China appointed a new defense chief this Friday, two months after firing Li Shangfu without explanation. According to the state news agency Xinhua, his position will be held by General Dong Jun, who has served as commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA, Chinese Army) since 2021. Li has been missing from the public scene for four months and the reasons for the change, as well as his legal situation and whereabouts, remain a mystery. Dong's appointment by Chinese lawmakers comes as the People's Liberation Army is modernizing as part of President Xi Jinping's push to make his country a dominant military and technological power, a push that has worried Washington and its allies. Asians.
Dong, 62 years old, has had a long military career tied to the Navy and has served in the PLA's major marine divisions. He served in the North Sea Fleet, traditionally the most advanced and pioneer in the use of destroyers, land-based missiles and nuclear submarines, and which regularly takes part in joint exercises with the Russian Navy; in the Baltic Fleet, which focuses on exercises simulating conflict with Japan; and in the Southern Theater Command, which monitors the South China Sea and whose primary role is to support the Eastern Theater Command in the event of an amphibious operation against Taiwan. In recent years, Beijing has prioritized strengthening the navy's strategic capabilities, particularly amid rising tensions with Taiwan, the democratically self-governing island that China claims as an inalienable part of its territory.
The firing of the 65-year-old Li is part of a series of high-profile layoffs in the country's military establishment. The summer also saw the replacement of the PLA's two main missile force commanders, who were responsible for the nuclear and conventional missile arsenal. Three executives from major Chinese missile defense companies were removed from Beijing's main policy advisory committee this week, according to state media.
Li, who took office in the latest reshuffle of China's executive branch in March, was last seen in public on August 25 and was under investigation for corruption related to equipment acquisition and development, according to sources cited by Portal. His ouster followed an almost identical scenario to that of former foreign minister Qin Gang, who was also appointed in March and replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi in July after a month out of the spotlight. Qin also remains missing and his situation has sparked a flood of speculation for months, which has also reached Chinese social networks.
Although China's defense chief has little direct authority in the army and his role is limited to that of a public representative of the military, Dong's appointment is expected to facilitate communication with his American counterpart. His predecessor, who was sanctioned by Washington in 2018 for his role in the purchase of Russian aircraft and equipment, never met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Although China's Defense Ministry has little influence over the country's military policy (command rests with the Central Military Commission headed by Xi Jinping), a crucial function of the minister's position is to work with the U.S. military to reduce the risk of conflict around Taiwan and the South China Sea, two trouble spots and the cause of tensions between the two powers in recent years. The last meeting of the defense ministers of both countries took place in November 2022.
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Last month, President Xi and his American counterpart Joe Biden, meeting in San Francisco, agreed to restore their military communications channels, which China blocked in August last year in protest at the visit of the then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, a trip that Beijing saw as a blatant violation of its sovereignty and that blew up the world's most important geopolitical relationship.
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