TAIPEI, Taiwan (Dispatches) — China has replaced Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu, who has been out of public view for almost two months, state media reported Tuesday.
Li is the second senior Chinese official to disappear this year, following former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who was removed from office in July with no explanation offered.
Li, who became defense minister during a Cabinet reshuffle in March, hasn’t been seen since giving a speech on Aug. 29. There is no indication that the disappearances of Qin and Li signal a change in China’s foreign or defense policies, although they have raised questions about the resilience of president and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s circle of power.
Xi has a reputation for valuing loyalty above all and has relentlessly attacked corruption in public and private amid rising tensions with U.S. over trade, technology and Taiwan.
Li is under U.S. sanctions related to his overseeing weapon purchases from Russia that bar him from entering the country. China has since cut off contacts with the U.S. military, mainly in protest over U.S. arm sales to Taiwan, but also strongly implying that Washington must lift the measures against Li, which Beijing refuses to publicly recognize.
The announcement from state broadcaster CCTV said that both Li and Qin had been removed from the State Council, China’s Cabinet and the center of government power. That virtually assures the end of their political careers, although it remains unclear whether they will face prosecution or other legal sanctions.
CCTV also announced Lan Fo’an’s new appointment as finance minister, and Yin He’jun as science and technology minister.
China’s top diplomat will visit the United States on Thursday for a three-day visit, the latest move by Washington and Beijing to keep high-level talks open amid tense bilateral relations.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan over a range of issues, including the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Ukraine war and a recent vessel collision in the South China Sea, according to senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the trip.
Wang’s trip to Washington will come just about three weeks ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, where it’s possible that President Joe Biden and Xi will meet. The officials did not confirm the leaders’ meeting, nor did they say if Wang’s visit would prepare for such a meeting. Instead, Wang’s trip was described as reciprocal to Blinken’s visit to Beijing in June.
Wang plans to make clear China’s “position and principles on the relationship with the U.S. and our legitimate concerns,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing on Tuesday.
China hopes to “jointly push the bilateral relationship back to the track of sound and stable development,” Mao said, reflecting a more upbeat tone than the one heard from Beijing in recent weeks.