There is something nasty going around in Chinese government circles. You would certainly get that impression if you rely on the scarce explanations for the sudden absence of important ministers. Defense Minister Li Shangfu canceled a meeting with Vietnamese military officials last week for “health reasons,” reported Reuters Thursday. Earlier, Foreign Minister Qin Gang also suffered from an unspecified condition, according to Beijing, before he was replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi after a month of not appearing in public. An official reason has never been announced, although rumors circulated about an affair with a well-known TV journalist.
American observers say to the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times that Li has also been fired. He was said to have been taken in for questioning last week. On the website Li is still listed as a minister of the Chinese Ministry of Defense.
Speculation about Li’s fate increased this week after the US ambassador to Japan, the outspoken diplomat Rahm Emanuel, said on X (formerly Twitter) drew attention to Li’s absence. He compared the Chinese government to one novel by Agatha Christie, in which the guests in a country house are murdered one by one. “Who will win the unemployment race? The Chinese youth or Xi’s cabinet?” he added venomously.
Li was last seen on August 29 when he… Sino-African Security Conference in Beijing. He then canceled not only his meeting with the Vietnamese delegation, but also with the head of the Singapore Navy.
Rocket launch base
It is unknown what Li, a staunch member of the Chinese Communist Party who started his career as an engineer at China’s Xichang missile launch base, may have committed. After rising to become director of the launch site, he quickly made a career in the army. Just months after joining the seven-member Central Military Commission in October 2022, he was appointed Minister of Defense in March, a post he now appears to have lost. Like Qin Gang, Li was also one of China’s ‘state councilors’, a high position within the Chinese cabinet.
When asked in her daily press briefing, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said: “I am not aware [te zijn] of relevant information” about Li. But it is quite conceivable that Chinese leader Xi Jinping suspects him of corruption. Between 2017 and 2022, Li headed the military department responsible for equipment procurement and development, a position that earned him a place on the US sanctions list after purchasing Russian weapons. In July, the department reportedly called on the public to report “irregularities” since 2017. In July, Xi replaced two executives of the Chinese armed forces’ missile division. When asked, a spokesperson said during a press briefing at the end of August that “every corrupt official” will be tackled.
Anti-corruption campaigns
Campaigns against corruption are a regular phenomenon in Chinese politics. Xi Jinping made it an important spearhead immediately after taking office as leader of the People’s Republic in 2012, but his predecessors also conducted such campaigns, which are often not only aimed at tackling bribery, but which Xi also uses to strengthen his authority to reinforce.
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However, a corruption accusation against Li could also reflect negatively on the Chinese leader, who had only recently appointed him. Especially with the fall of Qin Gang, another of Xi’s confidantes, still fresh in people’s minds.