removed as state councilor on Tuesday, CCTV reported.
The disappearance and firing of two senior ministers in quick succession has raised questions about the governance of Xi, who has made China’s political system even more opaque by concentrating power and imposing strict party discipline.
Xi has also stepped up a campaign to strengthen national security and seek to eliminate any perceived threats and vulnerabilities to the ruling Communist Party amid rising tensions with the West.
Ironically, Li’s ouster has removed a major obstacle to the resumption of high-level military talks between China and the United States.
Li was sanctioned by the US in 2018 over China’s purchase of Russian weapons, and Beijing has repeatedly indicated that the US defense secretary would not arrange a meeting with Li unless sanctions were lifted.
Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images/File
Vice chairmen and members of the Central Military Commission pledge allegiance to the Chinese Constitution at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 11.
Weeks before Li disappeared from public view, Xi summoned military leaders to a meeting in Beijing where he emphasized political loyalty, discipline and the party’s “absolute leadership” over the armed forces.
Days after that meeting, Xi fired the two top generals of the PLA Rocket Force, an elite unit that oversees the country’s arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, sparking fears of a broader purge of the military.
The Chinese government has repeatedly declined to comment on Li’s whereabouts and the reasons for his absence.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Li was taken away for questioning by authorities in September, citing a person involved in decision-making in Beijing.
The Financial Times, citing American officials, also reported that the US government believes the defense minister is under investigation. None of the reports gave a reason for the investigation.
Asked whether Li was under investigation last month, a Defense Ministry spokesman said he was “not aware of the situation.”
It is unclear whether disciplinary action has been or will be taken against Li.
The 65-year-old Li gained his first experience at one of China’s most important satellite launch sites in the southwestern province of Sichuan and rose to the position of director.
After three decades at the launch center, he was promoted to defense worker at the People’s Liberation Army headquarters in 2013, shortly after Xi came to power.
Li is believed to be a protégé of General Zhang Youxia, Xi’s childhood friend and closest military ally. In a sign of his prominence, Zhang was promoted to first deputy chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) in a leadership reshuffle last October, even though he was long past the unofficial retirement age.
From 2017 to 2022, Li was responsible for China’s weapons procurement as head of the CMC’s equipment development department, a position Zhang previously held.
In July, days before the Rocket Force’s top two generals were abruptly removed, the Equipment Development Division announced a renewed crackdown on corrupt procurement practices and requested tips on questionable activities dating back to 2017 – the same time Li took the helm Department.
Li was last seen in public on August 29 when he delivered a keynote speech at the China-Africa Peace and Security Forum in Beijing. He last traveled outside China to Russia and Belarus in mid-August.