China's Li Shangfu became the nation's shortest-serving defense minister ever, ending months of speculation over his status as President Xi Jinping rolls on with high-profile purges that worry investors.
The nation's top legislative body removed the US-sanctioned general from his role without explanation, state media reported Tuesday. Li had been in the post just seven months.
He was also stripped of his state councilor title and membership in the government's highest national defense body. No replacement for his role was announced.
Xi has now abruptly removed two newly appointed ministers since embarking on his precedent-defying third term in office last year. In July, Xi stunned the world by removing his handpicked foreign minister from that position without explanation. On Tuesday, Qin Gang was also ousted from his remaining title of state councilor, which entitled him to a seat on the nation's cabinet.
"Stripping Li and Qin of their state titles all but confirms they are being investigated for corruption or other violations of party discipline," said Neil Thomas, a fellow for Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.
Image of Instability
While there is no suggestion that Xi - China's most-powerful leader since Mao Zedong - is facing any threat to his authority, the abrupt personnel moves have tainted his government's image of stability. That turmoil comes as the world's second-largest economy tries to woo investors to combat a grinding post-pandemic slowdown.
Li's removal could allow for high-level military talks with the US to resume after a suspension of more than a year. China had refused US overtures for Li to speak with American military leaders because of sanctions imposed on him during the Trump administration.
China's defense minister usually opens the Beijing Xiangshan Forum. The nation's answer to Singapore's Shangri-la Dialogue will be held from Oct. 29-31, potentially providing clues as to who will replace Li.
Reuters reported that General Liu Zhenli is the top contender to replace Li, citing people it didn't identify and adding that the change could come before the forum. Liu is chief of the Joint Staff Department, effectively making him the counterpart of General Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Victor Shih, an associate professor at the University of California San Diego who specializes in Chinese elite politics, said the lack of a replacement for Li was "somewhat surprising," although filling the position isn't a top priority.
"Xi likely is still hands-on with running various aspects of the military along with the two CMC vice chairmen, who are trusted by Xi," Shih said, referring to the Central Military Commission, China's top military decision-making body. But given the "shocking" circumstances of Qin's removal, Shih said, "I am sure Xi is carefully vetting potential candidates."
The shake-ups are taking place against a backdrop of intensified US-China rivalry over a wide range of issues including security in the Indo-Pacific region. China on Wednesday hit back at a report issued by the Pentagon on the challenges posed by what it calls an increasingly provocative Chinese military, accusing Washington of "fabricating false narratives."
Graft Probe
Li, whose role made him the Chinese military's top diplomat, last appeared in public on Aug. 29, when he delivered a speech at a forum in Beijing. He was under investigation over procurement of military equipment, Reuters reported earlier.
In July, the Chinese military announced a corruption probe into the hardware procurement department Li once led for roughly the time frame of his stewardship. That investigation coincided with Xi's decision over the summer to remove two generals leading the secretive rocket force, which manages the country's nuclear arsenal, without explanation.
Li, 65, lacks a personal history with Xi but as an aerospace engineer he was part of the so-called Cosmos Club that the Chinese leader elevated in an attempt to catch the US in technological prowess.
The son of a veteran Red Army soldier, Li became a member of the Central Military Commission at the Communist Party's congress in October. He was the first soldier to join the top military body from the army's Strategic Support Force, the branch created in 2015 to focus on space and electronic warfare in Xi's push to modernize the military.
Li's climb to the senior defense post appeared to signal Beijing's growing emphasis on aerospace technology. After graduating from the National University of Defense Technology, Li held posts at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, where he oversaw China's first lunar probe. As director of the center, Li presided over the launch of China's first anti-satellite missile.
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