2023-09-17 12:34:50
Doubt persists about the fate reserved for the Chinese Minister of Defense. Friday September 15, the American ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, declared on social networks that Minister Li Shangfu had “not been seen or heard for three weeks”.
Information that an article seems to confirm published the same day by the British daily Financial Times. American officials believe that the Chinese defense minister has been removed from his post and is being investigated by authorities in Beijing. A sudden and mysterious disappearance, less than two months after that of the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs.
An aerospace engineer by training, the 65-year-old Minister of Defense has until now had an important place within the Chinese regime. In addition to his appointment as head of the ministry in March 2023, Li Shangfu has been a member since October 2022 of China’s highest military body, the Central Military Commission. The statesman still assumed his functions in the eyes of the public this summer, during two trips in mid-August to Russia and Belarus.
But since then, nothing. On September 8, his X account (formerly Twitter), Rahm Emanuel noted that Li Shangfu “has not been seen in public for two weeks.” A week later, he returned to this absence and mentioned three elements which cast doubt on the minister’s future.
President Xi’s cabinet lineup is now resembling Agatha Christie’s novel And Then There Were None. First, Foreign Minister Qin Gang goes missing, then the Rocket Force commanders go missing, and now Defense Minister Li Shangfu hasn’t been seen in public for two weeks. Who’s going…
— U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel (@USAmbJapan) September 8, 2023
First, he confirms that the Minister of Defense “did not show up during his trip to Vietnam” at the beginning of September, echoing the declarations of Vietnamese officials who, from the British agency Reuters, indicated a postponement of the meeting for “health problems” of Li Shangfu. Above all, the American ambassador indicates that the minister is once again “absent from his planned meeting with the head of the Singaporean navy because he has been placed under house arrest”.
President Xi’s cabinet lineup is now resembling Agatha Christie’s novel And Then There Were None. First, Foreign Minister Qin Gang goes missing, then the Rocket Force commanders go missing, and now Defense Minister Li Shangfu hasn’t been seen in public for two weeks. Who’s going…
— U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel (@USAmbJapan) September 8, 2023
An observation shared by three American officials and two other people linked to the intelligence services, cited by the Financial Times: all concluded that after his absence, the minister was probably “removed from his position as Minister of Defense” .
The trail of an eviction for corruption
In his last message, the American ambassador half-heartedly accuses the Chinese regime of having ousted the minister. A lead which seems to be confirmed by the United States, according to the British daily. If the White House has not publicly discussed this matter, American officials testifying to the Financial Times estimated that Li Shangfu is currently the subject of an investigation for corruption. It could be linked to the previous position of the senior Chinese official: from September 2017 to October 2022, Li Shangfu headed the People’s Liberation Army unit in charge of long-range missiles, particularly nuclear ones.
A department renowned for hiding within itself the “worst corruption” of the Chinese army, according to former CIA expert Dennis Wilder, cited by the Financial Times. Beijing, however, apparently tightened the screw recently, announcing an unexplained change of direction last July, while the Ministry of Defense publicly asked for advice to fight against a phenomenon of corruption dating from October 2017. A date concomitant with the arrival of Li Shangfu to this direction.
A second minister disappeared in less than two months
If the link between this affair and the possible corruption investigation against Li Shangfu remains to be confirmed, the latter’s disappearance is part of a recent trend of “reshuffle” by force of the Chinese government. This mysterious disappearance is the second of a high-ranking Chinese official in less than two months. In July, Beijing formalized the replacement of Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who had also disappeared for a month without official reason.
If China is accustomed to these disguised kidnappings against those who question its authority, including major figures in civil society such as the actress Fan Bingbing or the billionaire Jack Ma, these recent cases are nevertheless unprecedented. According to analysts cited in another Financial Times analysis“two ministers have not disappeared in this way in recent decades, especially so quickly.”
Beyond doubts about an anti-corruption operation, we will have to wait for official information from Beijing before being able to estimate the exact reasons for this sudden withdrawal. Asked Friday by AFP about a possible investigation targeting Li Shangfu, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “does not [être] aware of the situation you are discussing.
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