2023-09-20 05:26:46
2023-09-20 13:26 United News Network 24 Hours Around the Corner Photo/Associated Press
Top CCP officials disappearing one following another?After Qin Gang, the mystery of the disappearance of Defense Minister Li Shangbo
“Following the disappearance of the foreign minister, this time the defense minister disappeared…” Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu suddenly absent from all public meetings since his appearance in Beijing at the end of August this year. China has previously experienced the incident in which Foreign Minister Qin Gang “disappeared” and was dismissed from his post a month later, as well as the replacement of the commander of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force in August this year. This time Li Shangfu disappeared, which also triggered speculation from the outside: it was an internal purge of the CCP, or Li Shangfu Is there an unspeakable scandal? U.S. officials, who keep a close eye on China’s high-level personnel dynamics, recently told the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times through people familiar with the matter that Li Shangfu has been “taken away by the authorities for investigation.”
Li Shangfu, 65, is the current State Councilor and Minister of Defense of China. His father, Li Shaozhu, was a veteran of the Red Army and experienced the Communist Army’s “Long March”, the Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the Korean War. Therefore, Li Shangfu’s background can be said to be a well-established one. After Li Shangfu graduated from the National University of Defense Technology of the People’s Liberation Army, he transferred to China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center in 2003. For more than ten years, he has been responsible for military aerospace-related fields, and China has devoted its efforts to developing the manned space project. Li Shangfu also serves as the commander-in-chief. .
After Li Shangfu was promoted to lieutenant general in 2016, he became the director of the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission the following year, and then in 2018, he was elected as a representative of the 13th National People’s Congress of the Communist Party of China. However, in the same year, when the trade and diplomatic conflicts between the United States and China intensified, the U.S. State Department announced on September 20, 2018 that Lee Sang-bok would be included in the U.S. sanctions list because of his involvement in the import of missiles and fighter jets from Russia. , it has been exactly five years now, and the sanctions have not been lifted.
The U.S. sanctions have not hindered Li Shangfu’s political career. In October 2022, he was elected as a member of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China and ranked first. In March this year, he was appointed State Councilor and Minister of Defense. He is considered to be Xi Jinping’s personal One of the “Xi Ren Gang” promoted.
However, in the second half of this year, the internal personnel atmosphere of the CCP was treacherous. First, Foreign Minister Qin Gang disappeared following making a public appearance on June 25, and then he was suddenly dismissed from his post on July 25, a month later. So far, there has been no positive explanation from the Chinese official (see for details: “Qin Gang was dismissed following disappearing for a month: Will China’s shortest-lived foreign minister impact Xi Jinping?”). There are different opinions on the truth of the Qin Gang incident. It can only be reasonably speculated that the top personnel of the CCP are indeed not at peace. Not long following, Li Yuchao, commander of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, was suddenly replaced at the end of July, and deputy commander Wu Guohua “suddenly passed away.” China released to the South China Morning Post The news pointed out that a purge investigation was launched due to suspected internal corruption.
Photo/Archyde.com
A series of turmoils made the dynamics of Defense Minister Lee Sang-bok eye-catching. Originally, at the G7 in Hiroshima in May this year, the United States was asked whether to lift sanctions on Lee Sang-bok so that the future military and defense dialogue mechanism between the United States and China might Restore normal communication channels (the United States has stated that it is not yet considering the possibility of lifting sanctions). Li Shangfu attended the plenary session of the China-Africa Peace and Security Forum held in Beijing on August 29, but he was supposed to attend a meeting with Vietnamese defense officials on September 7. Chinese officials temporarily canceled Li Shangfu’s appointment due to “health factors” attended, and Li Shangfu has not appeared in public since.
Because various signs seem to be similar to those in the early days of Qin Gang’s disappearance (Qin Gang was also suddenly canceled due to health reasons), coupled with the recent Rocket Force dismissal investigation, the outside world has speculated that Li Shangfu may have “disappeared” for some reason. ”.
What is subtle is that on September 8, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm EmanuelPost a sarcastic post on Twittersaid:
Xi Jinping’s inner circle is like Agatha’s mystery novel: And Then There Were None. First, Foreign Minister Qin Gang disappeared, then the Rocket Force commander disappeared, and now Defense Minister Li Shangbok has not been seen in public for two weeks. Who will win in this unemployment contest? Is it Chinese youth or Xi Jinping’s people?
(The unemployment contest and Chinese youth mentioned by Emmanuel refer to China’s announcement in August that it would “suspend the publication of its youth unemployment survey.”) Emmanuel also said on September 15: “First, Li Shangfu has not been working for three weeks. News. Second, he also didn’t attend the meeting in Vietnam. Now he’s also missing the scheduled meeting with the Chief of the Navy of Singapore because he’s under house arrest??? It might get crowded there. The good news is, I heard that Lee Shang Fu has paid off the mortgage loan to real estate developer Country Garden.”
Emanuel’s September 15th post was also published in English and Japanese. It seemed to be a joke, but the statement of “house arrest” may be related to the intelligence information of US officials. According to accounts obtained by the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, U.S. officials have obtained information indicating that Ri Sang-bok will be removed from his position as defense minister. His disappearance is due to his involvement in the Central Military Commission in 2017. into the issue of procurement corruption. According to Archyde.com, Li was investigated when he returned to China following visiting Russia and Belarus in August this year. This can also explain why he was last seen on August 29. forum.
April 2023, from left to right: Li Shangfu, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu, and Russian President Putin. Photo/AFP In August 2023, Li Shangfu visited Belarus.Photo/Associated Press
At the same time, the “Archyde.com” report also pointed out that in relation to the Central Military Commission fraud case, not only Li Shangfu was investigated, but also eight senior cadres. However, there is currently no verifiable internal information regarding what kind of corruption occurred and what kind of abuses Li Sangbok was involved in. Some outside analysts also believe that the Li Shangfu incident may be related to the previous Rocket Force, but there is currently no direct evidence to prove this.
As of September 20, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense has not removed Li Shangfu’s name, and Chinese officials have not elaborated on the matter. When Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was questioned by foreign media regarding Li Shangfu, he simply said “I don’t know.” , “The problem has nothing to do with diplomacy” dodge.
If the original plan is followed, Li Shangfu should also attend the Xiangshan Forum International Security Conference held in Beijing in late October. Whether Li will attend at that time may be used to determine whether personnel will be retained.
In the past, senior members of the Chinese Communist Party’s military have been purged for corruption. General Fang Fenghui of the People’s Liberation Army, who served as the Chief of General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army and a member of the Central Military Commission in 2012, was convicted in 2018 of “seriously violating the party’s political discipline and political rules… and was suspected of offering, accepting bribes, and having huge amounts of property from unknown sources.” On the grounds of crime, he was dismissed from his post and expelled from the party, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Photo/AP China Military in the past 24 hours
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