China’s Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu speaks to academy teachers as Chief of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Col. Gen. Vladimir Zarudnitsky stands to the left of him during a visit to Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Moscow, April 17, 2023. China has removed Li, who vanished from public view nearly two months ago, in the latest in a string of high-level purges of the Chinese military apparently related to an investigation into weapons procurement. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service)
China has removed Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who vanished from public view nearly two months ago, in the latest in a string of high-level purges of the Chinese military apparently related to an investigation into weapons procurement.
China’s powerful leader, Xi Jinping, on Tuesday signed an executive order revoking Li’s ministerial position and his role as state councilor, following weeks of intrigue sparked when Li abruptly canceled a meeting with Vietnamese officials in early September.
U.S. officials have said Li’s disappearance is related to corruption charges probably connected to his previous position as head of military procurement. He was promoted to defense minister in March.
The brief announcement did not explain why Li was removed from office or who would replace him. The standing committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament, also revoked the state councilor title of Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who was replaced with his predecessor, Wang Yi, in July.
The abrupt change raises questions about the decision-making of Xi, who has exerted far more direct control over personnel choices in the Chinese Communist Party than his predecessors.
Li, like Qin, was seen as chosen by Xi to be an important figure in Chinese diplomacy. While neither were powerful decision-makers, their outward facing roles were crucial for Xi’s bid to turn China into a global superpower with influence on par with the United States.
Qin disappeared from view in June sparking rumors about a possible extramarital affair that led to his downfall. Beijing has not explained the reason he was sacked.
Experts say the loss of Li is unlikely to fundamentally alter China’s military strategy, which is set primarily by Xi, alongside a small number of top advisers. In China, the defense minister focuses more on military-to-military diplomacy rather than operational command.
But Xi has ambitions to turn the Chinese military into a “world-class” fighting force by 2049. As part of that effort, he has overseen several rounds of purges within the top brass since he took office in 2012, but recent firings suggest persistent failures to weed out corruption.
This comes after a surprise reshuffle in August of officials in charge of the rocket force, which also maintains China’s expanding nuclear arsenal, and is also widely considered to be linked to efforts to unearth bribery and dodgy dealmaking within procurement.
“He presented himself as a unique leader, but he hasn’t been able to supply silver bullets to resolve these long-standing corruption issues,” said Joe McReynolds, Chinese security studies fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.
The extent of the problem was revealed in a July notice from the equipment department publicly asking for tips on people who manipulated bidding for personal gain going as far back as 2017.
“Li is more of a figurehead and a symbolic leader than he is in charge of how money was getting spent,” said Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “The July circular that suggests to me that there is an issue with very large portions of money being misspent that goes beyond just one man,” he said.
